THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



bottom of the hive being covered with wire 

 cloth. Perhaps the same bees might have 

 fared worse if they had been in a close box 

 car, without a circulation of air around them. 

 In hauling bees now I use a rim covered with 

 wire cloth on the top of the hive, which allows 

 them some room to cluster. 



The hive which has frames at fixed distan- 

 ces never shows to better advantage than 

 when used for shipping bees. All the labor 

 of fixing the frames so they cannot swing is 

 avoided and the hive is ready for hauling or 

 shipment at all times, by simply shutting up 

 the bees, with due regard to ventilation, and 

 fastening the parts of the hive together. If 

 in addition the combs are built in wired 

 frames, the shipper need have no fear of 

 accident from broken or swinging combs. 



I once hauled 100 colonies of bees on deep 

 hanging frames, GO miles over very bad roads 

 with very little trouble from loose frames. 

 The frames were secured by simply nailing 

 a piece of lath over the ends of the frames. 

 For short distances I have often hauled and 

 shipped them without any fastening. This is 

 not advisable though when bees are to be 

 shipped by rail or trusted to inexperienced 

 hands. At such times the greatest care 

 should be taken to have everything so secure 

 that there cannot by any possibility be any 

 breaking or coming loose. I used to ship 

 bees between two of my apiaries that were on 

 a railroad, each apiary close to the station. 

 A frame of wire cloth was slipped over the 

 top and bottom of the hive and secured by 

 tying a strong string around the whole. I 

 never had any accidents, because I always 

 accompanied them and helped load and 

 unload, but the train men were always afraid 

 of them, which is not at all strange. I should 

 not wonder if it was such things as this that 

 made some railroads decide that they would 

 not carry bees as freight, except in car-load 

 lots. I know better now and would not trust 

 a package of bees out of my hands without 

 knowing that it could stand rough handling 

 if necessary. 



One very important point in shipping bees, 

 is to load the hives so that the combs will 

 run the long way of the railroad car— paral- 

 lel with the rails — but crosswise of the 

 wagon, when hauled. 



The reason for this is that on the railroad 

 the only severe shocks come from the end, 

 while on a wagon the worst bumping is from 

 side to side. This last is easily tested. 

 While in the wagon, hold an ordinary pail 



by the bail. It can swing freely in one di- 

 rection only. If held so that it can move 

 only lengthwise of the wagon it will not 

 swing nearly as much as if it is free to move 

 crosswise. (Jn steep, rough hills, or where it 

 will often happen that both front wheels 

 strike an obstruction at the same time, it 

 might be best to reverse this and have the 

 combs run the long way of the wagon. But 

 ordinarily the other way is better. Springs 

 under a wagon for hauling bees are a very 

 good investment. 



I used to sell bees by the pound. I gave it 

 up because I did not get orders enough 

 although my prices were too low for much 

 profit. I never h ad many losses in shipment 

 and at the prices some others got readily 

 enough, it seems to me it ought to pay. 



I think one trouble was that in the efifort 

 to make express charges as low as possible, 

 too small cages were used, which, with the 

 attempt to ship unreasonable distances, 

 made the losses so great that it was uprofit- 

 able. I did not get as many or as full re- 

 ports from my customers as I would have 

 liked, so I do not know whether they were 

 successful with them or not, but as some 

 of them repeated their orders they must 

 have been satisfied. I have no doubt that a 

 skillful bee-keeper could use such bees suc- 

 cessfully even though the plan may not be 

 practical for novices. 



I do not think it is best as a rule to get small 

 lots of bees without queens, expecting to 

 unite them with other colonies. Get enough 

 to make a fair little colony, having their own 

 queen with them. Such a colony will ship 

 more safely than a smaller one having no 

 queen or means of raising one, and will be 

 worth something when it has settled down to 

 business. If small colonies are wanted, let 

 the receiver divide them himself after they 

 have settled down into a normal condition. 



I must say that I agree in the main with 

 those who have protested against the pub- 

 lication of the sugar-honey article. Un- 

 doubtedly it has a basis of truth. That 

 makes it all the more dangerous. It is not 

 wise or best at all times to tell the truth. 

 By this I mean that there are times when it 

 is better to keep silent than to tell what is 

 perfectly true. A half truth may be decep- 

 tive. "There is nothing lies like the truth" 

 and the exact truth spoken at the wrong 

 time, in the wrong way, under the wrong 

 circumstances, may produce the falsest of 

 impressions. 



