190 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



wire-cloth, and put on the supers with 

 several holes not less than an inch in 

 diameter in them, covered with wire- 

 cloth, giving the bees opportunity to 

 cluster above the brood-frames. After 

 a journey of from 50 to 100 miles, they 

 were in good condition. This plan does 

 not require much wire-cloth. — M.Mahin. 



Burlap will do very well if you have a 

 large space to cover. It costs about 10 

 cents per yard.— P. H. Elwood. 



Better use the wire-cloth, and be sure 

 to put it on the bottura of the hive if you 

 want your bees to ship safely. Give only 

 a little ventilation at the top. Bees can 

 be shipped hundreds of miles in good 

 condition with free bottom ventilation, 

 when a part or all would die without it. 



— G. L. TiNKEK. 



Any kind of suitable cloth would also 

 be expensive, and I do not think that 

 either wire-cloth or common cloth neces- 

 sary, if the bees are moved bafore warm 

 weather comes. Bee-escape boards 

 would be just the thing, nailed to the 

 hives with small wire nails, and the 

 holes for escapes covered with wire- 

 cloth.— C.H. DiBBERN. 



Taking it yard by yard, wire-cloth can 

 be so used as to be actually cheaper 

 than any cloth covering that will an- 

 swer the purpose at all. Any textile 

 fabric you can obtain, that will confine 

 the bees safely, will not allow sufficient 

 ventilation to carry the bees safely 

 through the journey. I assume they are 

 to be carried quite a long distance.— J. 

 E. Pond. 



You do not say how far you expect to 

 move. For long distances wire-cloth 

 will be safest, as they might (if confined 

 long) eat through thin cloth and cause 

 trouble for a short distance. Cheese- 

 cloth or musquito-netting will do. I 

 have safely moved hundreds of colonies 

 during cool weather in Fall and Spring, 

 by simply screening the entrance, when 

 tiie distance was not more than i\v('. or 

 ten miles.— S. I. Fkeebobn. 



It will dej)end upon how long your 

 bees are likely to be confined under the 

 cloth ; when deciding the question you 

 should take this into consideration. My 

 bees will cut through any kind of cloth 

 in process of time (wire is not cloth.) 

 Thin brown cotton-cloth is not likely to 

 1)(! cut through in the Winter or Si)ring, 

 in a week or ten days. Last 8i)ring 1 

 prepared 2 colonies for shipment, tack- 

 ing thin cotton over the^frames. Tlier(> 

 was a delay of alx)ut ten days, and one 

 of the colonies cut a hole In the cloth, 



which had to be patched. I would risk 

 thin brown cotton-cloth, if the shipping 

 could be done in a week. — G. W. Dem- 



AREE. 



I know of no cloth that would give 

 good ventilation that bees would not cut 

 through, if confined long enough. ' But 

 for short distances any kind gf cheap 

 open cloth will do. I have had consid- 

 erable experience 1n moving bees, for the 

 last 20 years, and unless the weather is 

 warm, I do not use anything for cover- 

 ing except the quilts and arched covers 

 that belong to each hive. I simply make 

 my wagons bee-tight, load up, and pull 

 out. — Mrs. Jennie Atchley. 



You do not state whether you mean 

 over the frames or over the front of the 

 portico. If over the tops of the frames, 

 "Indian head" muslin will serve a good 

 purpose, or a thin board, to cover the 

 top of lower hive, with a few holes made 

 in it with a brad-awl. If over the en- 

 trance to the portico in front, is meant, 

 you can close the entrance to the hive 

 with a strip of wood with a few notches 

 cut in for ventilation, and it will answer 

 every purpose, unless the weather is 

 quite warm, and the bees are to be con- 

 fined for several days. — Mrs. L. Harri- 

 son. 



A board at each end and less wire- 

 cloth will do ; but there is nothing as 

 good as wire-cloth for keeping the bees 

 confined. " Excellence is cheapness." — 

 The Editor. 



Water for Bees. 



1. It is frosty in the morning, and 

 cool in the afternoon, and many of my 

 bees go out for water, and are unable to 

 get back to their hives. Do they need 

 water at this time of the year ? 2. The 

 water in the only well that they go to 

 is slightly alkaline, or salt, or both ; do 

 they like such water better than the 

 other kinds? Wm. F. Gassman. 



Woodland, Calif., Jan. 12, 18U2. 



[1. Oh, y(>s ; the bees need water in 

 your locality now, for they are rearing 

 brood. 



2. They like saltwater; in fact, salt 

 is often added to fresh water for their 

 use; — Ei).] 



Don't talk of by-and-by doing some- 

 tliing whicli is needed now. Mow is the 

 time, and \l will not pay to put it off. 



