BEE MANUAL. 



227 



putting some ordinary sugar into a mortar, a little at the time, 

 and g-inding it up very fine, then adding a little honey while 

 still grinding it till it is as fine as butter. It must not be made 

 very soft, just so that it can be rolled into pretty firm balls 

 without flattening out much when placed on a board. 



Fig. 106.— ftUEEM SHIPPING CAGE. 



The cage I have been using lately, and found to answer very 

 well, is similar to the one used by Mr. Doolittle (Fig. 106). It 

 is made from a block of wood 3|in. long, 2in. wide, by 1 Jin. 

 thick. A l£in. hole is bored in the centre of the flat side of 

 the block to within less than a quarter of an inch of going 

 through. Two fin. holes are then bored in the edge, passing 

 down within an eighth of an inch of the sides of the larger 

 hole, but not breaking into it ; these also go nearly through 

 the block. A little very hot wax is poured into the small 

 holes to give the wood a thin coating ; this prevents it absorbing 

 the moisture from the food which is placed in these holes. A 

 small hole is cut with a penknife from the larger into each 



Fig. 107.— BENTON'S SHIPPING CAGE EOS TWO QUEENS. 



of the feed holes, and the latter are filled with food pressed 

 in tight and corked. The wire cloth can be partly tacked 

 on, leaving one corner open to put in the queen and bees ; 

 about eight bees are sufficient to accompany the queen. To 

 prepare it for mailing run a wide groove a quarter of an inch 

 deep in a three-eighth inch batten the width and length of the 



