DECEMBER 1, 1912 



753 



A THREE-POUND PACKAGE OF BEES TO THE SECRE- 

 TARY OF THE NATIONAL BEEKEEPERS' 

 ASSOCIATION. 



The bees arrived Saturday afternoon in good 

 condition. I did not liberate them until Sunday 

 morning, and I could not see that any had died, 

 other than would have been the case had they been 

 in the hive all the time. The water-can looks to me 

 like a valuable addition to the shipping-cage, and I 

 can not see why bees would not go a long way in 

 that case. 



The candy which you had at the opposite end 

 was practically all gone. Of course I don't know 

 how much there was when they started, but it was 

 practically all used up when I liberated the bees. 



I am pleased to join iu with you in any experi- 

 ment of shipping bees without combs, and of getting 

 them in the South to ship north for the honey-tJow. 

 If the bees can lie purchased cheap enough in the 

 South I can't see why the plan isn't practical. 



I thank you for the bees. I have them right out 

 in my back lot among the black raspberries. 



Detroit, Sept. 9. E. B. Tyrrell. 



Mr. Tyrrell has since informed us that 

 the bees are doing nicely. 



A THREE-POUND PACKAGE OF BEES TO DR. E. P. 

 PHILLIPS, OF THE BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



Dear Mr. Root: — I have you lettef- of the 12th 

 inst., and am glad to inform you that the three- 

 pound package of Italian bees which you shipped 

 on the 10th arrived in excellent condition with not 

 a single dead bee in it. It was very hot here the 

 . day of its arrival. I was in Philadelphia at the 

 time, but Dr. McCray took care of them, and put 

 them in a hive with drawn combs at the apiary. 

 When the bees were run in the hive Dr. McCray 

 noticed a small queen. 



Dr. McCray reports that the water-bottle in the 

 shipment was practically full when it was received 

 here, so that evidently the bees had not drawn on 

 it very much. 



E. F. Phillips, Expert in Charge. 



Washington, D. C, Sept. 16. 



A FIVE-POUND PACKAGE OF COMBLESS BEES SENT 



IN HOT WEATHER TO DR. C. C. MILLER WITH 



A LOSS OF ONLY' 11 BEES. 



This morning the telephone said, "Bunch of bees 

 at express office for you." Your letter and the card 

 announcing shipment came an hour or two later. 

 The bees appeared in good condition. I prepared a 

 hive for them with empty combs except one comb of 

 solid sealed honey, all but about 25 square inches 

 of brood. I had no idea where the bottle was, and 

 couldn't guess why there was tin on top. 



Wouldn't it be a good idea to have the bottle 

 painted and sanded, so as to give the bees a foot- 

 hold ? 



Number of dead bees, 11. 



Weight of bees, 4 lbs. minus weight of water that 

 escaped after I opened the cage. 



You say the weather .was hot for % pound pack- 

 age. Not only that, humidity was great. Hard to 

 say whether bottle helped. It seems, however, the 

 water must be a help. 



The more I think about it, the more I think the 

 tin should be roughened. That smooth tin overhead 

 doesn't seem the thing to hang from. 



I didn't tear it open to see, but so far as I can 

 sec no candy is left in the cage. 



Marengo, 111., Sept. 13. C. C. Miller. 



We expect in the future to cover the tin 

 bottles with rough paper or thin veneer 

 wood to give the bees a foothold, and in- 

 sulate them from the cold tin. Bees ought 

 not to have "cold feet" any more than their 

 owners. 



A THREE-POUND PACKAGE OF BEES FROM MEDINA TO 

 FLORIDA. 



The package of bees arrived on the morning of 

 the 17th, and they were released late in the after- 

 noon of the same day. They were in fine condition 

 — very few bees dead. The water-bottle was lowered 

 about one inch ; the food was entirely gone ; the 

 weather was very warm — mercury up to 95. It 

 seems to me it would be better to ship in larger 

 packages during extremely hot weather. I see no 

 reason why this package is not entirely a success. 

 A. B. Marchant. 



Appalachicola, Fla., Sept. 18. 



A THREE-POUND PACKAGE OF COMBLESS BEES FROM 

 MEDINA TO WASHINGTON STATE. 



The three-pound package of bees with queen ar- 

 rived to-day, for which accept my most sincere ap- 

 preciation. It is really more than I expected. The 

 bees arrived here at 11 A. M. Oct. 5. I took them 

 in hand at once, as they were in a very feeble con- 

 dition. There were none that could fly. Very few- 

 had strength enough to climb on to the combs, so I 

 placed the combs on the flat and spread the bees on 

 them, and in the course of half an hour they were 

 as good as any bees. There was only about 4 

 ounces of dead bees. The water-can was as dry as 

 a bone. The candy was about four-fifths gone, pro- 

 viding that small space on the end was full when 

 you started the bees. It was here where a large 

 number of the dead bees were, it would seem, for 

 when the bees got dry they all crowded toward the 

 candy. The space was just packed with dead bees; 

 in fact, it was a hard mass of bees, so they could 

 not get at the remainder of the candy. I believe 

 that in four to six hours longer there would not 

 have been a live bee in the box. I don't know what 

 kind of weather they passed through; but here in 

 Spokane it is fine. They were 24 hours longer on 

 the road than they should have been, provided you 

 shipped them Sept. 30, 8 P. M. At that rate they 

 were nearly five days coming. 



Spokane, Wash. Leonard Punk. 



It will be noticed in the case of the bees 

 shipped to the State of Washington that 

 in a few hours more they would have starv- 

 ed to death, as insufficient provision had 

 been made to give the bees food and water. 

 The very fact that the bees were as good as 

 ever after they had been fed shows that 

 more food and water will put them through 

 in good shape even for long distances. 



To demonstrate further the feasibility of 

 shipping without combs, we are now pro- 

 posing to send Mr. Morley Pettit, Provin- 

 cial Apiarist, Guelph, Ontario, a three- 

 pound package of bees in cold weather. 

 Indeed, we may say that we have recently 

 had a small package that we have kept sev- 

 eral days, putting them outdoors in a freez- 

 ing temperature. After they had been out 

 a few hours we brought them back into a 

 warm room. This procedure of warm and 

 cold was continued for three days. At the 

 end of that time, not a bee died, notwith- 

 standing they were without even the pro- 

 tection of an inclosure other than the wire 

 cloth. We will let our readers know the 

 results. 



