PIPTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 247 



true, and often, if not generally, the cage is not put between 

 the combs, but thrust in the entrance, making sure that it is 

 where it will be protected by the bees. After being there about 

 two days, it is only the work of a minute to take out the cage, 

 expose the candy, and put the cage back in the entrance. 



Sometimes, if I want to have the work done automatically, 

 I use a device that delays the work about as much as the card- 

 board, but is more uniform in the time it takes. I thrust 

 into the center of the tube of candy its whole length a wooden 

 splint about 1-16 of an inch square, and that delays the bees at 

 gnawing out the candy. 



When a queen-cell is to be caged, the No. 2 cage ^Uows 

 more room for the cell. 



For making queen-cages, instead of the common painted 

 wire cloth that is used for screen doors, I like better extra- 

 heavy bright wire cloth. It is more substantial. But E. R. 

 Root says queens have been poisoned in such cages, so have a 

 care, although I have had hundreds of queens in them without 

 noting any harm. Perhaps aU tinned wire cloth is not alike- 



' DISTRIBUTING QUEBN-CEiiLS. 



When the queen-cells are to be distributed, the first thing 

 is to provision a number of queen-cages of the No. 2 style, with 

 the usual queen-candy, tacking a piece of pasteboard on the 

 end of the plug. Then we go to the nucleus where the cells 

 are stored, cut out the cells, .rejecting any that do not appear 

 satisfactory, and put the cells in the cages. Some cells, how- 

 ever, are left uncaged. When we come to a nucleus that has 

 had no queen for a day or more, there is no need of caging the 

 cell. It is put against the comb in a good place, and fastened 

 there with a hive-staple (Fig. 85). Coming to a nucleus with 

 a queen which we wish to remove, we put the queen in a cage, 

 and give the nucleus a caged ■ cell, laying the cage against 

 the comb and nailing it there with a 1% or 1% wire nail (Fig. 

 93). This nail is slender so as to push easily through the mesh- 

 es of the wire cloth. Then the j'oung queens that we have re- 

 moved are used wherever needed. 



BEUSHING BEES OPE QUEEN-CELLS. 



Before cutting cells from the comb the bees must be re- 



