INTRODUCIXG lilPREGXATED QUEEXS. 285 



■we release a strange queen, we put a small slice of comb 

 honey, or honey cappings, in place of the stopper of the 

 cage, and close the hive. It takes from 15 to 20 minutes for 

 the bees to eat through, and by that time all is quiet, so the 

 queen Avalks leisurely out of her cage, and is safe. 



539. If the colony, m which a queen is to he introduced, 

 is destitute, the bees should be abundantly fed on the pre- 

 ceding night (605). After she has been released, it is well 

 to leave the colony alone for two or three days. 



As a fertile queen can lay several thousand eggs a day, it 

 is not strange that she should quickly become exhausted, if 

 taken from the bees. "Ex nihilo nihil fit" — from nothing, 

 nothing comes — and the arduous duties of maternity compel 

 her to be an enormous eater. After an absence from the bees 

 of only fifteen minutes, she Avill solicit honey, when returned; 

 and if kept away for an hour or upwards, she must either be 

 fed by the Apiarist, or have bees to supply her wants. 



Mr. Simmins has taken advantage of this appetite, and of 

 the propensity of bees to feed the queens, in introducing them 

 directly, after keeping them without bees and food, for about 

 30 minutes. At dusk he lifts a corner of the cloth (352) of 

 the hive in which he wants to introduce the queen, drives the 

 bees away with a little smoke, and permits the queen to run 

 between the combs. Then he waits 48 hours before visiting 

 the hive. Several bee-keepers report having succeeded with 

 this method. On account of this propensity of bees to feed 

 queens, any number of fertile ones may be kept in a hive 

 already containing a fertile queen, if they are placed in cages 

 between the combs, near the honey and the brood. 



In very good honey seasons, queens may be introduced to 

 colonies without previous caging. They evidently accept a 

 queen under such circumstances from the same reason that 

 causes them to accept strange bees (485). But we strongly 

 recommend never to attempt to introduce a valuable queen in 

 this way. 



Worker bees should never be caged with the queen when she 



