JUNE 1, 1914 



40. 



shipments back (o Medina uero begun. 

 Som'3 may wonder vvny we moved them so 

 lar away, as it is necessary to have them 

 located only far enough away so that they 

 will not attempt to return to their old en- 

 1 ranees. The reason for moving them so 

 far was that along the Apalachicola River 

 the banks are low and tlie ground swampy 

 in many places, and it would be unwise to 

 locate bees anywhere at random without 

 building platforms to get them above high- 

 water mark. The nucleus yard is located at 

 Fort Gadsky, one of the few places where 

 the bank is high. 



It is surprising what a large load one of 

 these small launches will carry. The hives 

 can be piled on the bow and stern, and 

 when the interior is filled up and also the 

 roof above, considerable of a load (twenty- 

 five to thirty hives) can be moved at once. 

 We were able to carry fifty or sixty of these 

 three-frame nucleus hives at a tim.e. 



Since there is very little jar, there is no 

 need of fastening the covers, and the en- 

 trances are quickly closed with a V-shaped 

 screen pushed in without tacks. 



Where Ito Locate Oiuillyards 



As this number is devoted to the subject 

 of moving bees, the matter of locating yards 

 is so closely connected with it that a few 

 words on the subject will not come amiss, 

 even though they may savor somewhat of a 

 repetition of former statements. 



First, as far as possible apiaries shonld 

 be located on a stone or gravel road to 

 avoid mud in wet weather. While a team 

 can draw bees and supplies over bad roads, 

 a large amount of time is consumed; wher- 

 as with good roads better time can be made, 

 esjiecially if the automobile truck is used. 



Second, the yard should be located where 

 moderate shade can be secured, remote from 

 the general highway, and not next to or 

 adjoining a cultivated field. A young ap- 

 ple-orchard, surrounded by pasture, with a 

 driveway leading up to it from the road, 

 makes an ideal place. 



Third, the yard should be located two or 

 three miles from any other yard to get the 

 best results; and sometimes it will be nec- 

 essary, on account of conditions, to put 

 them as close as a mile and a half apart, 

 and sometimes five miles. 



Fourth, locate the yard on the farm of 

 some man well known to you — a friend if 

 possible, but always one who is broad-mind- 

 ed enough to know that bees are a great 

 benefit to some kinds of farm crops, espe- 

 cially the legumes, and all fruit-orchards. 

 Never locate on the farm of a narrow-mind- 



ed, close-fisted man, and one hard to get 

 along with. Bees may sometimes be a little 

 cross. Their flight may encounter the path- 

 way of teams or stock. Bees may, when 

 short of natural pollen, makes themselves a 

 general nuisance around the feed-boxes of 

 stock. A narrow-minded, crusty sort of 

 chap will make no end of trouble; whereas 

 an up-to-date farmer will be Avilling to \)vA 

 u]) witli some inconveniences for the sake of 

 the benefit the bees may be to him. It is 

 very seldom that bees make any trouble 

 whatever; and to avoid difficulty it is best to 

 locate the beeyard a little back from the 

 roadway, and from the house and farm 

 building's. 



Avoid a clump of woods that leave only 

 narrow openings in places for the bees to 

 enter. Returning bees want a clear wide 

 space for entrance into a grove. If these 

 openings are contracted they will concen- 

 trate their flight in places, with the result 

 that there will be thousands of bees flying 

 back and forth at these concentrated points. 

 If teams or cattle get into these lines of 

 flight they may be stung. Apiaries should 

 be located so that the bees may have a free 

 and unobstructed entrance to the yard from 

 all points of the compass. A piece of high 

 .iiTound is better than low ground, both on 

 account of danger of floods in the spring of 

 the year and on account of the fact that the 

 flight of the bees will be above teams or 

 stock on lower ground. Orcliards are usu- 

 ally located on high ground to avoid frost. 

 As bees are a direct benefit to the orcliard, 

 locations in such places are desirable in 

 every way. 



Lastly, avoid a location next to a raiLroad 

 track. We had one such location, and 

 maintained it for a couple of years; but we 

 were compelled to abandon it on account of 

 fire from cinders lodging in the grass. We 

 had two colonies burned up, and it is a 

 wondei- that the whole yard was not burned 

 out. 



Where one does not own an automobile 

 it is desirable to locate the yards along 

 trolley lines, so a man can, for a nickel or 

 a dime, go to his yards at very little ex- 

 pense. 



Thatt Traimload of Bees en rouite 

 from Florida to Ohio 



On page 363 of our last issue we stated 

 tliat we hoped to make an increase of four 

 carloads of bees from one, and we have ; 

 but as the weather was very unfavorable, 

 practically all of that increase was made 

 since the first of February, and the greater 

 part of it since the first of March. Mr. 

 Marchant did not have a full carload when 



