148 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



cured are astonishingly low. The leaving of 

 a colony queenless now for a few days is not 

 so objectionable as it is before the honey 

 harvest ; there is more leisure to attend to 

 the business ; and, all things considered, 

 there is no better time than fall in which to 

 make any desired changes in queens. That 

 others hold similar views would seem to be 

 indicated by the fact that the queen trade is 

 always good in September. In fact, we were 

 half inclined to make queen introduction the 

 special topic of the September issue, but 

 finally decided that the one we have chosen 

 would be better. 



WHY THE REVIEW WAS AND IS LATE. 



We had worked hard to "catchup," and 

 had succeeded. Tlie .June Review was out 

 on time, and we huped that it would be a 

 long time ere it should be ve)-y much late 

 again. The July issue was ready for the 

 press on the 7th, and we went to the freight 

 depot only to be surprised that the printing 

 paper had not come. We ordered a tracer 

 sent ; then, twice a day, for a week, we vis- 

 ited the depot. Then a second tracer was 

 ordered sent, and a second lot of paper 

 ordered. For about ten days more we con- 

 tinued to haunt the freight house, when the 

 paper last ordered arrived. In the mean- 

 time postals actually poured in saying : 

 "What has become of the -July Review V " 

 Don't imagine that these postals annoyed 

 us. They were a tribute of appreciation to 

 the Review. We have since learned the 

 cause of the delay. It was a strike among 

 freight handlers at Cincinnati. The papers 

 said that 4,000 loaded cars were side-tracked. 



Well, it made the last Review three weeks 

 late, but we have gained a week this month, 

 and expect to gain another next month, and 

 to be out on time again with the nr.rt issue. 



QUEENS FROM ALLEY AND CAGES FROM 

 OOSTELLOW. 



We had Bro. Alley send us twenty queens 

 reared from his famous "hundred dollar" 

 queen. They were certainly fine looking 

 queens, and came in good condition. 



Upon the side of each cage, printed with 

 a rubber stamp, was the following: "Man- 

 ufactured by C. W. Costellow, Waterboro, 

 Me." The cages are very neatly made. They 

 are, practically, the Benton cage, as we un- 

 derstand the matter. There are three com- 

 partments — one for food and two for the 

 bees. One of the " cubby holes " is ventila- 



ted, the other not. This allows the bees to 

 choose l)etween a cool or a warm " sitting 

 room." There is an opening in the end 

 where the food is. This opening is covered 

 on the outside by a small jnece of tin. By 

 turning this piece of tin around, the outside 

 bees are given access to the food, and thus 

 the queen is liberated by their eating out the 

 food. By the way, the queen can be libera- 

 ted from the Peet cage in a similar manner 

 — just draw the tin slide back until the food 

 is uncovered. But then, this is ignoring the 

 peculiar function of the Peet cage, that of 

 confining the queen against the surface of 

 the comb. We wish we knew whether there 

 really is any advantage in this function of 

 the Peet cage. It seems as though it were 

 an advantage, but we have never been able 

 to prove it such. If it isn't an advantage, 

 we don't want the Peet cage — there are 

 cheaper and better cages. Almost any cage 

 can be so arranged, by simply shortening the 

 wire cloth until it does not cover the food, 

 that the queen can be liberated by the bees 

 eating out the food. It looks as though we 

 were, at last, to have a good combined ship- 

 ping and introducing cage. 



We have bought 200 cages of Mr. Costel- 

 low, for our own use. So much for making 

 a good article, and letting peoj^le know it. 



BEE ESCAPES DO THE WORK. 



In a long, chatty letter about bee escapes, 

 from our friend Shuck, of Liverpool, 111., we 

 make the followtug extracts : — 



"One thing is certain, you know, and so 

 does every practical bee-keeper, if he will 

 only stop to think about it, that there can- 

 net l)e an escape made tliat will coax or 

 drive the bees from the supers, in the work- 

 ing season, in two or tlirec hours. It is con- 

 trary to their disposition to leave any part 

 of their domicile in so short a time, unless 

 they are " drummed " or severely smoked. 

 * * * * I have taken off 1,200 pounds of 

 coml ) honey with as little trouble and less 

 iuconvenitnce than I usually experience in 

 taking off 100 pounds, and it was all taken 

 off with bee escapes. 



I have been testing these escapes for a bee- 

 keeping friend. Mr. E. C. Porter of Lewis- 

 town, 111. HeUhas three different patterns, 

 all good, but some better than others. 



It is highly probable that you have had 

 something from Mr. Porter by this time. 

 If you have received a sample, doubtless you 

 exclaimed, as you have many times before, 

 'How simple! Why didn't some one think 

 of it before ? ' 



If there is anything about the working of 

 these little devices that you wish to know, 

 just drop me a card. I think I have been 

 over the whole ground." 



