Sept. 13, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



585 



On the Road in a .'^lUiciii Lii>ni--\J- 1 uin llw A'l'view.) 



The time for the journey having been selected, the top screens 

 are put on and all the hive-fastening done by ilaylight except put- 

 ting on the entrance screens. These screens are fastened to a lath 

 with two small nails. These nails are partly driven into the lath, 

 and the entrance screens are distributed before evening, that they 

 may be put on quickly when the bees quit flying. When the top 

 screens are put on, the cover is laid over them, and the shade- 

 board put in place to prevent, if possible, the bees clustering out. 

 It is quite a task to smoke in the bees of .50 colonies, and put on 

 entrance screens during a hot July evening. It the bees are in the 

 hives, as they should be, one person, with an assistant to load, can 

 easily close the entrances and take to the wagon 50 colonies after 

 the bees quit flying, and before dark. It a hive should leak, the 

 hole is plugged, and no attention paid to the bees that are outside, 

 unless they are in the driver's way. Bits of comb, not too old, 

 make excellent plugs for leaky hives. It is well to prepare one or 

 two extra colonies, to be substituted for any that might leak badly. 

 I have moved on springs and on straw. Springs are preferable, 

 being handier and lighter. When straw is used, it is well to use a 

 false rack on top of the straw. This is made of light pieces the 

 length of the hay-rack, spaced at such distances that the cleats of 

 the bottom-boards will just catch over their edges. This false rack 

 is simply laid upon the straw, and wired to the end sticks of the 

 hay-rack. It holds the hives in place, and requires much less 

 straw, as no individual hive can settle down into the straw. 



When bolster springs are used, the hay-rack is easily trans- 

 formed into a bee-rack by nailing on extra boards lengthwise, 

 spaced so as to hold the hives in place by the cleats on the bottom- 

 boards. The covers are packt in the lower part of the rack before 

 the bees are loaded. 



Unless the roads are rough, or the night is very warm, I drive 

 as fast as the horses will walk. 



Most of my frames are the Hoffman; but the loose, hanging 

 frames go all right without any fastening or attention whatever. 

 Perhaps it they rested on tin rabbets they might need fastening. 

 I have never seen a frame moved out of place by handling. 



After the frost has killed the flowers the bees are moved home 

 at once. The return trips are made during the day. No screens 

 are now used, as the weather is cool. I brought them home last 

 year without fastening the covers, as the propolis held them firmly. 

 Neither do I find it necessary to fasten the covers when hauling to 

 an out-yard in the spring; but care must be taken in loading, that 

 the covers of the different hives do not bind, or they may be 

 broken loose. 



Owing to insufficient ventilation and an extremely hot night 

 the first load that I hauled to fall pasturage got " hot " when about 

 13 miles away from home. They were set off in a school yard, 

 the entrances opened, and the journey was not resumed until the 

 next evening. When the bees wedge themselves in the entrance 



and begin to squeal, it is time to unload and 

 open the hives. Since using the deep .screens 

 on top no trouble has been experienced. The 

 risk item has i^rown less with each trip until 

 it has become practically nothing. 



In the larger jiicture the fellow in the 

 foreground is myself. The little tent is where 

 the extracting is done. It is also my kitchen, 

 parlor and bedroom while I " batch " it when 

 caring tor the bees. The picture show s only a 

 portion of the bee yard. I had 80 colonies in 

 that yard when the picture was taken. Near 

 by is a small lake, where I go fishing and boat- 

 ing when time permits. 



This season has been the flattest failure 

 that we have had since I have kept bees. I 

 have read of total failures, but this is the first 

 I have ever experienced, and I have kept bees 

 over 15 years. I look with more than usual 

 anxiety to the autumn flowers. 



The hive fastenings described in the fore- 

 part of my article are somewhat objectionable, 

 in that nails must be driven into the hives. 

 This year I expect to make frames to hold sev- 

 eral hives clampt together, without fastening 

 the individual hives. A bottom frame, so 

 constructed that it will hold the bottom- 

 boards in place, and of proper length to fit 

 crosswise in a railroad car, will have holes mortist in just below 

 the corners of each hive. T-shaped posts, formed by nailing a 

 one-halt by three-inch piece (top of the T) to a one and one-halt 

 by 's piece (stem of T), length of post to be a little greater than 

 hight of hive, upper story and rim for screen, will be dropt down 

 into these holes in such manner that the stem of the T (the }i^}4 

 piece) will be between the sides of the adjacent hives, and the top 

 of the T will catch over the ends of the hives, i. <■., the corners of 

 two adjacent hives will fit snugly into the corners of the T-shaped 

 post. A light frame, having holes to correspond with the tops of 

 these posts, will be placed on top of the group of hives and drawn 

 down tight against the top of the screens by means of wire loops 

 with sticks. These groups, or clamps, of hives will be placed on 

 the wagon-rack crosswise, which will make the combs run length- 

 wise of the wagon. This will permit a greater number of hives on 

 the rack one tier high. I would not expect any damage to the 

 combs by being placed lengthwise on the wagon. When placed in 

 a car they will be all right.— Bee-Keepers' Review. 



Miaini Co., Ind., July 6. 



I Questions and Answers. | 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. O. O. MII^LBR. A/areng-o, 111. 



fThe Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1 



Moving Bees a Long Distance. 



I am going to locate in western Missouri, and having 

 an apiary of 15 colonies which I want to take along with 

 me, how would you advise shipping them, and at what time 

 of the year, to have them reach their destination with as 

 little loss as possible ? I have been in the busitiess five 

 years, and have had great success, so I now dislike giving 

 them up, if I can take them along without too much ex- 

 pense. Illinois. 



Answer. — The best time is in spring, when the combs 

 are light, and when the weather is not yet hot. Fall is 

 good, if the combs are not too heavily laden. The exact 

 manner of preparing for shipment depends somewhat upon 

 the kind of hive. In any case there must be provision for 

 ample ventilation, the hotter the. weather the more it is 

 needed. Make a frame to cover the entire top of the hive, 

 and cover it with wire-cloth. If the hive is not provided 

 with tixt-distance frames, fasten the frames against mov- 



