254 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
consequence, have a breeding queen ten or eleven 
days earlier than if left unaided : in view of the enor- 
mous laying powers of the mother bee, an advantage, 
as before remarked, equivalent to a swarm. 
We have now the opportunity, if possessed of other 
skeps, to repeat the operation upon as many pairs of 
these as there are ripe queen-cells at command, for 
each two made into three will require but one new 
queen; and if we have been wise enough to select for 
yielding our first swarm a stock which gave fine results 
the previous summer, we, by this step, not only, 
possibly, satisfy the swarming impulse and secure sortie 
increase, but also tend to improve the strain of our 
bees. 
The queen-cells are frequently planted upon the 
lower edges of the combs, so that any one of them may 
be easily taken out, even from a skep, by cutting 
away with it, with a thin, sharp knife, or a piece of 
sharpened clock-spring rounded at the end, about a 
square inch of comb, while the bees are kept in check 
by a little smoke. There is some difficulty in inserting 
queen-cells into skeps, as they must be placed in the 
midst of the brood if possible. By separating the 
combs a little, one may be passed between them, and 
simply held by their grip, or it may be put in at the 
feedhole between the combs, room, if necessary, being 
cut for it. The position in which it stands is not 
material — it will hatch on its side, or upside down, 
unless inverted at an early stage — but the cell itself must 
be free at its extremity, to give the queen an exit. 
Queen pupae are very sensitive to chill, so care should 
be taken in not exposing to cold the cells, which the 
