334 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. - 
portend no mischief, and the hive niay be closed ; 
but should the bees begin to run together and cover 
the' queen from view, she must be again caged, the 
bees being driven away by smoke. .No gloves should 
be used; they impede the operator, while they save 
from a really imaginary danger, since bees, under these 
circumstances, reserve their stings for the object of 
especial vengeance — our pet queen. It is one of the 
misfortunes of these cages that, after an apparently 
contented acceptance of the liberated mother, satisfy- 
ing the most critical eye, an encasement, without 
assignable cause, may follow within an hour or two. 
This is always attended with a good deal of noise and 
uproar, which generally shows itself at the hive door. 
If circumstances are suspicious, notwithstanding the fact 
that any meddling may itself start ' trouble, it is best to 
open the hive, and, if necessary, break up the regicidal 
knot, which may be lifted out with the fingers, and 
treated to smoke until the queen is visible, when 
recaging is the only alternative. 
Mr. Benton prefers a cage without a rim (C, Fig. 87), 
made of wire cloth, ten or twelve meshes to the inch. 
A piece 2in. by qjin. is rolled round a stick, and sewn 
with wire at the edges to form a cylinder. The end, 
cut into slits, and properly gored, is bent inwards to 
form a roof, into which a piece of warm foundation 
is imbedded with a pencil, five or six strands at 
the lower end being then enravelled. With the queen 
are caged half-a-dozen recently-hatched workers taken 
from the hive to which she is to be introduced, and her' 
prison is pressed into the comb until the wire points 
reach the bases of the cells. Bringing the frames to 
I 
