426 
Beekeeping 
Many beekeepers prefer to use full Langstroth frames in 
boxes built to hold about three frames. 
Classification of queens. 
When a queen has mated (usually in five to eight days) 
and has begun to deposit eggs she is ready to use and is 
known in the queen trade as untested. At this time it 
cannot be determined whether she has mated with a drone 
of her own race, but if she is kept for a little over three weeks 
(until her progeny emerges) the color of the workers is taken 
as an indication of the purity or impurity of her mating. 
If apparently purely mated she is known in the trade as a 
tested queen. Further observa¬ 
tions may cause her to be classed 
as select tested or finally as a 
breeding queen. 
Mailing cages. 
If queens are to be shipped 
they are usually put in a queen 
mailing cage (Fig. 190) with some 
workers and an adequate supply 
of food, usually a soft paste or 
candy made by kneading together 
confectioner’s (not powdered) sugar and honey without 
heating. Queens are frequently mailed across the con¬ 
tinent or from Europe in these cages and have been 
shipped successfully to New Zealand. Usually a trip of 
over ten days results in considerable loss. 
Introducing cages. 
The queen mailing cage is also used as an introducing 
cage or special cages may be used for this purpose. Cages 
are so constructed that the queen is separated from the 
workers in the hive that is to receive her by soft candy. 
The workers gradually eat this out and in the meantime 
the queen acquires the colony odor so that when the candy 
Fig. 190. — Queen mailing cage. 
The right-hand hole is filled 
with candy which is then 
covered with a circle of comb- 
foundation or waxed paper. 
The cork at the end is re¬ 
moved when used for an in¬ 
troducing cage. 
