1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



149 



Moving Bees Short Distances. 



BY CHAS H. THIES. 



During the past month I have re- 

 ceived several letters in regard to 

 moving bees only a short distance, 

 and while there may be others contem- 

 plating moving their bees perhaps 

 only a rod or two I think a few re- 

 marks on above would not be amiss. 

 Remember moving bees several miles 

 or only a few feet or rods requires 

 different management. There are 

 .* different ways to move bees only a 

 short distance. I will speak of only 

 two at this t-ime, and if any one has a 

 better method, then please let us have 

 it. The first method we will try to con- 

 sider is to move them only a little ai a 

 time, make the first move not more 

 than a foot, then in a day or two move 

 them a foot and a half or two feet, 

 and so on, each move you may increase 

 the distance a little unless you see 

 that the bees are not marking location 

 as fast as you move them, if such 

 should be the case, then you should 

 not move them so often, or not so great 

 a distance at a time, remember to move 

 bees by this method, you must do it in 

 warm weather i. e. when they can fly 

 out freely each day and at each move, 

 should you make two or three moves 

 when they are unable to fly and there- 

 by mark their location, you will get 

 them all mixed, and you may have 

 some trouble unless you have had ex- 

 perience enough to correct the mis- 

 take. Try to keep your hives in the 

 same position to each other i. e. move 

 all the hives you wish to move a little 

 the same day, some bees you will find 

 will mark location more readily than 

 others, in fact I have seen bees from 

 which yon could hardly hide their 

 hive, after they were once stirred up. 



The other method is to move your 

 bees away from two to three miles, 

 leaving them there, until they have 

 thoroughly marked their new loca- 

 tion, by this operation they will for- 

 get their old location. The bees may 

 be moved away by this method at any 

 time, but better not disturb them 

 when very cold, but they should re- 

 main away long enough so they will 

 be able to fly out a week or more be- 

 fore th(iy are returned. Should you 

 move them away during cold weather 

 and return them before they have had 

 a week or two of warm weather to fly 

 out in, it will be of no advantage, for 

 as long as they have not thoroughly 

 marked a new location, they will not 

 have forgotten their old one. If you 

 will only be a little careful, you need 

 not have any trouble. The first meth- 

 od I would prefer if the distance you 

 want to move is not too great. If a 

 two mile or more move is wanted, all 

 you will need to do is simply to move 

 them at any time when the weather is 

 favorable. 



Steeleville, 111. 



Hints to Beginners. 



BY STANTON E. HITCHCOCK 



The general sentiment among some 

 people is, that anyone can keep bees. 

 They seem to think all that is requir- 

 ed in bee culture is to be able to hive 

 a swarm and harvest the honey in the 

 fall, but let me tell you, that is the 

 smallest part of the care which a col- 

 ony of bees need. Bees are a peculiar 

 insect and the products which they 

 produce, man with all his learning 

 and scientific appliances cannot equal. 

 The one who purchases the little car- 

 ton of sealed sweetness, knows noth- 

 ing of the cost of the same. A per- 



