REARING IMPROVED RACES. 265 
ready to hatch, from the best breeding mother. 
Unless very great care is used in transferring a royal cell, 
its inmates will be destroyed, as her body, until she is nearly 
mature, is so exceedingly soft, that a slight compression of 
her cell—especially near the base, where there is no cocoon— 
generally proves fatal. For this reason, it is best to defer 
removing them, until they are within three or four days of 
hatching. A queen-cell, nearly mature, may be known by 
its having the wax removed from the lid, by the bees, so as 
to give it a brown appearance. 
618. If the weather is warm, and the hive, to which a 
queen-cell is given, is very populous, the cell may be intro- 
duced by simply inserting it in its natural position between 
two combs of brood. Jt is very important to have the queen- 
cell in or near the brood, or the bees might neglect it. 
Sometimes, the bees so crowd their royal cells together 
(fig. 91) that it is difficult to remove one without fatally 
(Fig. 91.) 
CLUSTER OF CELLS. 
(From Alley’s Handy 
' Book.) 
injuring another, as, when a cell is cut into, the destruction 
and removal of the larva usually follows. Mr. Alley, by 
his method, given further on (628), found a remedy for 
this. If many queens are to be raised, it is well to have a 
new supply of cclls started every weck or even oftener. 
