414 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. DoC. 



bees are quiet, pound on the liive until you stir them up to making 

 quite a noise; then let them out. There is just a possibility that if 

 the weather is very hot and the colony very strong, the bees might 

 smother unless the entrance be closed with wire cloth, so a» to allow 

 of ventilation. 



If bees are to be hauled some distance, care must be taken in freez- 

 ing weather not to break the combs by rough handling, for they are 

 then brittle with the cold. They may be hauled nicely on a sled 

 if the sleighing is good. If hauled in hot weather, the danger is that 

 the combs may be melted down with the heat, or that the bees will 

 smother. Abundant ventilation must be allowed, and abundant ven- 

 tilation means a great deal in hot weather. Wire cloth over the 

 entire top of the hive will be none too much. Of course the bees 

 must all be fastened in the hive. If bees must be moved in hot 

 weather, it is better to move them at night, because cooler. In 

 any case, the bees must be fastened in the hive after flight has ceased 

 in the evening. If the frames are fixed-distance as most of the latest 

 frames are, they are always ready for moving. If, however, the hive 

 contains loose hanging frames, then there is some danger that the 

 frames may slide in their places and make trouble unless they are 

 fastened in place. This may be done by nailing into each end of each 

 top bar a wire nail, leaving the head up far enough so that it can 

 easily be drawn out. Or, little sticks may be pushed down between 

 the end bars of the frames so as to keep them in place. 



A box hive may be turned upside down in moving. 



PLANTING FOR HONEY. 



Almost surely the farmer who becomes interested in bees will, 

 sooner or later, begin to consider the matter of devoting some ground 

 to the cultivation of plants that will yield honey, and the likelihood 

 is that without any knowledge on the subject he will think that he 

 can plant enough on a fraction of an acre to give plenty of occupa- 

 tion to a colony of bees. The erroneousness of such a view will be 

 seen when it is considered, that taking the State at large, each colony 

 has 50 to 100 acres of ground to work upon. It is now pretty 

 thoroughly understood that there is no plant that can be profit- 

 ably cultivated for honey alone, at least upon land that can be 

 utilized for any ordinary crop. It is a good plan, however, to en- 

 courage the growth of honey plants upon waste places. Perhaps 

 no other plant is so good for this purpose as sweet clover. It is 

 one of the best yielder of honey, and will grow on almost any kind 

 of soil. A few seeds scattered along the wayside will grow and in- 

 crease, and it is better to have the ground occupied thus than by 

 some utterly useless weed. In some places there is a prejudice 



