The 1-acre cage now in use has top panels that are 20 feet 6f inches wide and 61 

 feet 75 inches long. The side panels are the same length except for 12 that were made 

 20 feet 6f inches long to permit flexibility in the width of the assembled cage. Medium- 

 length zippers were chosen to facilitate repairs when a section becomes damaged and 

 requires replacement, even though the full-length ones are available at higher cost. The 

 panels were made large in order to reduce the number of zippers required. The panel 

 size was limited by the weight of the material and the length of panel rolls that could be 

 handled. However, when using material as heavy as 20-mesh Saran screen, panel 

 lengths of approximately 30 feet would be recommended. 



All seams and zipper attachments were sewn with a double- needle industrial 

 machine. Dacron thread, Nos. 12 and 24, was used. Orion thread should be equally 

 satisfactory, but nylon is not recommended because of its greater elasticity. The 

 zipper bases should be sewn to panel corners in contact with adjacent closed sliders. 

 Small openings (3/8 to 3/4 inch) occur at four-way junctions of zippers, but there has 

 been no evidence that bees escape from or enter these openings. These openings can 

 be covered with temporary patches if necessary. 



The orientation of the zippers must be the same on all panels, as shown in 

 figure 6. Note that attachment of the slider side (A) and base plate side (B) of the 

 vertical zippers is reversed on the ends of the opposite side and end skirts to provide 

 for AB and BA closures. For example, when vertical A_ is attached to the starting 

 end of the skirt panels having the_A zipper sections for attachment to the B_ sections 

 of the top panels, vertical B_ must be used at the starting end of the skirts having the 

 B_ sections for attachment of the A^ sections of the top panels. The end panels can be 

 the same length as the three top panels, or the end panels can be made equal to the 

 width of the top panels in order to obtain greater flexibility in the dimensions of the 

 cage. 



Regardless of the panel dimensions, the panels should overlap the side of the 

 framework by about 2 inches. The side skirts shou].d have a 4-inch sleeve through which 

 the ground rail passes to anchor these skirts firmly to the ground. The sleeves are 

 sewn the full length of the side skirts and slit about 4 or 5 inches at the point of the 

 supporting post for insertion of the ground rails. 



