APRIL 15, 1913 



Fig. 7. — Method of putting bees in the cages. 



beekeei^ers all over the country. It will 

 make an interchange of bees possible from 

 one locality to another without danger of 

 transmitting disease, and at the same time 

 reduce the cost of express charges down to 

 a mere trifle. It will also make it possible 

 for the extensive beekeeper to ship a thou- 

 sand colonies in a carload from the South 

 to the North as against only 250 colonies on 

 combs in hives. But do not let any one be 

 foolish enough to try to ship a carload of 

 bees in pound packages until the thing has 

 been tried out more thoroughly in small ex- 

 press shipments. We expect to send fifteen 

 or twenty colonies to Des Moines in three 

 and five pound packages, as shown in Fig. 

 6. The express on these will be about one- 

 fourth what it would be on full colonies. 

 The bees will be shaken on frames of foun- 

 dation toward night. The entrances will be 

 closed with perforated zinc. Now right 

 here is a danger. Where possible, bees in 

 pound packages should be let loose on a 

 frame of unsealed brood. Where one al- 

 ready has bees in the yard, he can secure 

 his brood from other colonies; but in the 

 ease of a beginner who has absolutely no 



bees, he will have to let them loose on foun- 

 dation, and watch them carefully next day, 

 as they may swarm out. Of course, bees 

 that are let loose on foundation should be 

 fed a thin syrup. 



Another question here has been often 

 asked — " How are you going to get the bees 

 out of the cage on the frames'?" Smoke 

 the bees a trifle, and pry off the cleats on 

 the side; remove the wire cloth, and lay the 

 cage flatwise down on the frames. Put on 

 an extra super, then the cover. In tAvo hours 

 the bees will come down on to the combs. 

 If the bees have a frame of honey, or, bet- 

 ter, one of unsealed brood, they will go 

 down immediately. If only bare founda- 

 tion, they will show a tendency to cling to 

 their cage several hours, when they will 

 gradually work downward. 



Now one more caution. Do not try to 

 ship bees by parcel post. It is forbidden 

 by the regulations, and under present condi- 

 tions it will not be possible to get the bees 

 through alive in the ordinary parcel-post 

 mail-bags. So do not try it under any con- 

 ditions. 



These special cages may be obtained of 

 the dealers. But better not try to make up 

 your ow-n cages, as your first experiment 

 may be a light fragile affair that will not 

 stand ordinary usage in the express car. 



We have so far omitted to say that, along 

 with every package, is a live-bee tag with 

 instructions to the express man to keep the 

 bees out of the sun, away from steam-pipes, 

 and from exposure to unnecessaiy cold. 



BEEKEEPING IN SOUTH RUSSIA 



BY AUGUST DE MALACHOWSKI 



I am sending you some photos* of my 

 hives in Russia, and a drawing of one of 

 my " Elita " hives, as well as my Eureka 

 feed-trough. I shall not dwell long on the 

 description of my hives, because the draw- 

 ing shows the same sufficiently. There only 

 remains for me to say that the hives are 

 constructed of spruce, one inch thick. These 

 hives have been giving me complete satis- 

 faction for some years ; and even tliis year, 

 which was very bad for honey-making, and 

 during which the bees did not make cells 

 in the Dadant-Blatt hives, my Elita were 

 full of honey, and I obtained more than 55 

 lbs. of honey. 



My frames are also another peculiarity. 

 The interior size of the brood-frame is 8I/2 

 inches wide by 17 high; and for the super. 



* One of the photographs sent is used as our cover 

 picture for this issue. — Ed. 



