094 
QUEEN-BEARING 
of those introduced in the regular way 
where a single queen is introduced at a 
time and is confined in a cage not more 
than a couple of days. If the virgin is 
very young, just emerged, and the nucleus 
has been queenless a couple of days, she 
can be let loose quietly over the top of the 
frames without any caging; but care 
should be taken not to allow her to touch 
the hands, for the scent of the human body 
sometimes causes the bees to attack and 
kill her. 
INTRODUCING QUEEN-CELLS INSTEAD OF 
VIRGINS. 
Some queen-breeders prefer to give ripe 
queen-cells to their nuclei direct, claiming 
that too many of the virgins that they in- 
West queen-cell protector. 
troduce are lost.. It is true, the aver¬ 
age beginner will succeed better with cell's 
than with virgins; but if cells be given, the 
nuclei should be made strong in bees. In 
some cases it will be necessary to use \\ est 
queen-cell protectors to keep the bees from 
gnawing holes in them. • 
The long spiral cage is designed to slip 
under the queen-cell protector, and when 
the young queen emerges she will pass 
into the long cage, wbei’e she can be held 
secure from bees or other virgins in the 
colony that might kill her. 
MATING-HIVES. 
Before securing a lot of nice cells there 
should be in readiness a number of mating- 
hives, or nucleus boxes. The usual plan is 
to use one or two Langstroth combs cov¬ 
ered with bees and brood, and containing 
some honey, in little hives just large enough 
to hold two frames. Mating-liives of this 
kind have been used to a great extent in 
the past; but, as it generally happens be¬ 
fore the season is over, the bees will need 
more room than the box will accommodate. 
Tor this and other reasons to be explained 
it has come to be more and more the prac¬ 
tice to make use of a common Langstroth 
hive, either eight or ten frame. In the 
center, running lengthwise, is inserted a 
close-fitting division-board dividing the 
hive into two equal compartments. The bot¬ 
tom-board is adjusted in such a way that 
there will be an entrance at each end 'com¬ 
municating with each compartment. It is 
customary to have a separate inner cover 
to each compartment; then an additional 
cover that telescopes over the whole. There 
should be enough of these double mating- 
hives on hand ready for queen-rearing op¬ 
erations in the spring to take care of all 
After the battle. By accident a batch of cells were left for a day or so too long in a cell-building 
colony. The first virgin that hatched, true to her nature, waged an unfair war upon her helpless sisters, 
still in their cradles. Every cell was ruthlessly torn open, and the little white queen inside killed. A 
virgin queen will not stand for competition. This inborn instinct of hatred against a rival does not end 
with youth. Two laying queens—old enough to know better—will usually fight if placed together even 
in strange and unnatural surroundings. Place two queens under a drinking glass in the hot sun. If 
they could reason, we might expect them to forget their hatred of each other in view of their common 
predicament of being confined away from the care of nurse bees. But the powerful instinct of hatred 
is so strong that they will usually fight—fight until one or the other is stabbed by that poisoned 
weapon that is never used except against a rival. 
