THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



155 



(), yes, the house apiary ! Well, I am 

 greatly pleased with it, the bees are winter- 

 iug just splendidly. The sawdust packiug 

 is perfectly dry, aud the hives, ou ruiiniug 

 my hand down throujjh the sawdust, are as 

 warm as a sitting hen. I prepared the 

 building for a stove and bought the stove, 

 but do not need it, as everything keeps per- 

 fectly dry and warm. 



My experience agrees with the Dadants 

 in regard to having the covers sealed down 

 for winter, and the man that cannot keep 

 the packing dry on top of the hives is not in 

 tlie front rank. I sometimes think the fash- 

 ionable bee journals do more harm than 

 good, as the things they have been boomiug 

 in the past now seem to be all wrong. Per- 

 haps you will hear more from me on that 

 score. 



But to return to the revolving platform : 

 it will not be costly. I roof it with roofing 

 canvass, and have an elegant canopy to 

 shelter many things and make shade. In 

 the spring I shall set sixteen first class col- 

 onies on it, feed them, if needed, in No. 1 

 fashion, and await results. 



I have many other fads in mind, but will 

 not mention them. 



Now, this is intended as a private letter 

 but you may use it as you like. 



FoBESTViLLE, Minn., Feb. t), 18i)2. 



Under date of April 20 Mr. Taylor again 

 writes as follows : — 



I have the revolving stand that I wrote 

 you about nicely made and filled with good 

 swarms. It looks nice and works like a 

 charm. "Hail Columbia, happy land!" 

 Taylor's great, perfection, self -regulating, 

 double geared, never-fail, adjustable non- 

 swarmer ! I shall h-ive some photos, of the 

 yard soon, and will send you one. 



I am greatly pleased with Mr. Aikin, be- 

 cause we are working on the same lines but 

 by different methods. 



Advantages of Shipping Bees by Boat. — 



Benefits of Giving Water.— Shipping 



Bees by the Foaiid. 



E. T. FLANAGAN. 



*!|rN shipping bees there are so many things 

 ^) to take into consideration that it re- 

 quires more than a brief paragraph to 

 do justice to the subject. The time of the 

 year, the distance they have to go, the length 



of time they have to be confined, the strength 

 of the colony, the kind of hive used in ship- 

 ping, the mode of shipment, by boat, car or 

 wagon, by freight, or express ; these and 

 other minor points must be considered be- 

 fore a satisfactory answer can be given to 

 the question, how to ship bees successfully. 



The first requisite is the exercise of good 

 common sense and judgment. I will state, 

 as briefly as possible, from the standpoint of 

 considerable experience, the methods I have 

 found most successful and practical. 



In shipping at one time, by boat, some .380 

 colonies, where they had to be confined from 

 twelve to fourteen days, I found that wire 

 cloth nailed over the whole top of the hive, 

 with the ordinary cover entirely removed, 

 was sufficient ventilation, and that sprink- 

 ling with water every twenty -four hours, es- 

 pecially if the weather was warm, was very 

 beneficial ; in fact, almost essential to their 

 well being. I shipped the above number in 

 May, from New Orleans, La., to St. Louis, 

 Mo., by boat, without the loss of a single 

 colony. 



(Jne advantage of shipping by boat, is the 

 freedom from the severe jarring that is in- 

 evitable when shipping by rail; and, of 

 course, the frames do not require to be so 

 securely fastened. 



In shipping by rail I found greater pre- 

 cautions necessary. I fastened the bottoms 

 of the frames securely, by using notched 

 sticks fastened on the bottom board. I used 

 the same device for securing the tops of the 

 frames, by simply reversing it, or using it 

 turned down, instead of up. 



I found, too, that a simple screen of wire 

 cloth was not sufficient ventilation, as it was 

 when shipping by boat. There had to be a 

 space of at least two inches above the tops of 

 the frames for the bees to cluster in ; and 

 four inches space, especially with strong 

 colonies, was found better still. Later on 

 in my experience I found that if air could be 

 admitted through the sides of the screen 

 frame, as well as from the whole top, so 

 much the better. The strongest colonies 

 could be, and were, shipped in the hottest 

 weather with safety when prepared in this 

 manner, care being taken to see that they 

 were placed in such a position in the car that 

 air could circulate freely around each hive. 



Of course the hives were securely fastened, 

 with the combs the same way as the car, or 



