GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Fig. 



-.SoutluTii bound — first car. 



large car to the minimum weight at best, so 

 a plan had to be evolved that would reduce 

 the waste space and at the same time in- 

 crease the stx'ength of the crating to be used. 

 When necessary to take the bees south again, 

 the foi'm of crating shown in Fig. 1 was 

 devised. 



The reader will gain a fairly accurate 

 idea of the simplicity of the crating by 

 reference to the cuts. This crating was 

 devised by G. H. Rea. It consists of five 

 pieces 15 feet long, 1x3 inches ; five pieces 

 2 X 4 s 331/2 inches ; five pieces 2 x 4 x 37^/2 

 inches. In nailing up, the cross-pieces were 

 placed on the floor, beginning with one 

 piece 2 X 4 X 371^ inches long set up on edge, 

 then a piece 2 x 4 x 33V2 inches long, and 

 then alternating the pieces in this way -until 

 all the ten pieces were spaced, covering the 



15 feet. It will be found the pieces were 

 just 20 inches from center to center. Then 

 one of the 1 x 3-inch boards was nailed on 

 ihese cross-pieces just one inch from the 

 ends. This allowed each cross-piece to pro- 

 ject one inch to catch behind the upright 

 strips nailed on the side of the car, as 

 shown in Fig. 2. Another of the 15-foot 

 pieces was nailed on the other end of the 

 cross-pieces, allowing the long pieces to 

 project 4 inches, the short ones coming flush 

 with the edge of this board. The third 15- 

 foot piece was spaced halfway between 

 these two. The crating was then turned 

 over and the remaining two boards nailed 

 on the cross-pieces opposite the two outside 

 boards already nailed on, and the crate was 

 complete. 



When the bees were loaded in the car. 



Fig. 4. — Loading steamer on Norfolk dock. Ah shown, tin- liivch were slid down the plank and easily 

 transferred to the deck of the steamer. 



