i84 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



think that Mr. DooHllle has used and 

 described this cage. Mr. F. Greiner, of 

 Naples, N. Y. also described it in Glean- 

 ings for October i, 189S; and I have to 

 thank Gleanings for the use of the cuts 

 that appear in this article. A circular 

 that I got out this spring for Mr. E. R. 

 Jones, of Milano, Texas, also described 

 this cage and method. 



The cage is made as follows: From a 

 piece of ordinary wire cloth, 6 x S inches 

 square, a piece i \ inches square is cut 

 from each corner. Each side and end is 

 then ravelled out to the depth of 5-<S of an 

 inch. The result will be a piece of wire 

 cloth looking something like figiue 2. 



The sides and ends are bent up at right 

 angles making a tray-like cage i '4 inches 

 deep, 3 '2 inches wide and 5^2 long, look- 

 ing something like figure 3. 



Tic- a 



To u.se this cage in introducing a queen 

 proceed as follows: First remove the old 

 queen from the colony to which the new 

 comer is to be introduced, then look over 

 the combs until one is found upon which 

 the bees are gnawing out in considerable 



numbers. Shake and lirush the bees 

 from this comb. If the circumstances 

 are such that the comb can now be car- 

 ried into some room, so much the better, 

 as it prevents any possible loss of the 

 qneen b}- taking wing. If she is clipped, 

 of course, this precaution is unnecessary. 

 Place the open side of the cage against 

 the face of the comb, choosing such a 

 spot that the cage will cover a place 

 where voung bees are emerging. It 

 might also be well to include beneath 

 the cage a little unsealed honej', although 

 Mr. Greiner s.ays that this is not necessary, 

 as the bees will feed the hatching young 

 as well as the queen. There certainly 

 can be no harm in allowing a little un- 

 sealed honey under the cage. Remove 

 from the shipping cage all of the escort 

 bees that came with the queen. Willi 

 the (jiieen alone in the sliijiiiing cage, 

 open one end and ])lacc the open end 

 un ler the wire cloth cage, raising one 

 end of the latter for this p irp se. Watch 

 carefvilh-, and, as soon as the cjueen 

 leaves the shipping cage, draw it out and 

 jircss down llu wire cIjIIi cage, thus 

 caging the (jucen agr.inst tlie surface of 

 the comb. Press tl.e cage into the comb 

 until the endsof the v ires at tl:e sides and 

 ends are firmly embedded in the .septum 

 or midrid of the comb. This must be done 

 carefully, yet thoroughly, or the bees 

 may undermine the cage and kill the 

 queen before the lime comes when they 

 \\()uld acce))l her. 



In replacing the coml) lie sure that 

 sufficient room is k f t so that the bees 

 can ]:)ass between the cage and the ad- 

 joining comb. The qneen will soon 

 have a retinue from the newly hatched 

 bees that are ready to accept her, as they 

 have never known any other queen. 

 She will soon l.egin laying in the few- 

 cells that are at her command, and when 

 she is released will be in nearly a normal 

 condition and surrounded by (juile a lit- 

 tle band of loyal followers. In three or 

 four days, if a fine escort is found hatch- 

 ed out under the cage, and the outside 

 bees are seen to be feeding the queen 



