816 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



MOVING BEES. 



Full Particulars ; How to Ventilate the Entrance ; 

 How to Avoid Accidents. 



BY R. F. HOLTERMANN, 

 Formerly Editor of the Canadian Bee Journal 



One hears and sees a g-ood deal of late 

 in connection with the question of moving- 

 bees to fall pasture. The question has been 

 discussed at conventions and in the bee-pa- 

 pers. Permit me to make a statement in 

 connection with the subject. Some 3'ears 

 ago my attention was attracted by foreign 

 journals to the question of migratory bee- 

 keeping. This is carried on in England, 

 but I believe still more in Germany; but I 

 received no information from these sources 

 as to the best way of moving' bees. Expe- 

 rience and careful judgment had to be my 

 teacher to a very great extent. For years 

 I had to prepare and ship a large number 

 of colonies to distant parts of Canada, and 

 these have reached their destination in a 

 uniformly gratifying condition ; and of all 

 the bees shipped, I know of only one case 

 in which the colony perished, and that was 

 where a hive of bees was shipped across 

 the continent to British Columbia, and it 

 was delayed by floods for about two weeks. 



In our country the majority of bees are 

 shipped for sale or purchase toward the 

 close of spring-. It is a time of j'ear when 

 the weather is very changeable, and, as a 

 rule, the temperature at night is much low- 

 er than during the day. Again, on the 

 train and perhaps on the railway platform 

 the variations of temperature are very great. 

 How to pack the bees, or, rather, prepare 

 for all these emergencies, was a g-reat prob- 

 lem which has been solved to my entire sat- 

 isfaction. Simply putting- a wire screen 

 over the entrance and another over the top 

 of the hive would answer all right for the 

 hot weather or hives, but not for the cold, 

 for we must remember that the bees do not 

 cluster quietly over brood when constantly 

 disturbed. First I prepared the top in the 

 following- manner: The front and rear of 

 the top of the hive were covered with a thin 

 board, and about a third of the top between 

 the two boards had a wire screen, but con- 

 structed in the way of a pocket. This was 

 an improvement. When too warm the bees 

 could cluster in it; but it still had the great 

 disadvantage of allowing- the warmth to es- 

 cape from above when the temperature was 

 low. 



I then used a portico at the entrance. 

 This was suggested to me by Jacob Al- 

 paugh. It is simply a wire-screen cage at 

 the entrance of the hive, and into this the 

 bees could pass and cluster when too warm. 

 I make them with a wooden frame, and have 



two wedges in the lower corner. These 

 wedges shove into the entrance at either 

 side of the hive; and help materially in 

 holding the portico in place. Two little 

 hooks and staples will do the rest of the hold- 

 ing, so not a nail need be driven when clos- 

 ing the hive. This has answered perfectly. 

 It is surprising what relief such an ar- 

 rangement gives to the strongest hive. 



0\ ?r the combs at the top of the hive the 

 quilt or cloth can be fastened, or even the 

 cover with a clamp; then no air and warmth 

 can escape from the top. The inside tem- 

 perature the bees can regulate by ventila- 

 tion and the number that go to cluster out- 

 side. 



Let us for a moment look at the differ- 

 ence in the entrance with the old wire screen. 

 The ventilation is very much checked by 

 the wire screens across the entrance, and 

 the current of air again retarded by the 

 friction against the wires strung in regular 

 order across the entrance, and the bees are 

 absolute prisoners in the hive. With the 

 portico made nearly the height of the brood- 

 chamber, the width of the hive, and coming 

 out nearly the distance of the alighting- 

 board, the ventilation through the wires 

 will be quite equal to the capacity of the 

 entrance without any obstruction. Then 

 the bees can come in large numbers out of 

 the hive, as before stated. This applies to 

 the preparation at all seasons. 



From my experience with bee-keepers, 

 and my own past thoughts, I know that 

 many more would move bees if they could 

 be prepared with less trouble than is at 

 present generally necessary, and there will 

 be greater certainty of a safe transfer to 

 their destination. That this can be secured 

 I do not think but know. 



A hive can be used that at any time 100 

 colonies can be prepared in two hours before 

 shipment. I can see no good reason for us- 

 ing any thing else than the self-spacing 

 Hoffman frame as the the Root Co. and 

 doubtless others make it. Some have asked 

 me if they coiild use this frame in the old 

 Langstroth which has no follower. My un- 

 hesitating answer is, "Yes!" There is no 

 need of a follower if you use foundation, 

 and, better, wire; at least with the Weed 

 process of foundation there will be nice 

 straight comb, and you will have no diffi- 

 culty in drawing out a comb to begin with. 

 With self-spacing frames they need no fas- 

 tening. When frames are not self-spacing, 

 instead of driving a nail into each end of 

 the top-bar I would use a thin piece of wood. 

 A separiitor cut into four pieces will do. 

 Lay this across the ends of the frames and 

 drive a small tack through this into the bar 

 and they will not only keep from moving 

 sidewise, but the piece across will prevent 

 the frame from swinging at the bottom. 



However, all this is unnecessary with 

 self-spacing frames. I want no beveled 

 hives to move bees in; wood shrinks and 

 swells; and, however much men may de- 

 mand absolute accuracy, I have found that 

 those who demand this, when set at the saw- 



