GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



General Correspondence 



MOVING 30 COLONIES OF BEES 40 MILES 



Some Predicaments Resulting from Inexperience 



BY "SUBSCRIBER/ 



For several years Bert Harper and I 

 kept bees in a little town where we attend- 

 ed high school. As I lived at one end of 

 the town and he at the other, neither of 

 us feared overstocking the location, for 

 our combined apiaries did not amount to 

 over seventy colonies. During the school 

 year we were busy with our studies; but 

 our spare hours we freely gave to the bees. 

 This was only fair play, for they were very 

 busy for us. But when we came to the 

 end of the senior year we had to part com- 

 pany, and this is the reason for the story. 



That spring Bert's father sold his farm 

 and moved away to another, which was 

 some forty miles distant. The purchaser 

 of the old farm gave consent to Bert to 

 leave his thirty colonies of bees on the 

 place till the end of the school year in 

 June, when he planned to move them to 

 their new quarters. About the end of 

 July, Bert paid me an unexpected visit, 

 and asked if I would help him move the 

 bees the next day, in case he had every 

 thing ready beforehand. I told him I 

 would do it if he couldn't get any one 

 else, but that it would be a dangerous job ; 

 for if I knew anything about bees, they 

 were a bad cargo. It would be hard to 

 close the hives bee-tight, and yet give suf- 

 ficient ventilation. The least error would 

 mean escaping bees, stung horses, a pos- 

 sible runaway, a smash-up, and broken 

 necks. When he heard all this he insisted 

 on my helping him, for everybody else 

 was afraid to venture. So, not to go back 

 on old friendship. I promised to be ready 

 the next day. 



Late the next afternoon, as the shadows 

 began to steal across the fields, and the 

 sun was putting himself to bed, we start- 

 ed to nail up the hives and fit them for 

 the long journey. Some of them Avere 

 shaky, and the work consumed time. By 

 eight o'clock this part of the work was 

 done, and the next thing was to load up. 

 Bert had an idea that this could be done 

 in a few minutes, but he was sadly mis- 

 taken. The hives gave us no end of trouble. 

 Nothing seemed to fit on the rigging of 

 the wagon. The main trouble was that, 

 besides "the thirty hives, Bert was taking 

 what was about a wagonload besides, com- 

 prising canned fruit, house-plants, empty 

 hives, and a lot else. It was well on to 



eleven when we got the load in shape and 

 tied the last rope. 



"You're sure it's safe, are you?" in- 

 quired Bert, looking carefully at the high- 

 piled load. 



"Safe!" said I; "of course it isn't very 

 safe ; but it's the best anybody can make 

 it." 



Then we started the horses and the trip 

 began. When we hit the main road, af- 

 fairs moved more smoothly and rapidly. 

 It was now close to midnight, the road 

 was very dark, and in some places moie 

 narrow than we liked. Our lantern, too, 

 was a bother, for it would flutter every 

 little while and go out, and it took about 

 ten minutes every time to get it going 

 again. Still, we were quite happy, for 

 the worst seemed over. The world was 

 still, and all we could hear was the steady 

 hum of the bees and the straining and 

 banging of the great wagon. 



After about half an hour we came to 

 Rock Gorge. We got down the one side 

 safely, and the ascent commenced on the 

 other side. All went well till we were al- 

 most at the summit, when one of the hives 

 fell off^ with a bang in the road behind. I 

 yelled to Bert to drive right on to the top, 

 while I saved what was left of .the hive. 

 It was a sorry mess; but I fixed it up the 

 best I could, ' and off we went after a 

 delay of half an hour. 



"Bert," said I, "you will have to drive 

 some if you get there; it's almost twelve 

 now, and we have come only a few miles." 



"It can't be helped. We ought to have 

 loaded up better," was Bert's somewhat 

 tart response. 



We had not covered many miles before 

 I became curious about a hive on the edge 

 of the load ; and as I leaned back to make 

 it fast 1 lost my balance and went head 

 first into the road, taking the hive with 

 me. For an instant I was dazed as mucli 

 as the bees may have been; but in due 

 time we all responded to the call of duty. 

 I got the hive back on the load, picked 

 up the lantern, climbed up on the rig, 

 and once more we started on our way. 



After a while we saw the lights of Wil- 

 liamsburg shining through the night, and 

 we rejoiced that our first twelve miles 

 would soon be passed. We wished we were 

 on the other side, for the hill leading down 

 to the village is steep in places, and right 

 at the foot of the steepest place there is 

 a railway track. 



The hill and the railroad together made 

 a bad combination on a dark night. We 

 had just come to this place, when all at 



