FIFTY YEAES AMONG THE BEES 249 



has emerged and must be in the nucleus. If it is torn open in 

 the side, like the one at the extreme right, the capping being 

 still perfect, we are sure that the young queen in it was de- 

 stroyed by the bees. 



If the cells have merely been stapled on, the bees are so 

 prompt about removing them as soon as they are no longer of 

 any use that scarce a vestige of them is left, so we have nothing 

 to judge by. But when a cell is enclosed in a cage, the bees 

 are verj' slow about removing it, so the cage gives us a better 

 chance for judging. 



APPEARAJNCE OP VACATED CELLS. 



In Fig. 94 the first three cells at the left have the cap still 

 adhering by a neck, showing that it has been only a short time 

 since the queen emerged, provided the cell has not been caged ; 

 if it has been caged the queen may have been out some time. 

 The fourth cell looks entire, as if it yet contained a young 

 queen. But it is deceptive. The bees have a trick of fasten- 

 ing the cap back again as if it were a great joke, sometimes 

 thus imprisoning one of their own number. A very close look 

 will generally show a little crack, and a very little force will 

 be needed to pick the cap loose. The next six cells show plain- 

 ly that a young queen hasi emerged from each, and finding a 

 cell of that kind is just as good evidence as a sight of the 

 queen ; only I would a little rather see the queen for the bare 

 chance that she may not have perfect wingS. As already men- 

 tioned, the cell at the extreme right shows by the hole in its 

 side that no queen ever came out of it alive. 



MILLER QUBEN-NUBSERY. 



Whatever the advantages of using queen-cells instead of 

 virgin queens, there are also advantages in having the young 

 queens hatch out in a queen-nursery. So I have made consid- 

 erable use of a nursery of my own devising, Fig. 88%. It 

 may take the place of a brood-frame in any hive, in the lower 

 story or in an upper story, and it does not matter whether a 

 laying queen is in the hive or not. 



For this nursery I use a regular Miller frame, which lends 

 itself to the purpose admirably, top-bar, bottom-bar, and end- 



