Can anyone offer a link/contact to a European supplier who still sells the traditional Benton type wooden queen cages? I think I've tried most companies but hope that I may have missed one.
Wooden Postal Cages
Can anyone offer a link/contact to a European supplier who still sells the traditional Benton type wooden queen cages? I think I've tried most companies but hope that I may have missed one.
I think Geller in Germany sells them - others there do too.Originally Posted by prakel
http://bienenzuchtbedarf-geller.de/s.../sCategory/130
Or you could make your own, of course:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXNyWD1LrBQ
Hi, thanks for the link -I'd forgotten about them. Not quite what I'm looking for and the price is maybe a little steep when compared to the US/Aus offerings, even after shipping and duty. But there are a few other items on their site at quite competitive prices -I'll have a proper look later this evening.
As someone who builds his own boxes and mating nucs I'm finding it hard to understand why I hadn't thought of making them myself!!
Sorry to muck up your thread prakel, but why? The modern alternatives are head and shoulders more practical and cheaper IMHO
I wouldn't argue with this to be honest. Some of the modern cages are excellent value and very useable too. Looking ahead we've put a lot of consideration into the possible use of wooden cages possibly for the wrong reasons -a different way of presenting queens being one.
Don't get me wrong, I've used plastic cages and would be happy to continue doing so if no viable alternative was available.
Of course, the idea of turning out our own adds a new dimension as to what may be possible.
There is some research which claims better survival rates for bees in wooden cages but it's only one paper, not backed up elsewhere so far as I know. Not a deciding factor for us but interesting none the less.
Comparing Alternative Methods for Holding Virgin Honey Bee Queens for One Week in Mailing Cages before Mating by Bigio; Grüter; Ratnieks
Last edited by prakel; 01-09-2014 at 08:33 AM.
I remember reading that paper a while ago. I would tend to agree with MBC though as you can purchase plastic cages for about 25p each if you buy them in any quantity. Swienty sell some very sturdy plastic cages and there are discounts for buying 100 at a time or 800 at a time.
I think the key factor is working to minimise the time in the cage. I have a few queens to post this morning before midday and I have not removed them from the apideas yet.
I try and encourage purchasers to have the nuc ready and waiting so the queen cage can be dropped straight in the next day.
As I've generated a small mountain of wooden offcuts over the last few years, I've also been thinking about making my own cages - and I've even got a roll of suitable expanded mesh in stock. BUT - I'm a tad concerned about how these might be viewed by a customer: modernists might see wood as being a 'cheap-skate' approach, and that the queens might be of the same calibre; whereas traditionalists and the new wave of 'tree-huggers' (no offensive to them intended, just using a touch of short-hand ...) would undoubtedly see it as being a far more desirable use of natural, re-cycled material.
So maybe the simple answer is to offer customers a choice ?
Certainly at 50p a pop for plastic, ready-to-roll cages, it's hard to justify making 'em yourself from wood ... unless these were sold as being more desirable and thus superior in some way - like having a higher price tag. But whatever, I'd say "let the customer decide".
Re: that paper ... I'd have thought that the comparative volumes of the cages being used was a variable worth examining - but it doesn't even get a mention ...
LJ
Manlakeuk have the jzbz cages at 13.5p a pop. They also sell wooden California cages at around 30p
Buzzy bee shop has the jzbz cages around 20p as well. These are a bit small for posting queens though. Useful for caging queens in apideas for whatever reason as the cages are so small. They will fit between the front ventilation grille and the first frame.
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