1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



737 



colonies were all on Hoflfman frames, I conclud- 

 ed we might just as well haul home the re- 

 mainder of o7 in our lumber-wagon, with a 

 hay -rack. We started for this second load 

 about noon, in the midst of a light raiu. from 

 the Home of the Honey-bees, and arrived at 

 the out-yard about half-past one. By this time 

 the clouds had cleared away, and the sun was 

 out bright and the air was full of bees. This 

 did not strike me very favorably on alighting 

 from the wagon. I told our teamstei', INIr. 

 Ward, we would try what \\"e could to smoke 

 the bees in: but after working about half an 

 hour to no pui'pose. wc^ concluded we would 

 wait until it rained, or toward evening. I have 

 heard the advice given, that bees will not fly if 

 you smoke them; that the smoke would keep 

 the remaining bees in the hive, and those re- 

 turning would stay afterward. But it certain- 

 ly did not work in" tills case. After waiting a 

 couple of hours, a tliunder-shower came up; 

 and then we set to work in earnest, put the 

 bees in. fastened the covers and bottoms, and 

 laid the hives on the wagon. Two of us, in 

 about an hour and a quarter, prepared .")7 colo- 

 nies in elght-fram*' Dovetailed hives, and set 

 them on the wagon. This would make only 

 about a minute and a quarter for each hive, 

 after the rain set in, so we could close the bees 

 in. We should have been enabled to do it in 

 less time, but the rain poured down so furiously 

 that we could hardly see to work, to say noth- 

 ing of being dripping wet. Each hive had to 

 be carried quite a distance around a building. 

 under some low-spreading apple-trees, and 

 finally we had to crawl over a rail fence before 

 depositing them on the wagon. Now. if these 

 bees had been on loose frames we should have 

 spent all the afternoon, and more too. in getting 

 tlae frames stuck up. As it was, we did not even 

 open the hives. ^\ e used the same kind of en- 

 trance screen as you describe, exactly; and two 

 wire nails held all securely in position. Last 

 year I looped the cover and bottom with tarred 

 twine; but this year I thought we would try 

 using four wire nails instead. These were an 

 inch and a half long, and were driven through 

 the cover, one on each side, and two in the bot- 

 tom, so that the heads just stuck out. The op- 

 eration was very much shorter than I had sup- 

 po.sed. and on arriving home the nails drew out 

 very easily with a claw-hammer. As the 

 frames were fixed— that is, Hott'man— in order 

 to nail the bottom-board on all we had to do 

 was to turn the hive on its side. Imagine, if 

 you please, the fun of doing this with loose 

 frames. But let me sav, I drove no nails until 

 the entrance screens were fastened. Then I 

 had every thing my own way. 



After the hives were all on, the load looked 

 v'ery much like that shown in your picture, 

 only the hives were piled up two tiers high, in 

 many cases. Add to this the fact that they 

 weighed on an average from 60 to 7.5 pounds 

 each, and you will get some idea of the extent 

 of the load. As nearly as I can estimate, there 

 was something over .3(XX1 pounds weight, includ- 

 ing bees, honey, and Juves. To provide against 

 any emergency I hitched a rope to the draw- 

 pin of the doubletree, so that, in case any bees 

 got out and made a rumpus, all we would" have 

 to do would be to draw the rope, drive the team 

 away and leave the wagon standing. This hint 

 I got from Mr. C. A. Hatch. As soon as we 

 hitched on the big team, Mike, the bigger one, 

 showed right away that he knew that bees 

 were roaring behind him, and I feared he 

 would not stand much in the way of stings. 

 After we had got nicely started, to my horror I 

 saw that the bees were getting out of one of the 

 hives near the horses; and not only that, they 

 had commenced stinging myself, and were 



threatening the diiver and horses. I quickly 

 grabbed up a wet rubber coat and crammed it 

 tight arounfl the entrance, and with my hands 

 I commenced smashing the bees that were in 

 the air. It was now fast growing dark, and the 

 heavy black clouds gave indications of rain: 

 and an intensely dark night, with seven miles 

 ahead of us, with very bad roads, and one or 

 two railroad cuts that were any thing but easy 

 to get over, were not very cheering. I felt con- 

 siderably nervous, and employed myself in 

 running on top of the load, inspecting the en- 

 trances as long as I could see. and then ran 

 ahead of the team, so as to give the driver 

 warning of bad phices in the road. After we 

 got over the worst places I mounted the wagon, 

 and in about t\\() hours' time we were home 

 safe, with no mishap. 



By this and other experiences I have learned 

 .some things, and they are quite in line with the 

 points made by friend Green. In addition I 

 will add a few other points. Th(^ first is, I 

 would always have a rope attached to the 

 draw-pin of the doubletree for emergency. Sec- 

 ond, before putting the hives on the wagon, 

 carefully inspect the wire cloth that closes the 

 entrances. The time to fix up leaky entrances is 

 before the hives are put on the wagon. Third. 

 I would have a smoker already well lighted. 

 In addition to this I would have two or three 

 paddles. I would also have a wet rag. large 

 enough in size to cover up an entrance. If you 

 find the bees are escaping, tuck this around the 

 edge of the wire cloth, where they are coming 

 out. and then bring your smoker to bear. 

 Fourth. I would have some extra rope, a ham- 

 mer, and some nails; any or all of these we may 

 need. We can not take too much precaution, 

 for a single bee may cause a runaway and the 

 almost complete demolition of all the hives on 

 tlie wagon. Fifth, so far as practicable, draw 

 the bees home by moonlight. After dark, even 

 if some of the bees do escape from leaky en- 

 trances they will not be likely to sting horses or 

 men. Experience shows this to be emphatical- 

 ly so in my experience. There is another ad- 

 vantage in night hauling: it is cool, and combs 

 will not be liable to break down, and then on 

 arriving home the entrance screens can be torn 

 off and thus avoid that angry lot of bees during 

 the day. By morning ail will be quiet. One of 

 our horses was very much afraid of bees, while, 

 the other would take four or five stings without 

 making very much fuss. If you have a horse 

 not much afraid of stings, you are lucky. 



I have gone into details because the facts are 

 fresh on my mind, and because they may come 

 in good use to some who are about to move 

 their bees home for winter.] E. R. 



FIXED FRAMES. 



AFTEK TRYING S?:VEKAL KINDS. SETTLES TPON 



A CLOSED-END H.\NGING FRAME WITH A 



HEE-SPACE BACK OF THE END-BARS. 



I see Ernest has made the request that users 

 of fixed frames give in their testimony, so here 

 is mine. 



Some twenty years ago I purchased the first 

 fi.xed-frame hive I ever saw. It was called the 

 " Hoosier" hive. The frames slid into notches, 

 and were fixed and spaced in a very nearly per- 

 manent foi'm. The hive contained a colony of 

 bees at the time, and I removed the frames just 

 once, then the coTubs and bees were transferred 

 into L. frames without going through the bee- 

 masliing ceremony of replacing them in those 

 notches, and the hive went to the woodpile in a 

 hurry; and, if I remember rightly, the criti- 

 cisms regarding the hive and inventor were 



