6o 
On Rational Bee-Keepmg, 
or not ; and if deemed advisable, she can be 
removed and replaced by another queen. 
8. If we wish to Italianize a stock of black 
bees, the hive must be cleared by removing the 
combs with the bees on them, and placing the 
bees, combs and all, in an empty hive, in the 
same order as in the original one. The black 
queen must be removed, and the combs replaced 
in the hive from which they were first taken. 
After having left the bees for one day with- 
out a queen, the Italian queen may be intro- 
duced in a small wire cage provided for the 
purpose, a puff of smoke being blown into the 
hive at the same time. 
After having been left for at least one day 
in this cage, and not before, let the queen be 
liberated, and, generally, she will be gladly re- 
ceived by the whole colony. I have, however, 
had the misfortune, while performing this opera- 
tion, to lose three queens out of six. 
