Vol, XVI. 



NOV. 1, 1888. 



No. 21 



TERMS :n.00 Per ANNTiM.Df Advance;! Tpn-f-^'hT-i alt /^ rl 4-vt t f^ 'Y ^ 

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1 Clubs to different postofllces, not less 

 than 90 cts. each. Sent postpaid, in the 

 U. S. and Canadas. To all other conn- 

 tries of the Universal Postal Union. 18 

 S^TO^iThirpfe^-Ot'^V"" '^°""''"" 



more, 75 cts. each. Single nuin- \ 

 ber, 5 cts. Additions to clubs may bo [ 



be sent to one postoffice. 



lUBLISHED SKIiU-MONTHLY BY 



. per year e.xtra. 



PLACING MEBS IN THE CELLAB. 



FHIENI) D()Or>ITTI.E TELLS US ABOUT AN INOEN- 

 lOUS HARNESS FOR DOING THE WORK. 



T AM asked to give an article on the above 

 j^ subject; and as the asker puts his (juery in the 

 ^l shape of several questions, I think it best to 

 ■*■ answer them by number, In the order they 

 are put. First, he says, " I should like to know 

 how I can place the bees in the cellar without dis- 

 t\7rbinfr them." This is nearly an impossibility, as 

 far as not arousing- them at all is concerned, for 

 bees are sensitive to the least movement of their 

 home, and, no matter how still it may be done, if 

 done times enough the result always is a restless 

 colony. But, practically speaking-, bees can beset 

 in the cellar without disturbance, or, in other words, 

 not be disturbed enoug-h so that it is noticeable, or 

 to do any harm. In fact, I am not sure that a dis- 

 turbance, so g-reat as to cause them to come out all 

 over the front of the hive after they are in the cel- 

 lar, does any harm, yet I prefer not to so disturb 

 them. T have two ways of carrying- the bees to the 

 cellar; one of which is, tog-et a strap of the harness- 

 maker, c)r otherwise, long enough to go'over my 

 shoulders, and reach the cleat that goes around the 

 top of the hive, or the hand-holes, if cleats are not 

 used, so 1 hat the hive may be held up in about the 

 position that it would naturally be when carried in 

 the hands. Now get two large snaps, such as are 

 used on the breast-straps of heavy harnesses, and 

 have them sewed, one on each end of the strap. 

 After this is done, take out the tongues, or snap 

 part, of each, and file the projecting hook part of 



the snaps to a sharp point, when your strap is ready. 

 On going to the hive, throw the strap over the 

 shoulders, and, on stooping down, hitch the sharj) 

 points of the snaps into the cleats, or hand-holes, of 

 the hive, and straighten up, thus lifting the hive by 

 the shoulders, instead of the arms. With the 

 hands, keep the hive away from the body, and thus 

 you can carry it as still as you please. 



The other way, and the best one for all not phys- 

 ically strong, is to get one of the spring wheelbar- 

 rows that friend Root sells, and on this place a 

 sawdust cushion, such as is used over the hives in 

 winter; or, in the absence of this, put on several 

 thicknesses of old carpet, or horse-blankets, and on 

 this set the hive, when it can be wheeled right in- 

 to the cellar, if the cellar is built as it should be, or 

 to the cellar-door, in any event. In this way no 

 serious disturbance should be caused, if set on and 

 off the wheelbarrow as they should be. 



Second, he says, " I want to raise them an inch 

 off the bottom-board." This is as it should lie, on- 

 ly, instead of an inch. I prefer that the distanc<' be 

 two inches, or, better still, the whole height of th(» 

 hive. By this, T mean to let the bottom edges of 

 one hive rest on the top edges of two other hives, 

 so that thei-e is an open space, the size of a hive, 

 under each hive o.vcept the- bottom ones. To ex- 

 plain more fully: 1 first carry into the cellar some 

 bottom-boards, plncing them on the cellar bottom 

 nearly as far apart as the width of a hive. On 

 these bottom-boards I place a two-inch rim, and on 

 these rims I place the first tier of hives, which 

 leaves the hives a little too close for a hive to stand 

 between them. Now, in setting in the next tier, 



