166 I'ORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



hive containing the queen on the stand, and replace the 



supers. 



You will see that this leaves the queen full chance to 

 lay from the minute she is uncaged, and at the time of 

 putting down there will be as much brood as if the queen 

 had remained in her usual place. Most of the bees, of 

 course, adhered to the lower hive when the queen was 

 put up, but by the time she is put down quite a force has 

 hatched out, and these have marked the upper hive as 

 their location. Upon this being taken away, the bees, as 

 they return from the field, will settle upon the cover, 

 where their hive was, and form a cluster there ; finally an 

 explorer will crawl down to the entrance of the hive be- 

 low, and a line of march in that direction will be estab- 

 lished immediately. In a day or two they will go straight 

 to the proper entrance. 



GOOD CHANCE FOR NUCLEI. 



We left, standing on the ground, the hive with its 

 two combs, which had been taken from the stand. These 

 two combs, when the queen was put up, probably had a 

 good quantity of eggs, and brood in all stages. They 

 now contain none but sealed brood, some queen-cells and 

 a pretty heavy supply of pollen. Or, it may be that eggs 

 from a choice queen were given, and the queen-cells are 

 to be saved. A goodly number of bees adhere to the two 

 combs and I know of no nicer way to start a new colony, 

 than simply to place the hive in a new location. Or, the 

 bees may be shaken off at the old stand and the combs 

 used again to do duty as they have done during the last 

 ten days, or given to a nucleus which needs them. 



I may remark in passing, that these queenless colo- 

 nies will produce queen-cells not excelled by those of a 

 swarming colony, and not surpassed in excellence by those 

 produced by any of the best plans used by queen-breeders. 



