506 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



come in contact, yet allowing the bees free- 

 dom to go and come, to do as they will. 



If one has to draw often from his " maga- 

 zine of laying queens " it is much handier to 

 tie each box separately with tough cord, and 

 place them in the hive, without frames, ar- 

 ranged in tiers. Magazine hives should be 

 kept in a cool shady place. 



THE GRACE CEI.I,- COMPRESSOR ; A SIMPI,E 

 HAND TOOIv FOR RAPIDLY FORMING 

 QUEEN-CEI,I< CUPS IN SOI,ID PLUGS 

 OF COOL WAX BY PRESSURE ; 

 SHELL CUPS AND IMPROV- 

 ED HATCHERY. 



The cut on the preceding page is an excel- 

 lent and most comprehensive illustration of a 

 very handy little machine for making com- 

 pressed queen-cell cups or goblets into wax 

 plugs for queen-rearing. 



A brass die, F, is screwed fast to a plunger, 

 as shown at B. This plunger is jointed to the 

 handle, A, and the handle is pivoted to the 

 two uprights, bolted fast to a rigid frame, 

 thus forming a lever ; and when the handle is 

 brought down from the point indicated by the 



it is moistened, each time the handle is lifted 

 up, either by the tongue of the operator or 

 with a sponge saturated with castile soap and 

 water, or olive oil. 



Down at one side of the machine will be no- 

 ticed little wooden shells into which some 

 cups have been compressed. These "shell 

 cups ' ' are to render queen-cells more easily 

 removable or separable, which will be herein- 

 after fully explained. 



The machine does most excellent work in 

 these shell cups, at the rate of from 10 to 15 a 

 minute — all perfectly formed and partially 

 drawn, so that the bees will accept them quite 

 readily. 



The cut below is a perfect drawing of an 

 improved queen-nursery cage for the incuba- 

 tion of cells and the confining of virgin or 

 laying queens. 



The top-bar has a series of eight 3^ -inch au- 

 ger-holes, one inch apart, along its entire 

 length, into which wooden shells fit snugly. A, 

 A, are shells removed entirely from the holes. 

 B (1) is a shell in place, and B (2) is a sec- 

 tional view of the same. G shows how the 

 cells appear when fully drawn out by the 



THE SWARTHMORE QUEEN-NURSERY CAGE IMPROVED, SHOWING THE APPLICATION OF 



SHELL CUPS. 



dotted lines, the die is forced into the center 

 of the wax plug, forming a perfectly smooth 

 indentation, like the base of a natural queen- 

 cell, into which indentation larvae may be 

 afterward transferred or grafted, and from 

 which bees will construct queen-cells. 



The pressure not only makes a cavity in the 

 wax, but it forces out the edge of the cell to a 

 certain extent, which is very acceptable to the 

 bees because of its natural form and appear- 

 ance. 



A Swarthmore nursery-cage top-bar is shown 

 under the die, ready for compressing. To the 

 left are the finished cups, and to the tight are 

 plugs of wax yet to be pressed. These bars 

 are placed to accurate gauge upon the table. 

 Each time the handle is brought down the bar 

 is slid one notch further. In this way very 

 rapid and perfect cell-work can be done with 

 little or no exertion. Dies for the transfer of 

 "cradle and all," by the Pridgen method, 

 are made pointed at the end, and work well in 

 the compressor. 



To prevent the die from sticking in the wax 



bees. Along the bottom-bar is a correspond- 

 ing row of half -inch holes to receive bits of 

 sponge for the purpose of feeding the young 

 queens when confined entirely with wire. A 

 sponge in place, and a sectional view of the 

 same, is shown at E. 



Between the holes in each bar is a saw-cut 

 for receiving the division-tins, F, F, which 

 are easily slid in or out at will. 



Perforated zinc covers the front side, and 

 wire netting is placed over the back side of 

 this cage. The zinc is removable. The net- 

 ting is nailed fast to the cage by means of thin 

 strips at top and bottom. These strips, also 

 the netting, D, D, are shown torn away in the 

 drawing. 



The top-bar is removable, and may be used 

 in a frame as recommended by some of the 

 leading breeders of the country 



These cages fit six to the Hoffman frame — 

 two across and three to the tier, thus forming 

 compartments for 48 queens to the frame — a 

 great saving of space in the incubation of cells 

 or the storing of virgin or fertile queens when 



