1911 



GLEAXINCJS IX BEE CULTURE 



95 



THE NECESSITY OF HAVING COMBS WIR- 

 ED IN HIVES THAT MUST BE SHIPPED. 



BY J. L. BYER. 



While the present time of the year may 

 be an unseasonable period to discuss the 

 merits of wiring brood-frames, I have been 

 moved to say a few words on the subject by 

 reason of my having recently happened to 

 read in one of the earlier editions of the A 

 B C of Bee Culture what friend Doolittle 

 has to say on the subject — his remarks in 

 the case referred to being on the advisability 

 of having all frames wired on which bees 

 are to be shipped on. 



The publishers of the A B C of Bee Cul- 

 ture, page 231, 1903 edition, very strongly 

 advise the wiring of all frames; if it is con- 

 templated to ship bees it is almost " abso- 

 lutely necessary," they say. Mr. Doolittle, 

 in his comments, says, page 398, same edi- 

 tion, "I have shipped many colonies of bees 

 during the past live years; and although 

 none of the combs have been wired, I have 

 yet to hear of the first injured comb. As 

 my combs are deeper than those in the Ij. 

 flames they would be more likely to be 

 damaged than would those in the L. frames. ' ' 

 it would be interesting to learn whether, 

 after the lapse of another se\ en years, Mr. 

 Dcolittle is still of the same opinion. 



1 am led to inquire on this point on ac- 

 count of a very forcible illustration we had 

 Jast season as to the advisability — nay, shall 

 I rather say the necessity of wiring frames, 

 if it is intended to have bees shipped on the 

 combs that will be built in them. About 

 the middle of last August fifty two-frame 

 nuclei were ordered by myself and a friend 

 living a short distance from me. They were 

 sent by express, and arrived at my station 

 on the 24th and 25th of August, if I have 

 the dates correct. They were shipped in 

 two lots, and each lot was in the customs at 

 Toronto, about 24 hours awaiting customs 

 clearance. 



When they arrived, the first lot seemed 

 in first-class shape in so far as outward ap- 

 pearance was concerned; but when we came 

 to transfer them we found about ten per 

 cent of the ends of the top-bars of the frames 

 had been split off, showing that they must 

 have received very rough handling while in 

 transit. A number of the combs showed by 

 the looks that, if they had not been wired, 

 there would cer 'ainly have been breakdowns, 

 and quite likely some of the nuclei would 

 have been ruined. 



When the second consignment arrived, 

 things were in much the same condition as 

 with the first lot, only a little bit worse. The 

 nuclei had been shipped in pairs — i. e., two 

 were clamped together, as in that condition 

 they made a parcel that would more easily 

 stand, and one that would not be so apt to 

 upset as though each one were separate. 

 Xow, these bees bad been put up in splen- 

 did condition, and the pairs of light ship- 

 ping-cases were clamped together with cleats 

 that were fastened to the cases with screw 



nails. Yet for all these precautions, one of 

 the clamps had been broken apart, and I 

 suspect at least one of the nuclei had come 

 part of the way lying on the side instead of 

 standing upright. Indeed, when we came 

 to examine this particular nucleus I came 

 to the conclusion that the express-handJers 

 must have been using it as a football, as 

 the two combs were broken loose irom the 

 frames completely, with the exception that 

 the horizontal wires held intact at the ends 

 and held the combs like suspended boards 

 in the frames. When the condition of 

 things was noted, I was surprised that the 

 combs had not gone "kersmash," as the 

 weather at the time was quite warm, and 

 the nucleus was a very strong one. Exami- 

 nation showed that, in addition to the hori- 

 zontal wiring, these frames happily had had 

 wires pressed in the foundation vertically 

 as well, in the same manner as Dr. Miller 

 uses the splints. Quite likely if the wires 

 that were in the foundation vertically had 

 been passed up through the top-bars the 

 combs would never have broken loose at all. 

 On this point we can not be sure as to just 

 what would have been the result, as possibly 

 the top-bars might have broken down when 

 the tremendous jolt took place. Any way, 

 it was quite clear to me that, without wir- 

 ing of any kind, the nucleus would have 

 been a total loss, and, as already intimated, 

 we have reason to believe that others in the 

 shipment would have suffered as well. 



As it was, the suspended combs had press- 

 ed together somewhat and killed a number 

 of bees, but by good fortune the queen had 

 escaped, and we were able to fix them up 

 all right. It may be argued that this ship- 

 ment received unusualiy rough handling; 

 and while we will all agree on this point, 

 experience has taught us that, when send- 

 ing any thing by express, it is wise to pre- 

 pare for this kind of treatment. It does 

 seem a pity, though, in view of the exorbi- 

 tant rates, that such treatment should be 

 accorded such a perishable article as live 

 bees; and when the damaged shipment ar- 

 rived, I remarked to the local agent, who is 

 a good friend of the writer, that, in view of 

 the desperate treatment the bees had receiv- 

 ed, I would gladly have sacrificed the dam- 

 aged nucleus if some good luck would have 

 released the bees in the car of the offending 

 handler. 



MOVING AN APIARY ON HAND SLEDS. 



This fall we had occasion to move one 

 yard of some 80 colonies about 100 yards 

 from their old location. While at the On- 

 tario convention, advice was asked as to 

 when and how best to move them, and said 

 advice ranged all the way from taking them 

 any old way to the most careful method of 

 carrying them all by hand. The last ad- 

 vice was given by friend McEvoy, and, al- 

 though I did not say so at the time, I came 

 home intending to follow his plan. But 

 when we tried that method it proved to be 

 too hard work, for, be it understood, the 

 bees were all packed in their winter cases 

 and would weigh from 120 to 150 pounds 



