28o A Modern Bee-Faun 



tongues, while one or two may be seen feeding her. Under 

 that condition the hive may be closed and left, but should 

 they be found clustering tightly in large numbers about 

 the cage, at once close the hive and wait another twelve 

 hours ; and in case a queen is attacked after being released 

 (which is known by the bees forming into a knot about her 

 and stinging each other in their endeavour to so do to 

 the stranger, called "balling"), then confine her again, 

 first dispersing the angry cluster by heavy smoking. 



When inserting queens by caging, it is necessary to 

 keep all queen cells destroyed, or the new-comer will 

 ■seldom be received. She is to them unserviceable, and 

 yet present in the hive all the time the bees know they 

 have the means of raising their own, and hence a dislike 

 once began is only fed into an angry flame simply by the 

 continued irritation caused by the constant attempt to get 

 at the stranger, and not seldom by the bee-keeper's own 

 interference. 



Under this process of frequent disturbance, the queen 

 will sometimes even herself be the first to attack the bees, 

 and then, of course, there is no hope for her if not again 

 confined. All these misfortunes are brought about through 

 the necessity of operating by daylight, but there are one 

 or two other methods which do not necessitate so much 

 manipulation. The " Raynor " cage, consisting of a 

 narrow and long wire cage, can be passed down between 

 two combs from the feed hole in quilt (if one), while with 

 a wire rod connected with a small hinged plate at the 

 bottom, the operator can, after the usual lapse of time, 

 release the queen without opening the hive. I must here 

 add what I know to be an improvement : — Release the 

 queen after darkness has set in. 



Mr. Cheshire placed a flat cage on (not cut into) the 

 capped brood, where it is held by a spring passed over 



