FEBRUARY 15, 1915 



155 



bloom, no water will be needed, generally 

 speaking. After niidsumnior, when the 

 weather is hot and hives very populous, 

 abundance of room is necessary to allow 

 bees to leave the brood, while water is an 

 absolute necessity. 



Fasten frames that are not of the self- 

 fastening kind. Never take any chances on 

 loose frames unless they are of the naiTow 

 variety and thoroughly propolized together. 

 Possibly as good a way as any to fasten 

 frames on top is to force with a hard-wood 

 stick a thin wire nail through the end of the 

 to|>-bar inside of the rabbet, leaving the nail 

 sticking out a little so as to be easily drawn 

 out again. It is not as slow a job to do tliis 

 as one would tiiink; and while there may be 

 better ways, it is one of tlie easiest plans if 

 the mover is in a huiiy, and has but few 

 tools at hand. More than once when thus 

 situated 1 have used a w-ad of newspaper 

 between each frame at the end, firmly press- 

 ing the wad down with the large blade of 

 my jack-knife. Never has the plan given 

 me any trouble. 



Place on a w-agon all hives to be moved, 

 with frames crosswise of the vehicle. Most 

 of the jolting on a wagon is sidewise. On 

 a car. when moving by train, place frames 

 lengthwise, as it is the shunting which causes 

 trouble rather than side motion. When 

 moving by train have a barrel of water at 

 the door of each car. We moved the lot of 

 two cars thus equipped and had no spills. 

 The top of the water-baiTel was left in 

 place, and in its center a circle about 14 

 inches in diameter was cut out. For a good 

 part of the journey I sat on one of these 

 openings with only a blanket between me 

 and the water, and yet I never got wet. 

 That will show how- effective it is to arrange 

 for carrying water in this way. Our first 

 carlot of bees was closed in with wire cloth 

 on top with a two-inch space between the 

 frames and the top of screen. They went 

 through all right. 



The second two cars were arranged on 

 two plans. Part had shallow supers on top 

 with cotton instead of wire, while the rest 



were as in lirst shipment — covered with wire. 

 All came through in good condition: but, 

 all things considered, we much prefer the 

 cotton, and would use it exclusively in 

 shipping bees again. No, the bees will not 

 gnaw through the cotton — something 1 was 

 afraid they might do until assured by Mr. 

 Ali)augli that there was not the slightest 

 danger of this. Those with cotton over 

 them had entrances entirely closed with 

 strijis of lath; and although the weather 

 was warm thei'e was absolutely no loss of 

 bees. Any colonies getting the least bit 

 noisy were promptly treated to a dash of 

 water over the top of the cotton, and t)ien 

 all would be quiet. 



On our last trip we used one double-decked 

 car, even when cautioned against it by so 

 good an authority as R. F. Holtermaun. 

 The onl}^ disadvantage we found in using 

 such a car was that the loading and unload- 

 ing were very difficult, as one necessarily 

 had to be in a stooping position all the 

 time. So far as we could see there was not 

 the dilt'erence in temperature we had ex- 

 pected, and one lot came through just as 

 well as the other. As a common car will 

 take about 100 eight-frame colonies on iha 

 floor it is needless to say the double-dei-lced 

 car is a good means of saving work wiien 

 moving a hundred or more colonies a. id 

 fixtures. No crating nor decking is necos- 

 sai'y, the bees going in one story and ihe 

 fixtures in the other. 



In preparing colonies for any method of 

 moving be sure to close all cracks that bees 

 can get out of, and then after starting you 

 will find you ha^e missed some. We always 

 carry a roll of cotton batting on such trips; 

 and as soon as any opening is seen that is 

 letting out bees it is short work to shove in 

 a bit of the cotton ; and, once in place, it 

 stays there. 



Moving bees is at best a dangerous job. 

 Sometimes just a little thing may help to 

 avoid what might have been an accident or 

 loss of bees. 



■Markham, Ont. 



A GOOD WINTER CASE FOR TWENTY CENTS 



BY ED SWANSON 



It is* just as necessary to have bees 

 protected in the spring as in the winter. 

 Sly bees were gathering pollen to-day (Nov. 

 11). which I don't think they could have 

 done if they had not been packed. The 

 nights are so cold that, had they been left 

 without winter cases, it would have taken 

 the bees about all day to warm up enough 



to come out at tlie entrance. To-day the 

 bees were out just as soon as it warmed up 

 enough so they could fly. Strange as it may 

 seem, every kind of vegetation has been 

 dried up and frozen for three weeks, yet the 

 bees have been carrying a lot of pollen, as 

 T have seen by watching. 



I am sending three photographs of my 



