Ko b. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 413 



move the hive a foot to one side, they will hesitate and reconnoitre 

 carefully before entering. If hive A stands three inches or more 

 south of li, and if A be moved to the north side of B, whether it 

 be a few inches or feet, the field bees belonging to A will return to 

 B, because B stands nearer the right place. (It is true that a change 

 in the Iook« of their hive will confuse them a little, but they go 

 by place rather than looks.) But if no other hive is in the yard, and 

 A be moved several feet or several yards, the bees will find it without 

 much ditticulty, because it is the only hive. 



If a hive be moved a short distance early in the spring, at a time 

 when the bees have not had a flight for a week or more, there will 

 be little trouble about the bees staying by their hive. After the 

 bees have been fiying for a few days in succession in the spring, a re- 

 moval of a few feet or rods would be followed by the loss of many 

 bees that would go back to their old location, but a removal of half 

 a mile would work very well. But in the middle of the harvest, a 

 colony must be moved a mile or more to make it safe. 



It will be seen that if a colony is to be moved a mile or more, there 

 will be no trouble about losing bees if the removal is made at any 

 time of the year, and if a colony is moved at any time during the 

 winter or early spring, it does not matter about the distance it is 

 moved. By taking certain precautions, however, a colony may be 

 moved any distance, great or small, without regard to the time of 

 year. Sometimes, we want to move them a short distance at a time 

 of year when they are flying daily, and then we must take some pre- 

 caution or we shall lose all the field bees from the hive and have 

 them return to the old location. One way is to move them to some 

 place, perhaps two miles distant, and return them two weeks later, 

 when we can place them wherever we like in the yard or on the farm. 

 While that is a sure way, it is not often a very convenient way. 

 Some report good success by putting a board in front of the entrance 

 after they have been moved. Then, instead of fl3ing straight out 

 from the entrance, as they have been accustomed to do, they bump 

 their noses against the board at the entrance, which disconcerts 

 them so much that they stop to examine the place, and thus take 

 their bearings anew. As an aid it is well to change as much as 

 possible the old location so it will not look like home. If a big 

 bundle of straw is put in place of the hive on the old location it will 

 help. Another plan may be more generally successful. Before 

 moving the bees, close the entrance in some way that will allow a 

 little air to enter, perhaps stuffing grass into it. Close the entrance 

 thus in the evening, after the bees have stopped flying, so that all that 

 belong to the hive may be in. You may move the colony in the even- 

 ing after shutting it up, or any time before opening it the next day. 

 Open it sometime in the forenoon between 9 and 12 o'clock. If the 

 26 



