§xvi.] QUEEN-CAGES. 199 



primal hostility of the bees, but at the same time so 

 much communication is permitted as suffices to fami- 

 liarise them gradually with her presence. It is one of 

 the characteristics of the bee nature that, however dis- 

 tressed they may' be at the loss of their old queen, and 

 however eagerly at work to produce a successor, they 

 ■will not usually receive such at once from an artificial 

 source. They will, however, supply her with f6od even 

 when longing to transfix her with their stings. 



We have two kinds of cage for this purpose. One of 

 them is a wire dome to be placed over the queen, when 

 with a card carefully slipped underneath she can be kept 

 secure until the hive is prepared to receive her favourably. 

 It is nearly the same as Kleine's cage for protecting 

 royal cells, as described under " Queen-Rearing " (Chap. 

 V. § vii.). Another cage, devised and strongly recom- 

 mended by " A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper," is flat in form 

 and neatly made of wire net ; it is two inches deep, one 

 and a quarter wide, and three-eighths of an inch thick ; 

 the top is of the same material, and projects one-eighth 

 of an inch all round as a flange to prevent slipping too 

 •far between the combs. The door consists of stronger 

 •wires reaching across' the bottom of the'cage ; these are 

 fixed at one end, and have two more wires fastened to 

 them at the other, which wires pass up at the corners 

 .and are brought out at the top, where a push with the 

 thumb will cause the bottom to project open. Into 

 this cage we consider there is more difficulty in intro- 



