1900 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



207 



[It is not improbable that our cor- 

 respondent's surmise in regard to two 

 quc^ens liaving entered the liive togetlier 

 is correct. That they rented a queen 

 in ten days is out of tlie question. That 

 is, if we are to understand that the 

 hive contained no brood at the time of 

 entering it, wliich we presume was the 

 case. Our correspondent has answered 

 his own question in regard to tlie duty. 

 As to wlio owns tlie bees, it will doubt- 

 less depend largely upon whether the 

 matter is to be considered from a legal 

 or moral standpoint. The latter is de- 

 cidedly to be chosen in preference to 

 the former: and if Messrs. Todd and 

 McKay are inclined to come together 

 on tills ground, attendant condition will 

 render tiie matter easily adjusted. If, 

 as our correspondent says, there are no 

 Italians within twenty miles of their 

 location, it is very probable that the 

 swarms issued from the hives of either 

 one or the other of the parties directly 

 interested. An inspection of the colonies 

 in each yard at the time would have de- 

 cided the matter. If the evidence is in 

 favor of Mr. Todd"s ownership, he 

 should have his bees; thougli there is 

 little to encourage the thought that they 

 might be recovered by law, and their 

 extradition would, most likely, be at- 

 tended with some difficulty. Better get 

 together, talk it over, remember the 

 golden rule, and decide the matter 

 among yourselves, and not rely upon 

 the decision of " a committee of one" 

 two thousand miles away. Evidence is 

 too meager.] — Editor. 



MOVING BEES. 



Their Preparation for Long Hauls and 

 the Winter Repository. Setting Out 

 in the Spring, etc. — Details of the 

 Method Practiced by a Successful 

 Operator. 



BV F. GHEINKH. 



FOR many years in the past it has 

 been our custom every spring to 

 take a part of our bees to other 

 pasture fields and then in the fall, or at 

 the approach of winter, to move them 

 back home. My object in bringing 

 them back in the fall has been that I 

 might winter them in my bee-cellar. 

 This I considered less expensive than to 

 winter on the summer stands, making 



I 



it necessary to provide winter cases and 

 packing. 



Moving many colonies back and forth. 

 I have never had serious mishaps — at 

 least never the loss of a colony or any 

 broken combs to lament. I have 

 had hives leak bees occasionally, but 1 

 have learned to avoid this. It may be 

 of benefit to some of the readers of 

 The American Bee-keeper to know- 

 just how we managed, so I will tell 

 briefly our modus operandi. 



To begin with, I select only such 

 colonies as are in a prosperous condi- 

 tion, but reject over-populous colonies. 

 I desire to have all the colonies of an 

 out-yard as near as possible of uniform 

 strength; leaving the strongest at home 

 prevents undesirable May-swarms and 

 their loss. 



The majority of my bees are on the 

 old style hanging or swinging frame 

 without spacers. I generally make all 

 frames of this kind stable by pushing 

 little short sticks of about half the 

 length of the end-bars of frames and of 

 proper width and thickness in between 

 the frames. Often I flo this only at 

 one end of frames, which is sufficient in 

 most cases. I formerly used these 

 sticks of full length of the end-bars of 

 frames, but soon found that shorter 

 sticks answered as well and were easier 

 to adjust and remove. Hives that had 

 their frames not disturbed during the 

 honey season can later be moved on 

 spring-wagons without any further pre- 

 cautions; brace-combs holding the 

 frames securely from swinging. All 

 hives with fixed frames are, of course, 

 always ready on short notice, which 

 feature makes such a hive of especial 

 value to those who do much moving. 



Having made the frames secure, the 

 next thing is to arrange for proper 

 ventilation. When there is no brood in 

 the hives as, for instance, in the late 

 fall, a wire-screen over the entrance 

 provides all the ventilation needed ; but 

 in the spring, when the bees are much 

 more active, a screen over the whole top 



