554 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



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THE NEW QUEEN -MAILING CAGE FOR THE 

 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 



The Importance of Boiling Ail Honey Used in Mak- 

 ing Oueen-mailing-cage Candy. 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



On page 481 of our issue for August 15 we 

 called attention to the fact that foul brood 

 had been carried in the candy used in queen- 

 mailing cages into yards where the disease 

 had never before existed. ^lost queen- 

 breeders take the precaution to boil the hon- 

 ey that they use for making queen-cage 

 candy; but we learn that some have not 

 done so. There are several prominent foul- 

 brood inspectors who believe that foul brood 

 has been carried in some particular cases 

 through the mailing-cages. While no one 

 contends now that the queen or her atten- 

 dants may carry the disease, we do know 

 that infected honey, if used for making 

 queen-cage honey, could carry infection 

 where the candy metliod of introducing is 

 used. Notwithstanding that some queen- 

 breeders are inclined to doubt the transmis- 

 sion of tlie disease in this way, yet in view 

 of the awful and alarming spread of foul 

 brood over the country in the last ten years, 

 it would behoove all queen-breeders to err on 

 tlie safe side by boiling all honey that they 

 use in making queen-cage candy. This is 

 best accomplished by adding about ten per 

 cent water to the honey, and boiling the 

 combination for about half an liour; other- 

 wise the flavor of the honey will be impair- 

 ed, and the body will be too heavy to mingle 

 readily with the pulverized sugar. It is so 

 easy to do this that we do not see why any 



all the lioney from this time on, no matter 

 what method of introducing may be employ- 

 ed. Even if the jjresent mailing-cages using 

 tlie eat-out-candy plan of introducing are 

 discarded, and the push-in-comb-cage i)lan 

 here shown is adopted, the danger is that- 

 robbers may get at the old cage and thus 

 carry tlie infection to their hives. The aver- 



Cage pushed into the comb showing the manner 

 trochicing the confined queen. 



queen-breeder should object to taking this 

 precaution; and the probabilities are, if he 

 fails to do so, the bee-keepers of the country 

 will let him severely alone. 



Gleanings will be glad to publish a list 

 of all queen-breeders who will agree to boil 



The new mailing and inti'oducing cage with carton. 



age bee-keeper, not suspecting danger, might 

 transfer his queen into the introducing part 

 of the cage, and leave the mailing portion, 

 with the wire cloth removed, exposed to rob- 

 bers. 



THE NEW CAGES FOR MAILING AND 

 INTRODUCING. 



In our issue for Aug. 15, page 481, 

 we described the form of cage that we 

 were thinking of adopting — a cage that 

 eliminates the old-fashioned method 

 of introducing, and that, wliile admit- 

 ted to be tlie simjjlest to apply, is 

 probably the poorest of any method 

 that has ever been recommended. Its 

 general adoption by queen-breeders 

 probably arose from its simplicity and 

 convenience. 



The push-in-comb-cage plan de- 

 scribed in our standard text-books for 

 many years lias been acknowledged to 

 be one of the very best. But it did not 

 seem practicable to combine this form 

 jj^_ of introducing with a mailing - cage. 

 Two separate and distinct cages would 

 increase the bulk of the mailing 

 package as well as the postage. We solved 

 the problem, as we believe, very nicely by 

 making a wire-cloth introducing-cage just 

 the right size to telescope over the regular. 

 Benton cage. We made up a few samples 

 as per engravings here shown, together with 



