ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 85 



an inch in width, a little more than an inch in height, and are let 

 down slightly into saw kerfs cut in the upper surface of the wood. 

 The divisions are kept in place by little points of tin that project 

 from their upper corners through the meshes of the wire cloth and 

 are then bent over or clasped against the wire cloth. Below each 

 little cage thus formed is bored a small hole, through the wood, and 

 in the hole is placed a plug having an opening hollowed out in its 

 upper end and filled with soft candy. As the cells are all built ex- 

 actly ^ of an inch apart, in a straight row, attached to a stick, it will 

 be readily seen how easy it is to lower all of these at once into the 

 nursery, each cell occupying a cage ^ of an inch square and a little 

 more than an inch in depth. As the queens will all hatch within a 

 few hours of one another, the cells can be left in the nursery until 

 the queens have all hatched, or, even longer, if necessary. To 

 remove a queen, pull out the plug below her cage, when she will 

 crawl out and may be caught and put into a cage, or where ever 

 desired. 



Nothwithstanding the great improvements made in securing the 

 building of queen cells, and in caring for virgin queens, they are no 

 more wonderful than the late methods of securing the fertilization of 

 queens^— the most expensive part of commercial queen rearing. 

 Once it was necessary to have at least two, full-sized combs and a 

 quart or two of bees for each nucleus; now the fertilization of a queen 

 is secured by the use of not more than 200 bees; one colony fur- 

 nishing sufficient bees to secure the fertilization of 200 or 300 queens. 

 This plan allows the introduction of queens from five to seven days 

 old, and does away with all trouble from laying workers. 



It is a little difficult to say to whom belongs the credit for this 

 new method of caring for queens while being mated. Mr. C. B. 

 Bankston, of Texas, published the first description that I remember 

 having seen; but he had, at this time, a partner, a Mr. John W. 

 Pharr, who says he helped in the development of the idea. Mr. W. 

 H. Laws, of the same State, also helped in perfecting the plan and in 

 bringing it to public notice. Mr. E. L. Pratt, of Swarthmore, Penn- 

 sylvania, has also done his share in making a success of mating 

 queens from small nuclei. Like many other inventions, it seems to 

 have been the work of several men. Mr. W. H. Laws published a 

 description of the plan, in the Bee-Keepers' Review, and it is mostly 

 from that article that the following is taken. 



The nucleus boxes or hives play an important part in this 

 system of mating queens, yet they are very simple in construction. 

 Imagine two little trays, Ya of an inch in depth, IIX inches long, and 

 A% inches wide, hinged at the bottom with leather strips, and made 



