34 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



crude affairs. Of these I have no rec- 

 ollection. The first practical cage I 

 remember is the " Peet." It was a 

 good cage, but had some serious de- 

 fects, among which might be men- 

 tioned the side of tin which was cold 

 and smooth, so the bees could not 

 cling to it ; the cage was apt to become 

 loosened from its fastening when the tin 

 slide was removed and it was difficult 

 to put the queen and bees in the cnge. 

 It was too expensive, etc. When queens 

 were sold at $5.00 each the difference 

 of three or four cents in the cost of the 

 cage to ship in was a small matter ; but, 

 as competition and improved and sys- 

 tematic metliods of rearing bees re- 

 duced the price of queens, it became 

 necessary for dealers to reduce ex- 

 penses as much as possible, and one 

 way to do this was in tlie cost of the 

 cages, in shipping and introducing. 



About this time many breeders used 

 for shipping a plain block of wood, with 

 one large hole for the bees and one 

 smaller one for candy. This cage did 

 fairly well for shipping, but was not at 

 all suitable for introducing. In 1884 or 

 previously, Mr. Frank Boomhooverused 

 a cage altogether different from tliose 

 then in general use. A modification of 

 this cage is illustrated on p. 733, Glean- 

 ings, for 1885. The greatest objection 

 to this cage was the cost to manufacture. 



To Mr. Frank Benton is due the cred- 

 it of giving the idea which led to the 

 construction of the best shipping- and 

 introducing-cage now on the market. 

 Benton's cage was figured in 1884, was 

 designed for shipping queens across the 

 ocean and as such it was a perfect cage, 

 but it was not at all suitable for intro- 

 ducing, and the cost to manufacture 

 was too high ; but to Mr. E. L. Pratt is 

 due the credit of modifying this cage, 

 so as to make it practical for general 

 use, which he did about five years after 

 the publication of Benton's cage. 



Perhaps some assistance came from 

 myself, but I am sure I should not have 

 thought of it if the idea had not been 

 presented and myself requested to do so 

 by Mr Pratt. As many have wondered 

 why the cage was called the " Pratt 



perfection" I have given the above. 

 The modification of Benton's cage was 

 as follows : first, the cage was reduced 

 very much in weight, thus reducing the 

 carrying postage. Next, half the boxing 

 was di.^pensed with, thus reducing the 

 cost. The hole made by the worm of 

 the bit was done away with, thus mak- 

 ing smootli surface at the bottom of the 

 holes. Another important point gained 

 here is that the candy cannot leak out 

 and daub the mails. 



The cage is now made as follows : 

 sizes J X I X 44- inches; three i inch 

 holes bored from one side nearly 

 through. A | hole bored from one end 

 connecting all the inch holes ; this hole 

 is to put the bees in by, also for a pas- 

 sage way from one chamber to the other 

 and to give them access to the candy. 

 This I hole is covered by a small tin 

 slide on the end of cage. A small saw 

 kerf is made in the corner of this end 

 opening into the chamber — for venti- 

 lating purposes. So far as I know, this 

 idea was original with me ; if it was not 

 I shall not loose any sleep on account 

 of it. The inch-hole at the opposite 

 end from the tin slide is filled with 

 good candy ; a piece of wire cloth is 

 tacked over the top, covering all the 

 holes about | inch of the candy ; this 

 is left for introducing purposes and, by 

 the way, this idea, I think, belongs to 

 our friend Mr. Alley. A thin piece of 

 wood, having a | hole opening into the 

 hole nearest the tin slide, is fastened 

 with wire nails over the wire cloth cov- 

 ering the cage. Thus prepared, it is 

 ready for the mails, without any wrap- 

 ping, tying or other preparation. 



A cage on this plan is also made only 

 one-half inch thick. This latter requires 

 but one- half the postage of the thicker 

 cage and is also more cheaply made. 



While I feel a good deal as Dr. 

 Miller does, viz , that any implement is 

 not so good but something may be in- 

 vented which is better, still the cage 

 here described is so nearly perfect that 

 I do not know a single chance for im- 

 provements so that the name " Pratt's 

 perfection" is quite appropriate. 

 Waterboro, Me. C. W. Cosiellow. 



