MOVIKG BEES. 



311 



MOVING BEES. 



It is almost absolutely necessary tliat the 

 combs themselves be wired, or at least that 

 they be old, tough, and securely attached 

 to the bottom-bar if not wired. It is always 

 risky, however, to ship in combs not wired, 

 because it is impossible to tell what sort of 

 rough usage they will receive at the hands 

 of careless or indifferent express agents ; 

 and while we should not be too hasty in 

 condemning railroad officials for careless 

 handling, we should take every precaution. 

 The bees buzzing around the wire cloth is 

 usually enough to guarantee safe handling. 



Quite an extensive business is carried on 

 in shipping bees in one, two, three, and four 

 frame nuclei. The ill ustration , p. 310, shows 

 a light shipping-box, the sides and top of 

 which are made of good strong lumber only 

 i^B inch thick. The ends are f. The bottom 

 is covered with wire cloth, then two cleats 

 are nailed across. the ends to raise the nu- 

 cleus off the floor. For the sake of conven- 

 ience the wire cloth is secured on the special 

 cover shown above, which, when set down 

 in place, leaves a space of an inch between 

 the cover proper and the wire cloth. The 

 thin board over the wire cloth protects it 

 from the direct rays of the sun, and from 

 sharp projections of any object. It also af- 

 fords a convenient place to attach the ad- 

 dress, and to put on the caution," With Great 

 Care." 



Bees go at a rate and a half by express, 

 hence it is very necessary that the packages 

 be as light as possible; and for that reason 

 the combs should hold no more honey than 

 just enough to carry them through to their 

 destination. Neatly printed directions on 

 the outside will explain stimulative feeding 

 so that a nucleus may l)e made into a strong 

 colony. 



now TO PREPARE A CARLOAD OF BEES. 



If you use loose hanging frames, lix them 

 with the spacing-strips illustrated on a pre- 

 vious page. Frames of the self-spacing type, 

 of course, require no preparation. Remove 

 the top, and cover the hive with wire cloth. 

 The best w^ay is to make a two-inch rim and 

 nail the wire cloth on this,- as explained on a 

 previous page. There should be about two 

 inches between the brood-frames and the 

 w ire cloth. Put four or five inches of loose 

 straw on the car floor and then place the 

 colonies upon this. After the car bot- 

 tom is covered put some 2x4 pieces (four- 

 inch way vertical) across the tops of the 

 . hives, and then the next tier of hives on 

 top of these. For convenience in loading, 

 leave a passageway through the center of 



the car, and then, if you accompany your 

 bees, you can easily get at any of the colo- 

 nies. The purpose of the straw is to give a 

 spx-ing to soften the heavy concussions. 

 One tiling more is important : Be sure 

 to load the hives so that the frames are par- 

 allel with tlie rails ; and don't pile tliem up 

 more than two or three tiers high. A fter the 

 hives are in place they should be securely 

 stayed with suitable braces. Long strips of 

 wood two inches wide, one on each side, 

 should be nailed on the hives, thus tying all 

 the hives in a row together so that they can 

 not be disturbed when the car is bumped. 

 In loading, on a wagon, have the frames par- 

 allel with the axletree. 



When bees are to go any great distance it 

 is imperative that some man go along with 

 them— either the owner himself or some 

 competent apiarist. Every now and then 

 the tops of the wire cloth should be sprinkled 

 with water; and on hot daj's, especially wiiere 

 the car is a closed one, and not a cattle-car, 

 the water should be administered several 

 times a day. If the bees are found in any 

 particular hive clustering on the wire cloth, 

 spray water on tliem at once. For tliis pur- 

 pose a small .spray-pump and several tive- 

 gallon square cans filled with water should 

 be taken along. 



It is not practicable to ship strong colonies 

 any distance. Attempts to do so almost 

 surely result in the loss of the bees. Where 

 one has, say, 100 strong stocks he is advised 

 by all means to divide them into halves, 

 using 200 hives instead of 100 in whicli to 

 ship the bees. The division should take place 

 several days before hauling to the car, if 

 possible, and the queen! ess portion supplied 

 with a cell or virgin, or, better still, a laying 

 queen, because bees on a joiu-ney are likely 

 to worry. A queen will do much to keep 

 them contented and quiet on the combs. 



The question is often asked, "Shall a cat- 

 tle-car or a closed one be used for the pur- 

 pose V " If the shipment is made in hot 

 weather, or through a hot section of coun- 

 try, a cattle-car is advised. In this case a 

 piece of canvas large enough to cover one 

 side or end of the car should be taken along. 

 This will be needed only when a stop is 

 made for a few hours to protect the sunny 

 side of the car. If it is very warm, the can- 

 vas should be thoroughly wetted down with 

 water. When shipment is made in cool 

 weather a box-car would be preferable. 



In moving bees a long distance the ship- 

 per should first have them tlioroughly ex- 

 amined by a competent inspector to see if 



