188S 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



m 



During the hottest weather I think it may pay to 

 use cheap shade-boards, or long grass, held on with 

 a stick of firewood; and yet those hives which don't 

 happen to have trees to shade them are generally 

 left without shade, in my apiaries. 1 value shade 

 comparatively little for the bees; but I want shade 

 for the comfort of the operator, and could not 

 think of locating an out-apiary where no shade 

 could be had. My son, after reading the above, says 

 Mr. Oatman would have given him a serious talk- 

 ing-to if he had omitted shade-boards, as combs 

 would melt down if the hives were left unshaded. 

 Tt occurs to me that an important difference in the 

 two cases is that his hives are closed tight, except 

 at the entrance, while mine have an opening at the 

 upper back end of the brood-chamber, so that a 

 current of air can pass directly through. 



C. C. Miller. 



When doctors disagree, who shall decide? 

 In reading the above, I have been quite a 

 little amused, because I have at different 

 times, in years past, decided in favor of 

 shade, and then, again, I have decided that 

 I would not have the shade if I could have 

 it for nothing. My final decision has been, 

 however, that the grapevines, arranged as 

 we advise, are all the shade we need. Dur- 

 ing the spring months, when we want all 

 the sunshine there is, there is no foliage on 

 the vines ; while during the great heat of 

 summer, the foliage is most needed, and 

 can be easily regulated then by clipping the 

 shoots with a common sickle. I do not be- 

 lieve that we could ever be persuaded to 

 bother with shade-boards, one for each hive. 



Question 134.- a. How much per colony do you es- 

 timate it costs to move bees to and from an out-apiary? 

 I>. Does the cartage of bees figure its any considerable 

 item in the cost of honey production? 



I have had no experience. A. J. Cook. 



I have had no experience. Paul L. Viallon. 



I have had but little experience in moving bees. 

 O. O. Poppleton. 



a. For taking and return, about 15 cents per colo- 

 ny. Better management might greatly reduce that, 

 b. Yes. C. C. Miller. 



a. I have not had very much experience in this 

 line, but I think 20 cents would be a liberal esti- 

 mate, b. 1 think not. James A. Green. 



The cost is a trifle, and the trouble involved lies 

 more in the danger of damage to the eombs and 

 bees than in any thing else. Dadant & Son. 



a. I don't know. b. An inconvenience, as time is 

 money, and expenses should be considered when 

 making up the cost of production. C. F. Muth. 



That depends upon the number of hives to be 

 moved, distance, accessibility of location, etc. I 

 should think that 50 cents per hive would probably 

 be a fair average of cost of moving and returning. 

 Mrs. L. Harrison. 



A man and team will move on the average about 

 twenty-five swarms per day. Make your own esti- 

 mate, b. The cartage is not so large an item as the 

 extra trouble and expense after. Not many bee- 

 keepers will stand it to ride ten or twelve miles per 

 day and do a large hurrying day's work besides. 



P. H. Elwood. 



I have had no experience in moving bees to out- 

 apiaries; but from what I have handled bees, I 

 should place the cost at not far from 50 cents per 

 colony for moving them five miles in the spring, 

 and then back again in the fall. 



G. M. Doomttle. 



a. In moving 105 colonies last year, 18 miles, both 

 ways, it cost about Oil cents per colony, not count- 

 ing the loss of those killed. Should we count the 

 damage to the 15 swarms that were killed, it would 

 make the expense of each about $1.75. b. Yes, if 

 moved far or often. S. T. Freeborn. 



a. That depends upon the distance and condition 

 of the roads, and conveniences for hauling. It 

 costs me about 25 cents per colony to move bees to 

 and from an apiary six miles away. b. Yes, the 

 actual expense and loss of colonies (if any are lost) 

 should be figured as expense to that particular 

 apiary. A. E. Manum. 



It depends very much on the size of the hives. 

 Our hives, we can take only 12 colonies at a load. 

 Then again the distance to move would make some 

 difference. We don't move our bees home to win- 

 ter. Our bees are all wintered on their summer 

 stands. All the moving we do is to equalize out- 

 apiaries, and to gather from the different yards 

 bees to form a new apiary. E. France. 



a. It doesn't generally cost me any thing, for I 

 have my own horse and wagon; but once it cost me 

 a new dash to my spring wagon, and part of a tug 

 to the harness, and over a mile walk, saying noth- 

 ing about the trouble of combing the stings off my 

 head. I had more hair then than now. b. As the 

 cartage doesn't cost me any thing, it doesn't figure 

 in the cost of honey. A.B.Mason. 



It depends very much on the skill or tact of the 

 apiarist, the convenience for handling, etc. If I 

 had to move all of my bees back and forth to out- 

 apiaries twice each year I should consider it a big 

 job. I have wintering-repositories at all my out- 

 apiaries. 1 think it is impossible to answer the 

 question definitely in the short space allowed. Bees 

 may be moved quite cheaply, or it may be a very 

 expensive work. H. R. Boardman. 



a. It would not do for me to give you an estimate 

 in figures, because so very much depends upon 

 your location, the distance you propose to move, 

 the roads, and the methods employed, and the price 

 of such in your locality, b. Yes, the cartage of 

 bees from one place to another in moving them 

 after honey secretion, considered in all its lights, 

 not only money outlay but attending dangers, 

 labor, care, attention and all these things, is, in my 

 judgment, always of more cost than it comes to. 



James Heddon. 



As I never had an out-apiary, my estimate can 

 have no special value in comparison with the actu- 

 al figures which experience can give— but, here 

 goes: 



Moving apiary of 20 hives — 



Team 1 day at $2.00 - - $2.00 



ManSdays at $1.25 - 



Same in returning 



3.75 



$5.75 



Total $11.50 



This would be one cent a povind on 1150 pounds of 

 honey, and oftentimes the surplus they would gath- 

 er would be less than that. E. E. Hasty. 



