THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



699 



the rabbet of the hive. (The heads of 

 the nails should be allowed to project 

 }i of an inch, in order that they may 

 be readily drawn out.) When fast- 

 ened in this manner, the frames can- 

 not slide about, neither can they 

 swing together close enough to injure 

 the bees, while their not being fast- 

 ened at the bottom allows the frames 

 to move slightly under the iutluence 

 of a sudden jolt, which assists the 

 combs materially in sustaining the 

 shock without injury. When sent by 

 express, it is not very material whicti 

 end of the hive is placed forward, but 

 when sent by freight, it is an essential 

 point, as the car is always started 

 with a jerk, and, unless the combs are 

 parallel with the track, they are apt 

 to be swung together or broken out. 



One hundred colonies of bees were 

 sent to the Exposition at New Orleans, 

 and in order to get them into the car, 

 it became necessary so to place ten 

 hives that the frames were crosswise 

 of the track. The 10 colonies in the.se 

 hives were dead when they arrived, 

 while the ethers were in fair condi- 

 tion. A placard attached to the hive 

 should request that everybody will 

 " Please liandle with care and keep 

 out of the sun." When sent by freight, 

 "This end forward," should be the 

 reading upon another placard, so at- 

 tached that when the request is 

 obeyed, the frames will be parallel 

 with the track. Unless the distance 

 is short, and there will be no trans- 

 fers, it is seldom advisable to send 

 bees by freight, unless some one can 

 accompany them. If shipped at a 

 time when there is much unsealed 

 brood in the hives, much of it will 

 perish, unless the bees are furnished 

 with water — the bees robbing the 

 larvae of their food to quench their 

 thirst. If somebody accompanies the 

 bees, he can sprinkle them daily. If 

 sent by exjiress or freight, and no one 

 goes with them, the best that can be 

 done is to place a large sponge under 

 the wire-cloth, at one corner of the 

 hive, and saturate it with water. If 

 the bees are going a long distance, it 

 might be well to attach to the hive a 

 request that the express agent mois- 

 ten the sponge daily at noon. Colo- 

 nies very strong in numbers seldom 

 bear shipment so well as weaker ones 

 — a medium-sized colony often con- 

 taining more live bees, when reaching 

 its destination, than a very populous 

 one. 



SHIPPING HONEY. 



Large crates should be avoided in 

 shipping comb honey, as a heavy 

 crate is much more likely to be 

 " dumped " than a smaller one. A 

 crate should be light but strong. The 

 honey should never be depended upon 

 to keep the crate in shape, but vice 

 versa. Crates only one tier of sections 

 high are best; if higher than this, and 

 any of the upper sections are injured, 

 the honey runs down and daubs the 

 lower sections. Small crates are more 

 salable than large ones. There should 

 always be glass in at least one side of 

 a crate, in order that all who handle 

 the honey may see what is being 

 handled ; this will secure more careful 

 handling than to cover the crates 

 with cautionary placards. When plac- 



ing the crates in the car, they should 

 be so placed that the combs are 

 parallel with the track, the same as in 

 shipping bees ; this, however, is not 

 so important as in shipping bees, as 

 the combs are much smaller, some 

 thicker, and there are no bees present 

 to heat them. One disadvantage is, 

 that the combs are new and tender, 

 but there is not much danger of 

 breakage, if the combs are well at- 

 tached to the sections. Ileversing 

 the sections when they are nearly 

 finished will induce the bees to attach 

 the combs all around. 



There is much less danger of ship- 

 ping comb honey in warm weather, as 

 the cold makes the combs more brit- 

 tle. Much of the damage done to 

 comb honey in shipping is done by 

 the freight handlers in unloading it, 

 and it is well for the shipper, if he 

 has a large lot, to have his railroad 

 freight-agent mark o)i the margin of 

 the way-bill the following : " Please 

 notify consignee before unloading;" 

 then the consignee can see to the un- 

 loading himself. 



Extracted honey should be shipped 

 in kegs that will not contain more 

 than 150 pounds ; larger packages are 

 more difficult to handle, and more apt 

 to be injured, and the honey lost by 

 leakage. To prevent barrels from 

 leaking, they are sometimes coated on 

 the inside with wax or paraffine. The 

 barrel should be warmed, and the wax 

 as hot as possible. The hotter the 

 wax and the barrel, the thinner will 

 be the coating of wax. As soon as 

 the wax is poured in, the bung should 

 be driven in, and the barrel rolled 

 about so that the wax may touch all 

 parts; then the bung can be removed, 

 and the wax poured out. It is poor 

 policy to use second-hand barrels, or 

 those that need waxing ; it would be 

 better to use good, new packages that 

 need no waxing. Kegs made of spruce, 

 holding 100 pounds each, have given 

 me the most satisfaction. They 

 sho\ildbe soaWed with hot water before 

 putting in the honey ; but no wooden 

 package should ever be soaked with 

 water before putting honey into it, 

 for the reason that honey has the 

 peculiarity of absorbing the water 

 from the wood with which it is in 

 contact. Have the barrels or kegs as 

 dry as possible, and the hoops tightly 

 driven and nailed. After honey has 

 crystallized in a keg or barrel, it will, 

 of course, bear almost any kind of 

 handling without danger. 



Both comb and extracted honey can 

 be more safely sent by freight than 

 by express ; especially is this true in 

 shipping comb honey, for the reason 

 that express matter must, of neces- 

 sity, be handled so rapidly. At our 

 last State Fair, I heard three men be- 

 moaning the damage to their comb 

 honey by express companies, while all 

 the honey sent by freight was in line 

 condition. 



Rogersville, (5 Mich. 



K^~ The Central Michigan Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will meet in the Pioneers' Rooms 

 in the*State Capitol, at Lansing, Mich., at 9 

 a. m., on Nov. 1'2, 188.5. All who have bees 

 or are interested in bee-oulture, are invited 

 to attend. E. N. WOOD, Sec. 





My Report.— Wm. Seitz, Hustisford, 

 o+Wis., on Oct. 24, 1S8.5, says : 



Last winter I put .50 colonies of bees 

 into winter quarters, and 13 of them 

 came out all right in the spring. I 

 then bought (i colonies, thus com- 

 mencing the season with 19. I in- 

 creased my apiary to 45 colonies, by 

 division, and obtained 295 pounds of 

 extracted honey. 



Wintering Nude!. — Edward Moore, 

 Barrie, Ont., on Oct. 27, 1885, says : 



I have 2 nuclei colonies for which 

 I have made 2 boxes, allowing about 

 an inch of space between each hive 

 and the box. The boxes are lined 

 with thick brown paper, and the 

 hives rest upon sticks an inch square. 

 I hope to winter them successfully. 



Excellent Report. 



Boyleston,? Ills., 



Thos. C.Stanley, 

 on Oct. 24, 1885, 

 says : 



Last winter out of over 900 colonies 

 of bees I lost 7.50 ; the balance I have 

 increased to nearly 600 colonies this 

 season, and have secured a si'irplus of 

 12,000 pounds of comb honey. 



My Honey Crop, etc.— C. A. Halle- 

 gas, Ue Kalb Junction, 5 X. Y., on 

 Oct. 18, 1885, writes : 



I commenced the season with 64 

 colonies, increased them to 116, and 

 have taken 3,300 pounds of comb 

 honey. I had no honey stored in the 

 sections until basswood bloomed, 

 which was about July 15. I winter 

 my bees in the cellar, with a tempera- 

 ture from 40^ to 52°, and they have 

 always come out in the spring in good 

 condition. 



100 pounds per Colony.— G. E. T. 



Kyber, Green Bay,o+ Wis., on Oct. 29, 

 1885, says : 



My losses of bees last winter were 

 very heavy, but in spite of the cold, 

 disagreeable summer weather, I have 

 managed to obtain a surplus of about 

 lOU pounds of nice white honey from 

 each colony, spring count. 



The Wisconsin Bee-Suit.-S. I. Free- 

 born, Richland Centre,? Wis., on 

 Oct. 28, 1885, writes : 



Our famous case was disposed of in 

 the Circuit Court here to-day. It was 

 dismissed by Judge Clemen tson, be- 

 cause he considered that there was no 

 cause of action, and the jury was dis- 

 charged. The case can now be argued 

 before the Supreme Court, and if it is 

 determined that there is cause for 

 action, then it will be remanded for 

 trial here upon the Supreme Court's 

 rulings. It is not probaljle, however, 

 that it will be done. The bee-men 

 that were present are jubilant. This 

 may be the end of legal itroceedings, 

 and we hope it will, but tlie prejudice 



