THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



151 



with water, which will insure them 

 enough, should the express company fail 

 to sprinkle them as requested per direc- 

 tion, which should accompany each ship- 

 ment. In packages of bees by the pound 

 a section of comb with some water in it 

 is the proper thing, and cream candy 

 made of sugar and honey for food. 



Wired frames, or rather combs, are al- 

 most an absolute necessity to prevent 

 combs from being seriously damaged. I 

 was present one day at the loading of 

 some nuclei into an express car, when to 

 my surprise they were placed on their 

 sides, the combs lying horizontal, imagine 

 the condition in which these would have 

 arrived if allowed to remain so for any 

 length of time on a warm day, and combs 

 not wired. 



The selling of bees by the pound at 

 present prices is not a very profitable 

 business, especially when two or three 

 pounds are ordered in one package. 



To take three pounds from one colony 

 literally destroys that colony for much 

 further use. except as a small nucleus 

 and a few extra combs of brood to be 

 given to other colonies. Taking into con- 

 sideration the difference of what three 

 pounds of bees will accomplish in a fair 

 season, and the selling price of the same 

 at the present prices, the trade in this 

 line bids fair to be abandoned. 



I notice that Mr. Root has discontinued 

 the sale of bees by the pound. 1 also no- 

 tice that the talk of mailing bees in quan- 

 tities has ceased. 



When 1 first began shipping bees by ex- 

 press, in the spring, I took pains to send 

 only very populous colonies. I thought in 

 this way to please my customers; but 

 some of the reports that came in were 

 certainly heart rending; "Half the bees 

 dead," etc. This article by Mr. Nebel 

 put me on the right track— showed me 

 the folly of attempting to ship a hive full 

 of old bees. 



The worst possible time in which to 

 ship a colony of bees is soon after it has 

 been taken from the cellar, and before 

 any young bees have been hatched. I 

 remember when my brother Elmer was 

 living at Vassar, Michigan, he one spring 

 received an order for five colonies of bees 

 to be shipped to Indiana. The purchaser 

 was in a hurry for them — wanted them 

 right off. Elmer wrote and explained to 

 him that they were only just out of the 



cellar, that the bees were old. and would 

 mostly die en route. He advised the man 

 to wait until the old bees had died off and 

 been replaced by one or two batches of 

 young bees. No, the purchaser would 

 not wait. He had paid his money and 

 wanted the bees. He would take all 

 chances on their standing the journey all 

 right. Send them on. or send back the 

 money, was the way he wrote. The bees 

 were sent, and a sad wail soon came 

 back of half or two-thirds of the bees be- 

 ing dead: and there was a demand that 

 the order be refilled (?) After a lot of 

 correspondence, I believe Elmer did send 

 him one more colony. 



Have strong, old combs thoroughly fas- 

 tened; give plenty of ventilation that can't 

 be obstructed; give room to cluster off 

 the combs; use only young bees; prepare 

 colonies in this way. and nothing short of 

 a smash up will prevent their safe arrival. 



RIPENING HONL^. 



On the Hives is the Only Place Where 

 this can be done Perfectly. 



The days for extracting honey will soon 

 be here, especially in the southern part of 

 the country. If you have not supers and 

 combs enough to allow the honey to ripen 

 on the hives, I beg of you to get them. 

 Of all things, don't extract " green " honey. 

 To be sure, it can be evaporated outside 

 the hive, but evaporation and ripening are 

 two distinct processes. As well pick 

 green fruit and lay it away to ripen, as to 

 extract green honey and expect it to have 

 the rich, smooth, delicious taste of honey 

 that has really been ripened naturally on 

 the hives. I thought I had tasted ripe 

 honey, but let me tell you something. 

 Last summer and fall I was sick and my 

 supers of clover honey were left on the 

 hives until the cool days of fall. The 

 honey was so ripe and thick that it had to 

 be warmed up before it could be extract- 

 ed. If poured from one dish to another it 

 would pile up in a heap, and it would be 

 quite a while before it would flatten out 



