1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



33 



home garden under such high culture, 

 indeed, a real picture. 

 Cincinnati, Ohio. 



It is, 



-•^^••♦♦•-•-« 



DEMONSTRATION CAGES. 



A Simple Handy Collapsible Wire-cloth 

 Ca^e for Public Demonstration of Bee- 

 handling- or for Work in a Bee-yard. 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



Perhaps some of our I'eaders know that I 

 have been giving talks on bees with practical 

 demonstrations in the handling of them, be- 

 fore church and Y. M. C. A. organizations, 

 at various points in this State, and it has oc- 

 curred to me that there might be some who 

 will be called upon to do the 

 same thing, and would, there- 

 fore, like to know how I do it. 



In order to handle bees be- 

 fore a public audience, espe- 

 cially at night, where the lights 

 might draw flying bees, it is 

 necessary to have a portable 

 cage of suitable dimensions, and 

 yet one which can quickly be 

 put in a knock-down condition, 

 to be shipped in a trunk or 

 wooden case. 



The subjoined illustration 

 shows the cage which I have 

 used in various public demon- 

 strations. It consists of four 

 wire-cloth panels, one of them 

 containing a door, and a top 

 covered with muslin. Each pan- 

 el is made of a wooden frame 

 stiffened by three corner-pieces 

 secured at the intersections, and 

 covered with wire cloth. Four 

 of these panels are placed up 

 against each other, and secure- 

 ly fastened by means of Van 

 Deusen hive-clamps, as shown. 

 Contrary to what one might 

 expect, these Van Deusen fast- 

 eners make a very solid and 

 strong cage, and yet one can, 

 in the space of two minutes, put 

 the whole thing in the knock- 

 down by loosening the clamps 

 and slipping the panels into a 

 large flat oblong box. 



After having tried this cage, 

 and carried it over the country 

 to various points, it occurred 

 to me that something of this kind would 

 be very serviceable in an ordinary bee- 

 yard, especially where queens are reared. 

 While one can make up a solid non-collap- 

 sible cage, yet in the winter time its dimen- 

 sions will not admit of its going into any 

 door. For that reason it is desirable to have 

 a structure that can be put in the knockdown 

 and stored away during winter or during 

 that time of year when it is not needed; for 

 it is only during the robbing season that it 

 would be actually required. For the purpose 

 of grafting cells, or performing any extend- 



ed manipulation over a colony, it is almost 

 indispensable, for one can work securely free 

 from robbers, with any degree of comfort. 



If one were to do a large amount of trans- 

 ferring, he would find a cage of this kind very 

 convenient. There are many bee-keepers 

 who make a business of transferring in a giv- 

 en locality. With an outfit of this sort one 

 can collapse it, put it into a wagon, and, on 

 arriving at destination, set it up, and trans- 

 fer hour after hour, without any danger from 

 robbers. 



We have been using the non-take-down 

 cages in our yard, but, unfortunately, unless 

 secured they will be blown all about the yard. 

 On one or two occasions a gust of wind has 

 caught them, smashing them completely. 

 We have been compelled to fasten them to 



A NEW COLLAPSIBLE CAGE FOR MAKING PUBLIC DEM- 

 ONSTRATIONS OF BEE-HANDLING. 



trees or some stable object; but in that case 

 they are exposed to the weather, and in one 

 season are of but little value, as they begin 

 to pull apart. This collapsible cage, with 

 its Van Deusen clamps, permits one to put it 

 out of the weather and into a building just 

 as soon as its use is not required. 



The cage here shown is 30x38 inches, and 

 6 ft. tall. Any good mechanic can make it 

 out of pine strips | inch square, and a few 

 yards of screen wire cloth and 16 Van Deu- 

 sen hive-clamps. It will pay for itself in 

 one season in almost any yard. 



