56 
On Rational Bee-Keeping, 
After having made an artificial swarm by 
division, one or more combs containing royal 
cells, sealed up, may be removed at the end of 
ten days ; and you will thus have queens in the 
new swarm at the end of five days at most. It is 
possible, also, to cut out a royal cell containing 
an Italian queen before she is hatched, and to 
place it in a hive in which there is no queen. 
In this manner a hive of black bees can be 
converted into a hive of Italians. It is quite 
clear that the above-mentioned cells can only be 
found in the hives where the queen no longer 
remains. 
According to the system of division, two facts 
will become evident. 
1. In that .part of the hive which remains in 
its original position, the bees will continue to 
work with activity ; they will even increase so 
rapidly that it may be necessary to place a 
second hive underneath, which they will some- 
times fill in ten days or a fortnight. 
2. As to the compartment of the hive which 
has been removed, the bees will not leave it for 
some days ; they will also decrease in numbers, 
seeing that a certain number will return to the 
original hive. 
