246 BEE MANIPULA TION. [Ch. v. 



are to be introduced. They must not be so loose as to 

 be in danger of falling out, but if such seems likely a 

 little melted wax should be applied fl'ith a feather. 

 Special care must be exercised not to bruise the royal 

 embryos, as a very slight pressure is likely to be fatal. 

 It is important not to perform the operation till they are 

 within three or four days of coming forth, which may be 

 known to be the case from the brown look of the tops 

 of the cells, the wax having been removed. 



It is always easier to introduce royal brood into queen- 

 less hives than matured queens, because bees are re- 

 luctant to receive stranger queens, whilst they will tolerate 

 one hatched in the hive, who will speedily depart to seek 

 a drone. Bee-masters mostly use small hi\es for queen- 

 rearing, as explained in the section on " Nucleus Hives " 

 (page 197). It is not however indispensable to use other 

 than the ordinary hives, and Mr. Langstroth gives the 

 following as the very best mode of jffocedure. Place an 

 empty hive on the top of a well-filled one, giving com- 

 munication through crown and floor boards and turning 

 their entrance.?' opposite ways (one of his plans, by the 

 bye, for procuring an artificial swarm). The young bees 

 will many of them take to the upper hive — if not they 

 must be enticed into it by food — and when there are 

 sufficient of them, a brood comb with adhering bees must 

 be inserted and the connection closed. After a few days 

 this nucleus hive may be removed, a few steps at a time, 

 and another, if desired, take its place and be raised in 



