THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST, 



19 



2. Will not a flat roof shed the water 

 Ruflicieutlj^ to keep the interior of the 

 hive dry and answer every purpose 

 equally as well as the pitch roof? 



3. AVhat color should hives be painted 

 considering taste and durabilitj^? 



ANSWERS BY DR. TINKER. 



I. I advise the flat roof made 

 of a whole board cleated at the ends. 

 Two or more pieces of board may 

 be used, the joint being covered by 

 a long strip of tin cut two inches 

 wide, to be laid in paint and braded 

 down at the edges. A very wide 

 cover can be made in this way, that 

 will never leak a drop, if freshly 

 painted every two or three years. I 

 know of no advantage of a pitch 

 roof over a flat one. The former is 

 the more expensive, is the heavier to 

 handle and requires more paint to 

 keep in order. The board should 

 be wide enough to extend over the 

 sides one inch and over the front and 

 rear ends of the hive, two inches. 



The cleats should be grooved in 

 the sides to fit on the end of the 

 board. If the location is subject to 

 high winds, the board is weighted 

 on the hive but if it is made to pro- 

 ject over the edges of the hive not 

 more than is above recommended it 

 takes a very hard wind to blow one 

 off, when not weighted. 



2. Yes. 



3. I prefer white but have red, 

 white and blue colors used so as to 

 present a very tasty and attractive 

 appearance. 



MOVING BEES. 



Tiffin, Johnson Co., Iowa, Dec. 9, 188G. 



I would like a question or two an- 

 swered in the "Apiculturist." 



1st. I am going to remove my apiary 

 about 250 miles by railroad next spring. 

 Conld they be successfully moved the 

 middle of April? 



2nd. How would you prepare the 

 hives for the journey, how much ven- 

 tihition is required on top and bottom so 

 tliat any one could move them with the 

 least damage. 



3rd. Mine is the Langstroth frame. 

 Now would wire nails driven tliroush 

 the top bar in the wood rabbet hold 

 them in place, or screws, be a good 

 plan to hold them or how is the best 

 plan to fix them? 



S. E. R. 



ANSWERS BY H. ALLEY. 



i & 2. Yes, you can move the 

 bees as far as you please at most any 

 time during the month of April. I 

 have found April and October the 

 two most favorable months in the 

 year for moving bees. In the latter 

 month the bees have no brood later 

 than about the loth while in April 

 they will have more or less, yet the 

 weather is usually quite cool, and 

 the bees do not become uneasy nor 

 do they seem to suffer for water while 

 confined in the hives as they do later 

 in the season when the weather is 

 warmer. However, if one has a large 

 number of colonies to move 250 

 miles, an attendant should accom- 

 pany them ; supply each colony with, 

 at least, half a pint of water each day, 

 if the bees are to be fastened more 

 than one day in the hives. 



A colony will need very little up- 

 ward ventilation in April while being 

 moved and a wire-screen at the en- 

 trance, if so constructed that the 

 wire will not come within one inch of 

 the front of the hive, will furnish all 

 the air the strongest colony will need. 

 If your hives have porticos, as Mr. 

 Langstroth used to make them, wire- 

 cloth can be nailed to cover the front 

 of the hive which would answer as well 

 as a wire-screen, and such an arrange- 

 ment would give ample ventilation at 

 most any month in the year, provided 

 the entrance is three-eighths of an 

 inch and full width of the hive. 



3. Nail the frames at each end to 

 the rabbet, with one-inch wire nails, 

 but do not drive them clear in as 

 there would be considerable trouble 

 to draw them out. When they are all 

 nailed, one or more strips of wood, 

 one inch wide and as long as the hive 

 is wide and a fraction thicker than th e 



