186 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



EXCLUDER PLAN OP TREATMENT. 



We find and cage the queen, destroy all queen-cells, remove 

 the hive from its stand, and put in its place a hive containing 

 three or four frames of foundation. The foundation is on one 

 side of the hive with a dummy nest to it. The rest of the hive 

 is left vacant. Upon this hive is put a queen-excluder, and 

 over the excluder the old hive with its hrood and bees, and 

 over this the supers as before (Fig. 66). Then the queen is 



Fig. 61 — Cutting Foundation. 



run in at the entrance of the lower hive, and the colony is 

 left for a week or ten days. Ten days is safer. 



At the end of the week, or as soon after that time as we 

 can conveniently reach it we take away the lower story with 

 its excluder, and put back the queen in the old hive, which is 

 left on the stand. When we remove the lower story with its 

 three or four frames that a week ago contained foundation, 

 there will be less advance made in those frames than you would 

 be likely to suppose. The vacant part will still be vacant, the 

 amount of honey will be very small, generally only one or two 

 frames will liave been occupied by the queen, and possibly 

 nothing beyond eggs will be found. If larvae are found, they 



