1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



107 



but, thanks to our friend and brother, W. S. 

 Pender, of West Maitland, New South Wales, 

 Australia, the laws have been revised so we 

 shall not, in a certain sense, have to smuggle 

 the queens through. If 1 make no mistake, 

 we can now use a cage of any dimensions which 

 shall give the best results in mailing queens, 

 and are not obliged to be held to the dimensions 

 formerly given in our Postal Guide. From Mr. 

 Pender I received a cage 'of bees November 30. 

 The bees were all dead, and evidently died 

 within a day or two after mailing, as the candy 

 was scarcely touched; but notwithstanding this 

 I think the cage the best of any thing I have 

 seen, and so send it along with this, asking that 

 you, Mr. Editor, will have it illustrated, so that 

 all who wish to make a trial of bees to foreign 

 countries may know what it looks like. 



PENDEI! .MAn,IN(iCAGE. 



The fault that caused the bees to die, as I see 

 it, was in the candy, which is nearly as hard as 

 a rock. Hut I will let Mr. Pender tell us some- 

 thing about the matter, and what he expects of 

 this cage. Oct. 28 he wrote me as follows: 



Yesterday evening I mailed you a queen of no 

 special value, as an experiment. Tlie cage is a sug- 

 gestion wliicli I should like you to criticise in 

 Gleanings, if you tliink tliore is any merit in it. 

 You will see, no matter wliat position tlie cage may 

 be in, tlie bees c;ui get at the candy. You will also 

 note a provisioned close chamber in tlie center of 

 tlie cage, to whicli the bees are expected to retire in 

 cold weather. Will tliey do it? Tliis is the only 

 feature in tlie cage I am not sure about. The candy 

 used contains very little honey, hence very little 

 nitrogeneous mat.er to accumulate feces. The little 

 lioney used was l)rouglit to nearly the boiling-point, 

 and as much powdered sugar stirred into it as pos- 

 sible, and then kneaded witli the hands. I am going 

 to try a candy with no lioney, using a small quanti- 

 ty of a dBli(juescent substance, such as phosjihoric 

 acid, carbonate of potash, etc., in its pliice, to give 

 the necessaiy moisture. 1 think this would work 

 like a b irometer. In a cold climate it would absorb 

 moisture, and in hot weather it would dr.y out so 

 much that it would prevent running. By striking 

 a medium, candy should be made tliat would con- 

 tain no nitrogen, and hence not cause the hees to 

 ac-cumulate feces. I hoix' the cage will be the out- 

 Come of successful mailing of (jueens to Australia. 

 Yours res|)ectf ull.v, 



W. S. Penuer. 



I have no special criticism to make. Not a bee 

 was in the central chamber when it arrived, 

 nor do I think they would be apt to enter it, 

 should a cold wave strike them. My idea 

 would be to fill this central part with candy. 



having four openings, or feed-holes, to it; then 

 by having a large candy-hole in each of the 

 four corners there would be no danger from 

 their ever being cut off from their provisions. 

 Used in this way it gives promise of success 

 above any other, according to my opinion. Geo. 

 James, Gordon, N. S. W., Australia, under date 

 of Sept. 30, suggested something quite similar, 

 he having suggested the cage used with success 

 by Bianconcini in shipping to that country. It 

 would look as if we were making advancement 

 very rapidly in this matter of shipping queens 

 long distances, and I look forward with much 

 interest to the results of another summer. Will 

 Prof. Cook, S. Cornell, and others, give us a 

 little light along the line of making candy with 

 powdered sugar and phosphoric acid, etc., as 

 suggested by friend P.? G. M. Doot.tttle. 

 Borodino,' N. Y., Feb., 1S93. 



[There may be some good features in the 

 cage illustrated; but as we view it, we regard it 

 as too large, too expensive, and, worse than all, 

 too frail. We greatly prefer the No. 2 cage, 

 illustrated and described by our correspondent 

 on page 233 of last year. It is strong; and, 

 having four candy-holes, one at each corner, it 

 has practically the feature of the cage above 

 illustrated ; viz., giving the bees a supply of 

 food in several compartments, and so arranged 

 that all are not likely to get clogged up with 

 dead bees. We should be glad to hear from 

 Prof. Cook and S. Cornell on the candy ques- 

 tion. In the mean time, perhaps the following 

 letter from Miss Wilson may be of value,] 



A NEW BEE-CANDY. 



something that will keep soft and moist, 



for queen -cages, for a year or 



moke: how to make, etc. 



Some days ago Dr. C. C. Miller sent us by mail 

 a small tin box containing a soft moist candy, 

 which had been made more than a year pre- 

 viously, and inquired what we thought of it. 

 We were interested at once, because we had not 

 hitherto been able to make a candy that 

 would invariably keep soft and moist for more 

 than six weeks and yet not run and be dauby; 

 and even then, on account of sudden changes of 

 the weather, the candy would become so dry 

 as to let the bees starve, or become so dauby 

 and me=sy as to kill the bees by suffocation. 

 We thought that, if the article could be obtain- 

 ed, and could be made to remain soft, it would 

 be quite an acquisition. We at once wrote to 

 Dr. Miller, asking him where he got it, and 

 whether he knew how it was made. Aft(>r a 

 reasonable length of time, we received a let- 

 ter containing this exaspi'rating piece of infor- 

 mation: 



Dear Ernest: — You want to know how that 

 bee-candy was made. There are some people 

 who are selfish enough, when they find out a 

 good thing, to want to keep it to themselves. I 

 don't want to be egotistical, but I really think 

 I'm not one of that kind. In fact, I take a cer- 

 tain pleasure in telling things, and sometimes 

 tell more than people want to hear. As to how 

 that candy is made, I have no desire to keep it 

 a sc^cret, and would just as soon tell you as not; 

 but the fact is. I don't know. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111., Feb. 1.'). 



[After the doctor had led us to believe, clear 



