1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



611 



great, big " barns," that weighed 80 pounds empty, and were, 

 we thought, the last step to successful winteriug. True, the 

 bees wintered fairly in them, but the trouble was to carry 

 them through the spring. Those hives were so thick that the 

 sunshine of a March day did not reach through, and the bees 

 remained closeted till they became sick from too lengthy con- 

 finement, and more' spring dwindling took place in these than 

 in any other hives. 



Cellar-wintering which we tried at different times did not 

 give us full satisfaction. In a cold, hard winter when the 

 bees had first-class honey for stores, there was no trouble in 

 bringing theui through, but when the winter was mild and 

 the cellar consequently rather warm, the bees became rest- 

 less, and many of them got lost trying to leave the hive. I 

 have seen the Uoor of the bee-cellar in such a season literally 

 covered with dead bees. Yet, if the honey was of good 

 quality so that it would not endanger their lives by causing 

 dysentery, there was but little trouble, especially if the spring 

 came in a steady manner with fairly warm days. But in cold, 

 backward springs, if the bees have been taken out too early 

 because the apiarist has concluded that winter is over, what a 

 pity it is to see those bees, softened by their long confinement, 

 flying to their death, one after another, while in search of 

 pollen or water on unpropitious days ! We have always found 

 more loss from this cause with bees that had been wintered in 

 the cellar than with those that had roughed it, unless the lat- 

 ter had been so weakened by heavy losses from cold that they 

 were totally unable to keep the hive warm. 



The best method we have seen thus far, but which re- 

 quires quite an outlay and quite a great deal of attention, is 

 to cover the hives with a shed, closed during cold weather, or 

 to cover each colony with an outer case, removable at will. 

 But sheds are expensive and cumbrous, and are more or less 

 in the way during the summer, especially as they harbor ants, 

 moths, spiders, wasps and other pests. Out-of-door cases that 

 are removed in spring are very good, but it represents quite 

 an expense, and it takes a large amount of shelter to keep 

 these over the summer. 



Upon the whole, we concluded a number of years ago that 

 a good, plain hive made thickest on the back (which is always 

 the north side with us), and well sheltered from the north and 

 west winds is the best thing in our climate. The wind-break 

 we use seems sufficient to guard against the extremes of tem- 

 perature. 



Yet, to an amateur who has few bees and plenty of leisure, 

 we would recommend to try the outer winter covering. It is 

 quite important to have the bees well sheltered, but it is fully 

 as important to give them the benefit of the warm sun which 

 incites breeding early in the spring. We once accidentally 

 took care of half a dozen hives that had been placed in a hot- 

 house with an outdoor entrance, and we have never seen colo- 

 nies as strong as these were, neither do we ever expect to 

 harvest from our bees as much honey as these six colonies 

 yielded during that summer. Perhaps such an experiment 

 connot be called conclusive, as it was not repeated, but we 

 have no doubt that the influence of the early spring sun, with 

 the natural heat of their home, had much to do with the re- 

 sult they gave. Hancock Co., 111. 



Moving Bees to Beau-Fields la California. 



BT W. T. RICHARDSON. 

 (Head at the l^niversily I<'armers' Institute, at Santa Paula, Calif.) 



I have taken the subject of moving bees to the lima bean- 

 fields because many have askt how we prepared the bees for 

 their journey from the mountain apiaries to the bean-fields. 

 In preparing the hives we use a separator, which is a number 

 of blocks about two inches in length and thickness according 



to the space between the frames, all the blocks being attacht 

 by the upper ends to a tin strip and pointed at their lower 

 ends. Thus, all the blocks are held in place by the tin strip, 

 and they keep the frames from crushing against each other in 

 moving, which would cause a great loss of bees and damage 

 to the brood. 



Screens Above and Below. — Another Important feature 

 is to have a light frame, made of about lj<-inch square stuff, 

 the size of the hive, and on this tack wire-netting. This is 

 used in the place of the solid cover in moving. Most of these 

 screen frames are so constructed that there is a space of 

 about one inch between the netting and the bees. I am not 

 sure but that still more room would be better, especially for 

 those hives that are populous with bees. The entrance is 

 closed up with an entrance-block. This block is cut out so 

 that the full size of the opening is exposed. A piece of wire- 

 cloth is tackt across the block to prevent the bees from get- 

 ting out, yet allowing air to get into the hive, thereby caus- 

 ing circulation and producing a current throughout the hive 

 and out at the screen above. It is desirable that the bees 

 have cool, fresh air. Confining them and the moving makes 

 them very uneasy, and they are constantly trying to get out 

 through the screens. 



Moving at Night. — The preparations for moving can all 

 be made during the day, except the closing of the entrances, 

 which cannot be done until nearly dark, because the bees are 

 flying more or less during the day, and the putting in of the 

 separators and wire frames adds to their disturbance, so that 

 in some hives the bees do not get settled and all inside until 

 nearly or quite dark. I prefer to move bees at night. It is 

 always cooler for the bees, and I think that is of great Im- 

 portance. I also think that the bees are not so much inclined 

 to worry and to make the same frantic efforts to get out that 

 they do in the sunshine. 



The Use of Racks. — Some have fitted racks to their 

 wagons for moving bees. Mr. Mendelson has the best one I 

 have seen for the purpose. I have not made any rack, but 

 have used my common ranch wagons. I bought, what is 

 known as " bolster springs." The capacity of one pair is 

 three tons, and of the other a ton and a half. With these 

 springs a load of bees will ride about as easily as in an ordinary 

 four-spring wagon. With two wagons and six horses I have 

 had hauled 120 colonies to the load for a distance of about 20 

 miles from my apiaries on the Simi to the bean-fields near 

 Hueneme. 



Does It Pay to Move ?— My first experience in moving 

 to the bean-fields was in 1895, and that season I moved about 

 650 colonies. I figured that I was a trifle ahead in making 

 the experiment. The next season, 1896, was a very poor 

 season in the mountains. The bees did not get any honey 

 there. I moved 300 colonies to the bean-fields. They gath- 

 ered IX tons of honey, and built up so that they were in bet- 

 ter condition for work this spring, so that I considered that 

 the movement for 1890 paid. The present season has not 

 been favorable for the gathering of honey in the bean-fields. 

 The early part of the season was cool and foggy ; the hot 

 weather within the past two weeks has damaged the beans 

 seriously, so that the late blossom is not yielding much nectar. 

 I cannot at present state just what the result will be this sea- 

 son. I have about concluded that a season when the bees do 

 well in the mountains will not justify moving to the bean- 

 fields, when one takes into consideration the labor and the 

 risk (and there is cor^siderable). With a poor season in the 

 mountains, when the bees do not build up, and have not 

 plenty of honey to ensure good condition of bees in the follow- 

 ing spring, I would advise moving bees. 



Effect on the Beans. — I have often been askt if the 

 bees injure the growing beans. Mr. Alvord, who has given 

 the subject careful consideration, says that the bees are a 



