372 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of the hives, aud two rows more placed 

 on top and hished as before. I would 

 say, however, that I firmly nailed a short 

 board across the ends of the plank that 

 were laid on the hay. 



I never cracked a comb, nor killed any 

 bees, and, remember, it was in August, 

 and they were very strong with bees. 



On a wagon the combs will fare mucli 

 hetter placed crosswise than lengthwise, 

 but on the cars they should be placed 

 parallel to the car, or the ends of hives 

 should be in line with the engine. 



Great care should be exercised to have 

 each hive well closed so that no bees 

 can fly out and cause trouble with the 

 team. The horses should not be hitched 

 up until after the bees are loaded, and 

 again should be unhitched before un- 

 loading the bees. 



In moving bees .in the spring it may 

 not be necessary to put wire-cloth over 

 the entire top of the hive, but it should 

 have some, as the narrow entrance may 

 get clogged up with bees, and the colony 

 smother. A gentleman sent me 5 colo- 

 nies on the cars, with no ventilation at 

 the top of the hives, and 2 colonies were 

 smotbered on arrival. 



They should not be moved until spring 

 — say in April. 



Anderson, Ind. 



Shuiks ana Ants— Farmer Bee-Keepers. 



Written tor the American Bee Journal 

 BY BKO. BEN. 



In looking over some of the issues of 

 the Bee Jouknal of the past few 

 months, I found one in which Mrs. 

 Atchley tells of the great destruction a 

 skunk will do in the apiary, and asked 

 for means by which the pest may be de- 

 stroyed. I have seen several replies, all 

 of which may be very good, but not one 

 of these have given the plan which I 

 learned by long years of practice as a 

 trapper. 



The old trapper who gives poison in 

 lumps of lard or tallow is about right, 

 so far as he goes, but I found to my cost 

 once that it is unsafe. If you have a 

 little fresh cut or open sore on your 

 hand, the least wind might put enough 

 poison there to do great injury. A safer 

 way would be to sit down by some table 

 where there is no wind to blow on you. 

 Take a G. D. gun cap and put your 

 poison in that ; push a piece of tallow 

 down on it, and lay in a vessel of some 

 kind, and with a knife press the tallow 



over the cap, and the bait is ready. Pre- 

 pare all your baits in this way. 



Now take any kind of fresh meat that 

 will leave a scent, and go away from 

 your apiary, say 400 yards ; do this 

 just before nightfall. Now put down a 

 piece of old honey-comb, or anything a 

 skunk will eat, and on top of this put 

 one of the baits. Then tie a string or 

 rope to your fresh meat, and drop it 

 upon the ground near your bait, and 

 drag it around the apiary, stopping 

 every 100 yards or so to leave a bait in 

 the trail, and so continue until you have 

 made the circuit. No skunk will ever 

 pass this trail without following it to a 

 bait, and if all the feed is gone, it will 

 probably travel around and around the 

 apiary until too late to visit it that 

 night, and then you will be ready for 

 him the next night by going through the 

 same performance. 



If this circle is too great, you need not 

 go so far from the apiary — just go far 

 enough to be out of reach of the chick- 

 ens and poodle-dog. 



A skunk-trap is made thus : A barrel 

 set in the ground full depth, with the 

 head used for a lid, made small enough 

 to revolve within the barrel, made into 

 a trap-door, and then covered by a box 

 8x4 feet. This makes a good trap for 

 skunks. The box needs no lid, and is 

 turned down over the barrel. Make a 

 hole in one end of the box 4x6 inches, 

 place this hole close to the bairel, and 

 put some honey or drone-comb in the 

 other end of the box. The barrel should 

 be :■< full of water to drown the skunk. 

 As a rule, there will be no bad odor 

 where they are caught in this manner. 

 Turn the box mouth upward on top of 

 the trap during the day, to keep the 

 chicks out. 



KEEPING ANTS FKOM THE HIVES. 



To prevent ants from going into the 

 hive, put the bench legs in cans of water 

 instead of daubing with tar. If the bees 

 get in, put in a little kerosene oil. Do 

 not set the hives under vines or trees, as 

 the ants will climb and drop off on them. 

 If you want shade, furnish it by placing 

 boards on the hive. 



FARMERS KEEPING BEES. 



I have bought my honey for the past 

 few years of a farmer, and get honey 

 good enough for a king to eat. Farmers 

 should produce all they eat, both of 

 sweets and other food, t often see some 

 article in the Bee Journal which says 

 we should not keep bees, but I have yet 

 to see the first sensible reason why we 



