JUNE 15. 1912 



383 



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A Bee-tent on Wheels 



As I read Mr. Byer's article on finding queens, 

 Oct. 15. p. 619. I fully sympathized with him in the 

 task of examining: 280 hives, finding five queens 

 per hour — 56 hours' work iinder a tent and on hi.i 

 knet's. He and perhaps others may like to know how 

 tliey may work more comfortably. I built a tent 

 for this purpose, upon the axle of a pair of old 

 buggy wheels, using a light frame covered with wire 

 screen. The wheels carry the weight of the tent. 

 so that I made it 3 V2 ft. wide, 6 ft. long, and high 

 enough to enable me to stand upright in it. I fitted 

 a wide shelf at the wheel end of the cage for tools, 

 supers, etc. 



At the door end, opposite the wheels, I hung cur- 

 tains which could be fastened togetlier while at 

 work, or opened for the purpose of drawing the 

 cage over a hive. The size of the tent gives ample 

 room for work, and requires no getting on one's 

 knees, creeping under tl;e tent, depending on some 

 one else to pass in tools or supplies, as every thing 

 needed tan be carried on the shelf. 



luhd elevated above their line of iittack, iind not so 

 liable to be punished for his doings. 



The tent stands ready for use at all times, and I 

 find it convenient in queen-raising to be able to eo 

 intOi it for operations which otherwise would have 

 to be performed in the workshop. A waterproof 

 c;)ver would make it still more convenient in times 

 of sudden showers. 



Frankfort, Kan. L. P. Holmes. 



How to Ship Bees ; Water and Stores En Route 



What is your experience in shipping colonies of 

 bees long distances by water, Mediterranean ports to 

 New York, for instance? Should they be supplied 

 with candy or with honey ? Are losses of bees likely 

 to be heavy ? "VVill sealed brood prove any disad- 

 vantage ? in theory I believe that the frames should 

 be filled with candy instead of comb and honey, and 

 that they should be supplied with water; but I have 

 had no experience along that line. 



Lansing, Mich., May 20. A. M. Clark. 



I made the tent tight at first, but found trouble 

 from the gathering of bees from different hives; so 

 I made escapes by prying the wire cloth from the 

 frame at intervals along the top, inserting pieces of 

 lath to hold it open. The bees readily find these 

 openings, while robbers busy themselves only around 

 the sides, near the level of the tops of the hives, 

 where they can obtain no entrance. A i.ew get 

 in at the doorway wlien the wind blows the curtains 

 oj-ien : but finding themselves imprisoned they are 

 more anxious to get out than to create disturbance. 



The frame of the tent is about 8 inches from the 

 ground, in order to clear clumps of grass or other 

 small obstructions. The first season I thought I had 

 to hang a curtain around the bottom, reaching to 

 the ground. I have not found it necessary this 

 year, although robbers have been on the qui vive 

 for any point exposed. 



Nearly every blacksmith shop and many farms 

 have old buggy wh:'els and axles which may be ob- 

 tained fo.r this purpose. The frtimework need le 

 only of lx2-ineh lumber, and screen wire is rea- 

 sonably cheap, so that such a cage or wheeled tent 

 is inexpensive, and the comfort of being able to 

 stand upright while at work is worth all the labor 

 and expense of making. Then when coming out of 

 the tent the operator is not in the midst of the 

 robbers, but several feet behind the hivie, with his 



[Bees can be shipped by water as well as by rail 

 with this difference: Transportation by the former 

 is very much slower. Usually bees can be shipped 

 by boat for very much less, for a given distance, 

 than they can be sent by ear; and where bees are 

 not to be put out longer than a week or ten days we 

 would ship by water, providing there was any object 

 in the freight rates. 



Sealed stores are very much better for shipping 

 bees than any form of candy that you can use. 

 We have tested out the candy very thoroughly, and 

 our experience in shipping thousands of nuclei all 

 over the United States shows most conclusively that 

 natural stores of the bees (or, rather, sealed stores 

 of sugar syrup or honey) are to be preferred to any 

 candy that was ever devised. 



Yes, it is very important that bees be given plenty 

 of water on the route, but usually it is impractical to 

 give it unless they go in a carload with a man ac- 

 companying. It would be unwise to ask the ordinary 

 expressman to water the bees, as he would overdo 

 the .iob and probably kill them. When bees go 

 by express they have to depend upon the stores they 

 get in their regular combs, unless they are shipped 

 in pound and half-pound packages. In that case we 

 necessarily have to give them candy. 



In shipping bees it is very important to put in 

 the hives onlv sealed brood. The unsealed, unless 



