180. Slide the mailing cage screen side up under the open end of the screen cage so that the open hole in the end of the mailing cage is under the wire screen and so that no bees can get in or out at the joint between the two cages. Remove the paper strip or cork if present that covers the hole in the other end of the mailing cage so the bees of the hive can get to the candy. The comb may then carefully be placed in the queenless hive in such a way that the cages will not be displaced.

181. Close the hive and do not open it for 7 days. By that time the bees will have eaten the candy out of the mailing cage and liberated the queen. She will usually be found to be laying eggs freely at the end of the 7 days. This method will usually be found safe because the young bees that emerge under the cage accept the queen far more readily than older bees ever do. They feed her, she starts laying and becomes quiet, and her acting in a normal manner has much to do with her acceptance. While under the cage she acquires the colony odor and the bees outside the cage get acquainted with her in the meantime. Open hives infrequently where queens are introduced or not at all until they are released and begin laying.

182. Many manipulations necessary for successful beekeeping are governed by the life history of bees. By that we mean that many manipulations can be done only when the beekeeper is familiar enough with the life of the worker bee or queen to know just when the worker bee or the queen may e-merge. On the next page there are 3 tables which show the life history of the worker bee, queen bee, and drone bee. You will note that it takes approximately 21 days from the time the egg is laid before the full grown worker bee emerges from the cell in which the egg was laid. You will note that it takes approximately 16 days only for a full grown queen to emerge and that approximately 24 days are required for the drone to emerge. It is well that you commit these to memory. They have an important bearing upon much of your work. For instance, it is necessary to know that when a colony swarms, that this usually occurs at the time the first queen cell in the hive has been capped. At the time of capping the queen within the cell, having been in the form of an egg for 3 days and a larva for approximately days, is 81/2 days of age and is due to emerge in 71/2 days from the time the queen larva stops eating, spins her cocoon, and is capped over by workers. This is important because if swarm control measures are not taken within 7 days from the time the prime swarm issues, one or more after swarms will issue as fast as the queens emerge from the queen cells remaining in that colony. If you recall what was said in paragraph 100 where the method of controlling after-swarms is described, you will see why we said these control measures must be taken within 7 days after the prime swarm issues.

183. Although successful beekeepers usually follow the rule of requeen-ing every colony at least once every 2 years, it is necessary to requeen any colony when the queen of that colony begins to fail. The average beginner is confused in attempting to figure out when a queen fails and how her failure may be recognized. Occasionally young queens fail. More frequently queens fail after their second year, or when they have been injured in some way, or are subnormally developed. A good queen, when she has all the support she needs in the form of plenty of workers, an adequate supply of empty worker cells, an abundance of honey in the hive and at least a small quantity of nectar coming in, will start egg laying in the center of the comb. She continues in concentric circles missing but very few, if any, perfect empty worker cells within these circles. By referring to illustration No. 38 you will see the shape the brood nest takes when a normal laying queen is present, the shape of the brood nest being aptly described as an elongated sphere.

Development Periods in Days

184. A good queen will sometimes lay more than one egg in a cell, but this will only be done by a good queen where there is so small a number of worker bees in the hive that they cannot care for all the eggs she can lay if they were laid normally, one in each cell. On the other hand, a poor queen, when conditions are such that she should lay normally if she were prolific, will lay more than one egg in a cell, frequently depositing some of the eggs on the sides of the cell. Normally only one egg will be laid in a cell with one end attached to the center of the base of the cell, and standing almost parallel with the cell wall. The egg of a queen bee is very small and pearly white in color. See figure 35.

185. A good queen will often pass over drone cells without laying eggs in them, while a failing queen will rapidly increase the number of drone eggs she lays until, in the last stages of her existence, she will frequently deposit drone eggs in worker cells. A prolific queen will usually move slowly but gracefully over the combs. Frequently her body during the warm season when nectar is coming into the hive is very much distended because of the large number of eggs that are being produced within her body. However, a good queen is not necessarily always large as sometimes a comparatively small queen will lay a large number of eggs, showing exceptional fertility. On the whole, beekeepers tend toward good sized queens, and the easiest way of determinating the value of the queen is by her performance. If she lays evenly in a good worker comb and does not skip many cells, it will usually be a sure indication that she is prolific.