1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



415 



FASTENING FRAMES AND TOP-BARS 

 FOR SHIPMENT. 



T. P. ANDREWS TELLS US HOW HE DOES IT. 



The questions, how to fasten on loose bottom- 

 boards, and how to fasten the frames for transpor- 

 tation, seem to interest many who wish to move 

 bees. Five years ago, while fixing: up a carload of 

 bees for a move, I devised and made a lot of comb- 

 spacers, one of which (half length) I send you. By 

 raising the front end of the hive, one of these 

 spacers is readily slipped on to the bottoms of the 

 frames, near the middle. Now, when you have let 

 your hive down on to the bottom-board you have 

 the frames fixed so there will be no swing to them. 



iifivi 'ivilTMF 



ENDVIEW. SPACER iNFFlAMES 



Put one of the spacers across the top-bars, near 

 each end, and you will have the frames secure from 

 any movement on the rabbet. These spacers are 

 cheaply made, quickly adjusted, and have none of 

 the objections that are held against staples, nails, 

 etc., driven into frames or hives. 



To fasten on bottom-boards easily, securely, and 

 cheaply, procure a lot of tins cut to aboutl?4X>2 in., 

 and a supply of rather thick wire nails one inch 

 long. Three of these tins, tacked on to each hive, 

 one each side near the front, and one at the mid- 

 dle of the back end, holds the bottom - board to 

 the body. 



I drive a nail diagonally into the back end of the 

 bottom-board, to keep the hive from slipping off 

 when the front end is raised. 



To cover the hives and at the same time give the 

 necessary ventilation, I made frames of lath, halved 

 together at the corners, just the size of the tops of 

 the hives, which are not beveled. On to these cover- 

 frames wire cloth is securely tacked. After the 

 comb-frames are fastened, the enameled-cloth cov- 

 er is slid back so as to leave an opening for air, the 

 i?ize of which is adapted to the strength of the col- 

 ony and the warmth of the weather. The wire-cloth 

 cover is then placed on the hive, over the enameled 

 cloth, and fastened with four wire nails. When 

 this is done, and the entrance closed with a cleat 

 tacked on, the bees are in good shape to transport 

 by wagon or rail, as I have occasion to know from 

 a somewhat extensive experience in the use of 

 these appliances. T. V. Andrews. 



Farina, 111., March 6. 



Your plan of fastening frames is very sim- 

 ilar to the one we used last summer (see 

 Gleanings, page 551, last year). The 

 notches in our strips were not pointed. 



Yours would have the advantage that they 

 would crowd between the frames better. I 

 don't believe I should like your method of 

 fastening bottom-boards ; it is too much 

 work. 



REMOVING QUEENS TO PREVENT 

 SWARMING. 



E. FRANCE ANSWERS A SEASONABLE QUESTION. 



When you remove the queen from a colony to 

 prevent swarming, how long do you keep her out? 

 What do you do with her in the mean time? and is 

 there any trouble in putting her back? 



The above question was handed in by 

 one of our subscribers, for E. France. We 

 forwarded the same to him, and he replies : 



Our out-apiaries we visit only once a week. We 

 simply cage the queens in the hive, and usually let 

 her remain caged two weeks. The bees build 

 queen-cells when the queen is caged, just the 

 same as thej' would if the queen were taken away. 

 We never cage more than three-fourths of the 

 queens in the apiary, at one time, for the reason 

 that we must have some young brood from which 

 to raise queen-cells. After the queen has been 

 caged one week we are on hand again to extract. 

 It won't do to leave the queen-cells another week, 

 so we tear them all out and give the colony at least 

 one comb of very young bees and eggs, from which 

 they will raise another batch of queen-cells. At 

 the end of the second week we again destroy all 

 queen-cells, and then liberate the queen. If we are 

 making any new colonies at the time we are caging 

 queens, then we would put the queens into the new 

 colonies, and after two weeks let the old colony 

 raise a queen. But sometimes bees will swarm 

 with a caged queen. In that case, take the queen 

 away, out of the hive; that will cure them, .si/rc. 

 But, remember that, if a colony has no queen, they 

 must have something from which they can raise 

 one; then they will work and feel happy. See 

 Oleanings for 1889, p. IV. 



If I were running for comb honey I would get the 

 bees just as strong as I could without swarming; 

 then take the queen away, give her a quart of bees 

 and some combs, and there let her remain until the 

 close of the honey-flow, say 20 days; then return 

 her with her combs and brood. It would be safer 

 to cage her for one day, but we don't do it, for by 

 this time she has quite a nice lot of bees and brood 

 to go with her. We have run a few colonies at 

 home in this way for several years, and never 

 yet have lost a queen in putting them back. Of 

 course, the old colony that is at work all this time 

 making comb honey must be kept supplied with 

 brood, young enough, from which to raise a queen, 

 and queen-cells are to be destroyed once In ten 

 days, then give them more brood. E. France. 



Platteville, Wis., Feb. 23. 



Friend F., you have struck upon one point 

 that I didn't see. Tou say that bees will 

 sometimes swarm with a caged queen ; but, 

 of course, in that case they will come right 

 back to the hive, unless, indeed, they tind 

 some other swarm to unite with. It seems 

 to me from the above that it does make a 

 difference, in some respects at least, wheth- 

 er the queen be caged in the hive, or taken 

 entirely away. A queen with a quart of 

 bees can usually be returned to the hive 



