AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 405 



brood-chamber and supers, and full sheets of foundation in the sections. Thus the 

 bees have full chance to build their own brood-comb — which answers the purpose of 

 contraction very well — and they are not very likely to swarm again until they get 

 them nearly completed. At this time, or later as desired, the places of the brood- 

 chambers can be changed, putting the old one below, and the queen in it, and the 

 new one containing the newly-built combs above the bee-escape honey-board, where 

 the brood will soon hatch out, and the combs be ready to be removed and sorted. 



The bees will thus be ready to winter on the same combs which they had in the 

 first place, and little honey will be stored, except what goes into the boxes. 



While the bee-escape honey-board is on the hive the escape acts as an excellent 

 ventilator, and the bees are not so likely to swarm out by reason of the heat. 



Downer's Grove. 111. 



MIORAXORY BEE-KEEPIXG QUESXIOXS. 



BY CHAS. F. JAESSING. 



Migratory bee-keeping, as discussed and advised by Mr. John McArthur in the 

 Bee Journal of Sept. 6th, is a subject which has interested me very much ever 

 since I have made bee-keeping my exclusive business, and Mr. McArthur's is the 

 best article on the subject I have ever read. 



I have been thinking that sending South every spring for as many packages of 

 bees of one or two pounds (and a queen with each package) as I wanted colonies for 

 that year, laid down about 4:5 days before the honey harvest began, so that I could 

 get them good and strong for section honey, would be profitable, and would also 

 relieve me of the work and risk of wintering bees. But I think that Mr. McArthur's 

 scheme of getting full colonies of bees just before the honey harvest, is far better 

 than mine. 



I would be very much obliged to Mr. McArthur if he would write the details of 

 his undertaking of 1898 for the Bee Journal, and also answer the following 

 questions, for I am sure that many subscribers of the Bee Journal are as much 

 interested in this subject as I am : 



1st. Will it be necessary for one to go personally and purchase the bees, and 

 then accompany them all the way to their destination ? 



2nd. Did you purchase the hives as well as the bees, or did you ship them in 

 light shipping-boxes, and then transfer them at home into hives of your own ? 



3rd. Please describe your method of preparing and shipping the bees, number 

 of colonies that can be put into a car, and cost of shipping a carload that distance. 



4tb. Lastly, will Mr. McArthur, or any Southern reader of the Bee Journal, 

 please answer whether plenty of bees on good combs and Simplicity frames can be 

 purchased in latitude of Tennessee or thereabouts ? Also the range of prices in May. 



I ask these questions, hoping to hear from others who have tried the scheme, 

 as well as from Mr. McArthur, and whether they have been as successful as has 

 Mr. M. 



If the American Bee Journal, with the help of its many practical writers, 

 both in the North and South, can solve this problem, it will have accomplished very 

 much for the cause of apiculture. Maumee, O., Sept. 10. 



[As Mr. Jaessing says, this is an interesting subject, and likely worth investi- 

 gation. Will Mr. McArthur and others who can do so, please comply with the re- 

 quest to answer the questions propounded in the foregoing article ? We shall be 

 glad to publish anything reliable on both sides of the matter referred to. — Editor.] 



