64 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION 



the introduction of queens into strange colonies. The preparation 

 of a suitable cage for mailing queens long distances has made possi- 

 ble not only the introduction of many valuable races of bees, but 

 also the whole industry of queen rearing and trade which in itself 

 has grown to great s importance. The most generally used cage now 

 is the Benton cage, or a modified form of it. This cage was per- 

 fected by the writer's father, Mr. Frank Benton, when shipping 

 queens from Munich on long journeys, even to Australia. At this 

 time also was perfected the making of a suitable bee candy lor 

 food upon these long voyages and the discovery of the right ingredi- 

 ents. The pipe covered introducing cage of wire cloth which has 

 been found to be one of the most successful devices for this work, 

 was also constructed by the writer's father. A fuller description 

 of it and its uses will be given later. 



The Benton mailing cage is made of well seasoned, non-resin- 

 ous, soft pine, in two or three sizes, the essential feature being not 

 so much its size as its plan of construction, for the size may vary 

 with the length of the journey. The domestic cage commonly also 

 rsed as a trans-Atlantic cage, measures about three and a half inhces 

 in length by an inch and an eight in width and three-quarters of an 

 inch in depth. In this are bored three seven-eights inch auger holes, 

 the first or end one of which is waxed to serve as a food apartment 

 by pouring in melted wax and quickly pouring it out again. The 

 third or opposite end apartment is supplied with six awl holes on 

 each side for ventilation, these holes being sunk in a double groove 

 en the outside so that no flat surface coming up against the cage 

 in the mail sack can shut off ventilation. The middle apartment 

 is designed as a place into which the bees can go if cold or to get 

 sway from the light of the end apartment. The passage way be- 

 tween these two apartments is made somewhat smaller than the 

 entrance to the food apartment, to. allow having the middle apart- 

 ment secluded. The entrance to the food apartment must be large 

 enough to insure against the possibility of one or two bees getting 

 wedged into it and so cutting off the food supply of the rest. 



The food used in these cages is a stiff candy dough prepared 

 from pulverized sugar and well ripened light honey, kneaded to 

 the right constituency. The waxed cell is filled with this candy and 

 then sealed with a piece of combfoundation over the top, the cell 

 previously having been rimmed out to receive this covering. The 



