mav, 19 r 



G L K A \ I N G S IN BEE C U I, T U R E 



347 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



stacked nearly straight up. as sliowii. the 

 (Mitrance end re.stini;' ui\ sheets ol' locdiiii^- 

 iroii lying" on sloping g'i'ouiid. The boanN 

 are separated by pieees of comb-guides at 

 eaeii corner. In tliis way tlie paint drains 

 off into pans made for the purpose set into 

 trenches under the ends of the roofing-iron. 

 Tlie straps of iron thaf bind the slicets of 

 roofing make good prong's with which to 

 handle the boards. 



When dipping, stack a lot of boaids to 

 the left; grasp one at the entrance end and 

 dip doAvn past the center, then quickly 

 change ends, and, holding the rear cleat with 

 the prong, dig the other half. Rest the 

 corners on the side rails of the vat for a 

 moment, then let an assistant take it away. 

 There are about 340 boards in the stack 

 shown in the illustration. With tlie lielp 

 of a Mexican I dijiped tlie'.n in about five 

 hours. 



Sal)inal. Texas. ,]. A. SuiMuxs. 



Moving by Auto 



In tliis county it becomes necessary fre- 

 quently to move our bees — in fact, my whole 

 outfit is so constructed that T can move at 

 any time of the year without any fussing to 

 get ready. All parts are made to fit so that 

 the labor of getting ready is so reduced that 

 1 need no help in moving the yard. 



1 have a full outfit of moving screens for 

 the toi3 and bottom of the hives. These 

 telescope over the hive and fit tig'htly 

 enough so that they are absolutely bee-prcof 

 one way or the other. Each moving screen 

 has a 1-inch space beyond the edge of the 

 Iiive. The screens do not need to be fasten- 

 ed in place. I once shipped 65 colonies of 

 bees from San Diego without fastening a 

 single screen. 



1 do all of my hauling Avith an auto, and 

 Avould not think of being Avithout one now, 

 as it is certainly my faithful " busy bee." I 

 built a hauling-box on the back of the car, 

 which is equipped Avitli a tin bottom on the 

 floor to make the hives slide in and out 

 easily. A large jockey box on the running 

 board takes care of smokei-s, veils, hive- 

 tooLs, canvas, and everything else of that 

 nature. 



I haul .30 shalloAv hives of bees at a load 

 with oidy enough bottoms and covers to 

 make tlie load fit tightly. The length of the 

 haul is seven miles, and as the valley is as 

 level as a floor, no hills to contend Avith, T 

 can haul two loads of bees, also tAvo loads 



ol' bdlloms and coxers in one day. I haul 

 the hittei- lir.st, and place them so that 

 when I come with the bees I can set a 

 (ohniy by each floor and cover. After the 

 last hiad I lift the hives out of the bottom 

 scieen, after giving a couple of i^uffs of 

 smoke; contract the entrances, put canvas 

 on top of the upper screens, then the cover 

 and -so on. l"'\erything is left in this Avay 

 until J get each, hive on the new location. 

 1 then haul the lioney, giving an extra stoi'y. 

 of honey to each colony. I bring the other 

 material whenever it is convenient. 



Imperial. Cal. F. .J. S|';verin. 



Superseding During a Honey-flow 



Is it practical to change failing queens 

 during fruit-bloom without any cessation 

 in egg-laying? Queens can be successfully 

 introduced during clover, bassAVood, or 

 any other main honey-floAV, I have 

 changed or introduced many queens during 

 the above honey-flow simply by taking Iavo 

 combs of hatching brood from the colony 

 Avith queen to be replaced, setting them in 

 a hive by the side. The old bees Avill all 

 fly back, making it ea.sy and a safe way to 

 introduce the queen as only young bees 

 are left. 



When the queen gets to laying nicely 

 I set the frames with brood, bees, and queen 

 back in the hive from Avhich they came, 

 removing the old queen at the same time, 

 to take the place of the two combs of brood 

 remoA-ed. Slatted dummy frames are better 

 than combs that are empty, as all the more 

 honey Avill be carried up in the super dur- 

 ing the short time the tAvo combs of brood 

 are out. 



By tlie above i)lan there is no setback 

 to the colony — in fact, there is a small 

 gain, as both queens Avill be laying for a 

 feAV days and there will be no let-up in 

 storing. One might imagine that the plan 

 Avould be too much work, but there isn't, 

 and, above all, it has never failed Avith me. 



This plan of queen introduction can not 

 be carried out so Avell during the early 

 part of the season, as the brood can not 

 be spared so Avell, neither is the Aveather 

 as favorable. It seems almost impossible 

 to change queens early enough in the sea- 

 son to be of much benefit the same season, 

 altho helping a colon j' Avith a poor queen 

 by adding brood from other sources, Avith 

 the introduction of a young A'igorous queen 

 in place of the jioor one, might result in 



