I believe our breeders should be encouraged to give us the best; to study the art of breeding, and never send out an inferior queen. In this way we may hope to keep up the character of our apiaries, and the reputation of Italians. Else we are safer under the old system where "natural selection" retained the best, by the "survival of the fittest." REARING AND SHIPPING QUEENS. I have already explained the matter of queen-rearing. After many inquiries, and some experience, I much doubt if any apiarist can afford to rear queens, such as apiarists wish to buy, for less than four or five dollars. Only the best should be sold, and no pains should be spared by the breeder to secure such queens. TO SHIP QUEENS. This is a very simple matter. We have only to secure a square block two inches each way, and one and a half inches deep--a hole bored into a two-inch plank to within a quarter of an inch of the bottom serves admirably. In this should be inserted a piece of capped honey, which has been _entirely_ cleaned by bees. Bees will speedily perform this work, if the comb containing the honey is placed on the alighting-board. This must be fastened into the shipping-box, which is easily done, by pinning it with a slender wooden pin, which passes through holes previously bored in the box. We now cover the open chamber with fine wire-cloth, put in our queen and fifteen or twenty bees, and she is ready to ship. _Any uncapped honey to daub the queen is almost sure to prove fatal._ Mr. A. I. Root furnishes a cage already provisioned with sugar (Fig. 57), which is very neat and safe. I have received queens from Tennessee, which were fed exclusively on candy, and came in excellent condition. [Illustration: Fig. 57.] TO MOVE COLONIES. Should we desire to purchase Italian or other colonies, the only requisites to safe transport are: A wire-cloth cover for ventilation, secure fastening of the frames so they cannot possibly move, and combs old enough so that they shall not break down and fall out. I would never advise moving bees in winter, though it has often been done with entire safety. I should wish the bees to have a flight very soon after such disturbance. CHAPTER XII. EXTRACTING, AND THE EXTRACTOR. The brood-chamber is often so filled with honey that the queen has no room to lay her eggs, especially if there is any neglect to give other room for storing. Honey, too, in brood-combs is unsalable, because the combs are dark, and the size undesirable. Comb, too, is very valuable, and should never be taken from the bees, except when desired to render the honey more marketable. Hence, the apiarist finds a very efficient auxiliary in the HONEY EXTRACTOR.