INCKEASE AND THE PEOFITABLE PKODUOTION OF BEES. 61 



hive which contains the qween — and having shaken the bees 

 off three or four frames of brood, we place these in the hive 

 occupied by the old original stock (which is now empty, all the 

 frames having been removed to form nuclei). The bees which 

 were flying at the time will return here, and hatch out the 

 brood with which we have supplied them. 



Fixing the Queen Cells. 



Into each of the divisions which we have thus formed we 

 must fix a queen cell. This requires considerable care and is 

 done in the following manner : — 



Having taken the frame which contains them into a warm 

 room, the cells are cut out separately with a very sharp pen- 

 knife, the utmost care being taken not to press the walls or 



Pig. S8.— Queen Cell with Pins ready forfixing in Nucleua. 



bases of the cells, lest the embryo queens inside should be 

 injured. Two pins are next passed through the comb to 

 which the cell is attached, well up above the cell itself, at 

 A and B. We then take the cell to the nucleus, and drawing 

 the frames a little way apart, pin it on to the side of one of the 

 combs. As considerable heat is lost by this method of keeping 

 the frames a greater distance apart than would otherwise be 

 necessary, a better plan is to cut a hole in the middle of one of 

 the combs and pin the queen cell into this : whichever method 

 is adopted great care must be taken not to press the cell at all, 

 or the queen may not hatch ; and even if she does, she may be 

 injured or deformed in some way. A sharp look-out must be 

 kept that too many bees do not leave the nuclei ; and if there 

 should appear to be any fear of this happening, a piece of per- 

 forated zinc may be placed over the entrance for a day or two 



