The Rearing of Queens 
423 
and honey and it is best to have one an empty comb into 
which water is poured. The top of the box is removable 
and has two slots cut in it into which are fitted two cell bars 
which allow the queen cells to hang over the spaces between 
the frames. When the box is prepared with the frames 
fastened in place and the slots filled with the empty cell bars 
(or plain strips of wood), bees are shaken into the box suffi¬ 
cient to fill it more completely than bees are usually 
found in a hive, care 
being taken that a 
queen is not put into 
the swarm box. This 
should usually be done 
about ten o’clock in 
tlie morning when the 
field bees are mostly 
away from the hive, 
thus providing a sur¬ 
plus of young bees. 
In about six hours the 
empty artificial cell 
bases are removed one 
at a time and a worker 
larva transferred to 
each one, the hole 
meanwhile being closed 
by an extra cup. When this is completed the top of 
the box is covered snugly to keep the cells warm and 
the swarm box is put away in a dark cool place. Usually 
by the next morning most of the cell cups will have 
been built down and queen development will have be¬ 
gun. Considerable variation in the success of this method 
has been reported and there are numerous phases of this 
question on which more light is needed. Some strains 
of bees seem to be poor for this purpose. On the whole, 
however, when directions are carefully followed, a good 
number of fine queen cells will usually be obtained. The 
Fig. 186. — Swarm box for starting queen 
cells, showing position of frames and inner 
side of lid, with wooden cells in place, ready 
for bees. 
