710 



ULEAJS'IiVGS IN HEE CULTllRE. 



Oct. 1. 



think. Yon will ohsorve in the article bolow 

 what I say in favor of the Bonton cage.— We 

 are glad to get the facts in regard to iinlinislied 

 sections. So far as T i-eniember, it seems to be 

 generally agreed that unHiiished sections that 

 have no honey in them are valuable. E. R. 



Recent DEVELepjiENTp 



CONDUCTED BY ERNEST R. ROOT. 



SHIPPING Ql'KKNS. 



I liave been aware of the fact for a year or 

 two. that the Peet cage, thougli eminently suc- 

 cessful for introducing, was far from being sat- 

 isfactory for mailing queens. In view of tliis. 

 for over a year back, in our queen department 

 we have been testing ditTerent cages; and final- 

 ly, during tlie latter part of last s(>ason. and the 

 whole of this, we have been sending over half 

 of our queens in the Benton. Tliis is the cage 

 that our friend Frank, now of Municii, Ger- 

 many, first introduced for mailing queens across 

 tlie ocean, and those who have I'eceived queens 

 by mail from JNIr. Benton can testify to tlu^ 

 remarkably good condition in wliich the queens 

 were received, altliough they have come from 

 (Jermany, across the ocean, and then across our 

 own continent in some cases. I luive felt that 

 perliaps tluM'e might be a good many queen- 

 rearers who weri' negk'cting to avail tliem- 

 selves of a good thing, and hence I am glad, 

 after a nM)st thorough test, to nu'ntion it. 



As Mr. Benton did not originally design it for 

 introducing, however successful it might be foi' 

 mailing queens across the continent, it would 

 hardly be suited to our purpose unless it could 

 be so adapted. It took very gi'cat ingenuity to 

 modify it. as the engraving below will show. 



KENTON'S MAILING - CA(iK, AS USED AT THE 

 HOME OF THE HONEY-BEES. 



The figure on the left shows the block as 

 iiored out I'eady foi' the recei'tion of the bees 

 and candy. Its outside dimensions are 4f-^xlX 

 \h. Three holes 1% in diameter, by ,^ deep. 



tion, while the center one has no opening ex- 

 cept a communication through the end hole. A 

 piece of stout manilla pai)er covers the centei" 

 and candied hole, and tlicn wire cloth covers all 

 three. The feature of tiiis cage is. that for 

 warm weather the bees ciiu seei< the end hole, 

 witli ample ventilation through the saw-cut in 

 one corner, and by the \vir(> clolh whicli has a 

 direct communication from the outside. For 

 cold weather, or when the bees, perchance, go 

 ovei' the mountains, they will naturally huddle 

 into the center hole, w here it is warmer. To 

 introduce, simply follow directions whicii we 

 print on the nice clean basswood cover, as seen 

 below: 



The hole through the wire cloth, through 

 which the hive l^ees eat to the candy, willbeseen 

 in the cage near the center. To put the queen 

 into the cage, the wire cloth is slid back, and 

 th(> bees are ])icked up individually, one by one, 

 by the wings, until twenty or thii'ty have lieen 

 put in. the number depending upon the weather, 

 after which the wire cloth is tacked down. The 

 cover, with ])rinted directions as below, is taJck- 

 ed over the cage covering the wii-e cloth, with 

 foui' half-inch wire nails. To mail, with a 

 coarse pen we print the directions in a neat 

 back-hand lettering, which most of the clerks 

 in the ottice know lunv to do. A two-cent stamp 

 is then jjut on at tlie right, and tlie cage is 

 ready for California or any other remote point 

 in the United States, without wi'apping or 

 string. 



The almost universal testimony of our cus- 

 tomers is. that the queens aiTive in these cages 

 in splendid condition. When(>ver a Peet cage 

 fails to delivei' the quecms, they are always re- 

 placed in the lienton. With the exception of 

 two oi' three inst;inces (when we put in only 

 three atteiuiants) during our large queen-trade 

 this sunnner and part of last, it has been suc- 

 cessful. Its gi-eat superiority in mailing, over 

 the Peet, has lieen so very marked that we have 

 about decided to use it entirely next season. As 

 to the comjiarative merits of the two, the card 

 below speaks for itself. It seems we had sent 

 our customer some queens in the Peet cages. 

 They, failing to go througli, were replaced in a 

 Benton cage, and this is the way our customer 

 wrote: 



The queens came this morning-, no dead bees in 

 either (age. They were just as livelj' as when you 

 took them from the liives. I don't want any more 

 queens in the Peet cage. E. D. Howell. 



New Hampton, N. Y., Sei)t. 6. 



Not long ago we sent twelve queens in Benton 

 cages to Reno, Nevada. Our customer, Mr. W. 

 K. Ball, writes of their condition as follows: 



Directions for Introducing with the Benton Cage. 



Before introducing, lie sure that the colony is (pieenless. A colony long (pKH'nless is not 

 so good as one lately so. To introduce, pry off the cover, and note the t'onriil ion of the queen, 

 bay the cage under the enamel cloth or quilt, on top of tlie frames, directly over the .'luster, 

 wu-e cloth down. Tf the weather is cold, insert the ciige l)etween the frames in the clustei'. 

 In ;J-t or 48 hours, by means of the opening to the candy through the wiie cloth at one end, 

 the bees will eat tluough the candy, when they will hv ready to accept the queen. TTnless the 

 (lueen jippears feeble, do not examine again for 48 hours, if she is not yet icleased, and is in 

 good condition, close the hive up again. The bees will shortly release her. The point is, the 

 bees should release the queen themselves. While this method gives general success, we can 

 no( guarantee safe introduction. We only guarantee delivery of a queen alive and in good 

 order. If the queen is dead upon oiiening this package, notify us at once and we will replace 

 f rec uf , harge. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. 



ar(> bored just close enough to leave an opening 

 from one to the other. The furthei- one is tilled 

 with candy. The other two are for the bee.s. 

 The end iiole provides an abundance of ventila- 



Thc twelve <iueens all arrived O. K. They are very 

 nice. W. K. Ball. 



Reno, Nev., Sept. 15. 



Ml'. .1. I). Fooshe. who has had renuiikalile 



