420 
Beekeeping 
breeding queen. This new frame contains two small starters 
of foundation about 4 by 1 inches, placed 4 inches from 
each end. If the nucleus is fairly populous, in a week this 
frame will contain considerable comb and the cells will con¬ 
tain eggs and young larva:. It is now taken away and another 
frame with starters substituted. The new comb is now 
trimmed so that the cells at the edge containing eggs are cut 
away, leaving young larvse on the border of the comb. It is 
then inserted in the middle of a strong colony which has 
begun to build queen cells in preparation for swarming, all 
former queen 
cells being de¬ 
stroyed and the 
queen being re¬ 
moved. In ten 
days the comb 
containing queen 
cells from eggs 
of the breeding 
queen is re¬ 
moved and the 
cells given to 
nuclei from 
which the queens are mated. They may if desired be left 
in a nursery cage to emerge. 
The Alley method. — For convenience, a method described 
by Alley has much to commend it. A strip of comb is cut 
out, just wide enough to contain one complete row of cells 
containing eggs. This is then cut down by removing about 
two-thirds of the side walls on one side. With a match 
or small stick, one in every two or two in every three eggs 
are destroyed, leaving the cells empty. The strip of comb is 
now fastened to the lower edge of a comb cut as represented 
in Fig. 184, the eggs remaining now being pointed down¬ 
ward. This prepared frame is now given to a queenless 
colony from which all young unsealed brood has been re- 
Fig. 184. — Comb cut for starting queen cells by the 
Alley method. A strip of partly drawn comb- 
foundation is here used to hold the eggs chosen 
for queen-rearing. 
