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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



May, 1918 



hives should be placed with the frames 

 crosswise of the car. If the road is smooth, 

 perhaps the frames should be lengthwise of 

 the car; but in this case it would make but 

 little difference. 



To prepare bees for moving, the 

 night before (or early in the morning, be- 

 fore any bees are stirring), screens should 

 be tacked over the full-sized entrances, and 

 over the top should be placed a screen at- 

 tached to a rim about two inches in depth. 

 This allows a nice, cool clustering place; 

 for during joltings of the journey they will 

 become so active that the temperature of 

 the hive will be increased considerably. 

 This is the reason for providing all this ex- 

 tra ventilation. If the weather is cool, of 

 course they will need less ventilation, ami 

 in that case the screens may be partly 

 covered. The upper screens and the hive 

 bottoms may he attached to the hives proper 

 by means of a long staple at each corner. If 

 moving some distance, however, it might be 

 safer to fasten the bottom-boards to the 

 hives by means of a screw driven thru the 

 bottom-board and up into the middle of each 

 side wall of the hives. Two screws to each 

 hive hold them very securely. 



Of course, when buying bees the chances 

 are that the hives will be old-fashioned, and 

 the bottom-boards attached; also there may 

 be large bee-spaces in various places; but 

 the main idea is to shut in the bees securely 

 and to have plenty of ventilation at the en- 

 trance and top of the hive. 



Where to Place the Bees. 



An ideal location for the bees would be a 

 southeast slope having a little scattered 

 shade and somewhat open woods on the 

 north and west. Still, almost any well-drain- 

 ed spot not too near passersby can be made 



roof, altho the latter jjlace would be rather 

 hot during the summer. Colonies kept in the 

 attic should be placed near the wall and pro- 



A poor location for a hive, near to and facing a 

 walk, where the bees will be annoyed by passer.vby. 



a suitable location if a windbreak is pro- 

 vided on the north and west. The small 

 beekeeper need look for no better location 

 than right under the apple trees of his own 

 back yard; or, lacking the back yard, he may 

 place the hives in the attic or on a flat city 



No better location for the hives than right under 

 the apple trees. 



vided with an outside entrance. There 

 should also be a window that could be open- 

 ed to allow the escape of bees that will col- 

 lect on it whenever the hive is opened. 

 Transferring to New Hives. 



Soon after being moved and jilaced on the 

 new stands, preferably during the middle of 

 a warnj, day in fruit bloom, the colonies in 

 old, undesirable hives should be transfer- 

 red to new ones of standard dimensions. 

 The following is an eas.y way of transfer- 

 ring: Place on the stand a new hive filled 

 with drawn combs, if possible having in one 

 of the combs a patch of young larva? (un- 

 hatched bees which look like little white 

 worms). After smoking the colony a little, 

 remove the bottom-board and place the old 

 hive over the new, tacking on strips if nec- 

 essary, so that there will be no open cracks 

 between the two hives. Then blow smoke 

 down thru the old story, graduall.y driving 

 the bees and queen below, after which insert 

 a queen-excluder between the two hives. In 

 three weeks' time the worker brood will all 

 be hatched from the old hive, when it may 

 be removed and the combs saved to be ren- 

 dered into wax. (See Transferring, as de- 

 scribed on page 1712 of the March issue.) 



When no combs are obtainable, colonies 



