MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

THOUSAND ANSWERS 173can feed her, she would likely endure confinement several timesas long as she would if the cage were left out of the hive withcandy for the queen to eat. I have often had a queen caged inher hive ten days or so with no apparent harm, and my guesswould be that she might stand it three to five times as long.Caged outside the hive, ten days might be all or more than shewould stand.Q. Can you cage a queen and put her in a colony having a layingqueen? If so, how long can she be kept there?A. Yes, and she may remain weeks, or she may be dead in afew days. She will be more sure to remain in safety if the cageis provisioned than if she has to depend upon the bees to feed her.Q. Wouldn't it be better to cage queens on a comb of unsealedhoney, on the push-in-cage method, than in cages with candy?A. The way you suggest would be better if the queen be cagedin a strange colony; if caged among her own bees there wouldbe no advantage in it. For in that case the bees feed the queen,which is probably better than for her to feed herself.Q. What is the proper procedure necessary in the caging ofa queen over another hive, as in the case of taking one out forten days or so, in the several different methods of management?What kind of a cage is used, and how and what is the queen fed?Is the common Benton mailing cage all right when provided withgood candy?A. Any cage that will go easily between the combs willanswer, such as the Miller cage. The Benton cage is too bulky.Sometimes, however, instead of being put between the combs,the cage is merely thrust into the entrance of the hive. No needof any food inthe cage; the bees will feed the queen.Q. In sending queens by mail, what are escort bees put in for,to keep up the temperature, or feed the queen?A. The escort bees feed the queen and keep up the temperature,and it is quite possible that they serve an important purposein keeping up her spirits by their genial company.Queens, Clipping.—Q. Is there any danger of clipping thequeen's wing too soon or before she takes her mating flight?A. Great danger. If you clip her before mating she will bea drone-layer, if she lays at all.Q. What is the advantage of clipping the queen's wings?A. The advantage is that a prime swarm with a clipped queenwill return to its hive because the queen cannot go with it.