1881 



(JLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



371 



courso. there was no communication witii tiie 

 hive below: and after the young queen began 

 laying I then set the nucleus in a new place, 

 and all its flying force would unite with tiie old 

 colony. 



Here's a plan that might work foi- those who 

 want increase but prefer to have no swarm- 

 ing. Just l)efoi'e then^ is danger of swarming, 

 make the hive two-story, putting only one 

 frame of lu'ood in the upper stoiy, and the rest 

 in the lower story \\ith a cloth lietween. leaving 

 the queen in the upper story. In about twelve 

 days, set the lower story in a new location. 

 This latter will be so i-ediic.ed in bees by the re- 

 moval that I think it will not swai'in. and the 

 old cohmy will be left in nearly the same condi- 

 tion as if it had cast a s\\ arm. But that's only 

 my guess in the matter, and the bees would 

 have to be consulted about it before the plan 

 could be trusted. C. C. Mii.i,ki!. 



Marengo, 111., Mar. lo. 



[Friend M.. we decided, about as you have, 

 that uniting two colonies that are fairly started 

 in spring, is, if any thing, a detriment in results. 

 Of course, it is a good idea to unite two colonies 

 so weak in numbers they wonld not])ull through: 

 but where they are fairly started, and have got 

 things fixed to go right on when fruit-blossoms 

 open, I do not believe it best to break up their 

 arrangements, as we must do more or less to put 

 two together. If one has more bees than he 

 wants to care for. and no market for them, he 

 might thus reduce his number of stock.s, it is 

 true. I 



DEWEY'S PEET CAGE. 



THE NEW SIIIPI'IXK AM) IN TKODUCING CAGE. 



Mr. Root:— We hand you an electrotype for 

 Gleanings, which you kindly offered to insert. 

 If agreeable we would add a word to the read- 

 ers unfamiliar with the iinu)vation. 



DEWEY S improved PEET CAGE. 



This is a standard Peet cage, save in having 

 a wire-cloth slide beneath the tin slide, and 

 tliree openings u|)on the edge into the candy. 

 The original Peet cage is convenient in weight, 

 shape, and size foi- the summer transport of 

 queens. The objections upon different grounds 

 made to it in Gleanings by Dr. Miller, Mr. 

 Doolittle. and others, need not be repeated. It 

 may be recalled how they demonstrated that 

 time, combs, and queens, are too valuable to be 

 devoted and sacrificed to the use of the Peet 

 cage as originally devised. 



The Peet idea of introduction, indeed, is ob- 

 solete: but the cage has advantages not inhe- 

 rent in the Benton, the Pratt, and other popular 

 cages. There is the chief objection, that it has 

 but one apartment. The new cage, as entitled 

 above, has received this criticism, with the ob- 

 jection of extra cost: but it bears lightly these 

 disparagements, trusting that time will show 

 them both to be more or less immaterial. 



The improved cage will diop between the 

 coaibs, with very little spacing, into the midst 

 of the bees, where its two gauze sidles invite 

 speedy acquaintanceship. What other cage 

 has these two advantages— location in the clus- 

 ter, and publicity of the queen? The time of 

 liberation is dependent upon the number of 

 passages uncorked to the outside bees. The 

 Benton cage has itut one opening, and is too 

 thick to slide between the combs. 



Will bees be shaken about moi-e by transit in 

 a shallow cage like the improved Peet. than in 

 high-walled compartments of the other trans- 

 mitters? There seems to be an answer- upon 

 theory. We will let experience give the ver- 

 dict. Again, the bees are not in immediate 

 contact with a chilling tin surface. Mr. I*. H. 

 Elwood suggests that wax applied to the inside 

 of the slide in cold weather might tend to re- 

 tain the warmth. This may be done, or a pa- 

 l)er may be slipped between the tin and the 

 gauze. 



For those yet desirous of using an old and fa- 

 miliar method of introduction, the improved 

 cage will be a Peet cage still by removing tiie 

 gauze slide. On the other hand, when the tin 

 slide is di'awn away the queen may be intro- 

 duced by almost any method now in vogue, and 

 as soon, or as remotely as desired. All are free 

 to use the cage. It has good points: do not 

 sweepingly condemn it. The saving of queens 

 in introduction will cover its extra cost, which 

 is not large. The Falconer Manufacturing Co. 

 are now making the cage. It will probably 

 never come into luiiversal use, but has a place 

 to fill for a considerable class who desire at 

 once a fair shipping and a reliable intiodut*ing 

 cage. F. H. i^c E. H. Dewkv. 



Westfield. Mass.. P'eb. 2r>. 



[The cage as you have changed it is certainly 

 improved: hut it just occurs to us now. that, 

 if you had gone just one step further, you 

 could have improved it still more, and still 

 have retained many of the featui'es 

 valuable in the original and new 

 Peet cage: besides all this, it would 

 cost less. Why have the tin slide 

 at all ? This, you remetuber, is one 

 of the naughty featui-es of the old 

 Peet cage. The wood will shiink 

 or swell so the slide will he either 

 too loose or too tight. We would 

 make the cage this way: The tr ire- 

 cloth slide you have adopted is a 

 good thing. Go a little further and 

 make tivo wire-cloth slides, and 

 groove both sides of the cages 

 alike, and shove the wire-cloth 

 slides, one on each side, into the 

 grooves. Cover both sides with a light sti'ip of 

 wood \ inch thick, and the size of the cnge. 

 These are to be held in place by nailing. The 

 purchaser, on receiving his queen, simply pi-ies 

 off one of the wooden sides and then inti'odiices 

 by the candy or Peet method. If by the Peet 

 method, he fastens the cage against the comb, 

 in the regular way. and withdraws the wire 

 cloth in place of the tin slide. Why. friend 

 Dewey, you have given a suggestion that ena- 

 bles those who still like the old Peet method of 

 introducing, and still do not like some of the 

 disagreeable features of the Peet cage, to have 

 just what they have been looking for, without 

 most of the objections. Still, for all this we 

 think the Benton cnge is supeiior. It ix the one 

 cage thot has carried queens snrcessfnUij by 

 rtviil to A}istralia. bach and forth to Europe, 

 (tcroi^s continents, and to the i'slands of tlie sea. 

 One great reason foi- this is the tliree small 

 compartments instead of the oiu' lai'ge one.] 



E. K. 



