The EWK hives are used for transport to a mating station and therefore for queen insemination or for controlled mating through artificial insemination or natural mating at a mating station. For this purpose, the queens, along with approximately 1,000 young bees, are sieved through a queen excluder and placed in a mating box (EWK, single comb hive, or multi-comb hive). The mating boxes must be provided with sufficient feed.