136 A Modern Bee-Farm 



the condition of the hive, whether it contains queen cells up 

 to the point of hatching, brood in every stage of development, 

 fertile workers, or no brood at all. 



My "Comb Method," 



first brought to public notice by my pamphlet in 1881, consists in 

 taking a queen from a nucleus, or otherwise, upon the comb she 

 is parading among her own bees, and then inserting the whole 

 into the desired hive, using a little smoke as in ordinary mani- 

 pulation, Be careful to carry the comb in an uncovered box from 

 nucleus to full colony, and before inserting the same, part the 

 combs of the hive to give plenty of room and admit light. {See 

 also " Uniting." 



The "Fasting Method," 



long since practised by myself, and mentioned in my pamphlet 

 upon Direct Introduction, I have since improved by inserting the 

 queen at night. The three things of importance to be observed 

 are as follows : — (i) Keep the queen quite alone for not less than 

 thirty minutes ; (2) she is to be without food meanwhile ; (3) and 

 to be allowed to run down from the top of the frames after dark- 

 ness has set in, by lamplight. It is also important that the same 

 receptacle be not used twice over for holding the queen during 

 the thirty minutes' probation without first being scalded or other- 

 wise cleansed. Of course a metal cage is easily made clean, 

 though there is no objection to the cheap " safety '' match boxes 

 so commonly in use, as there is nothing obnoxious about this 

 kind. My own practice is to carry the queens in the vest pockets, 

 in small tubular cages made of fine perforated zinc or tin, one end 

 permanently closed, while the other end is pressed into a piece of 

 foundation after the queen is in. When ready, remove the founda- 

 tion and let the queen run into the hive. Caution : — Make no 

 examination after inserting a queen, by either of the two foregoing 

 plans, until 48 hours have expired. 



The above meets all requirements, whether the colony has 

 been long, or only a short time queenless ; if it has brood or not. 



