440 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



A SWARM ENTERING A HIVE. 



In your comment on page 155 you say that 

 I did not send a picture of the bees running 

 into the hive. I am now sending one which 

 is so good I want you to see it. 



Ayer, Mass. F. P. Briggs. 



HIVE-CARBIERS. 



In reading your article in the last issue 

 about carrying bees from the cellar I thought 

 of how your men had to 

 stoop down to pick up 

 and put down their load 

 of bees; and if it would 

 be acceptable I should 

 like to give you a de- 

 scription of our method 

 of carrying bees in and 

 out of the cellar. The 

 side pieces of our carrier 

 are made of inch pine, 

 3 inches wide and 7 feet 

 long, and are rounded 

 down to 2 inches in 

 width at the ends to fit 

 the hands better. They 

 are made into a hght 

 frame by nailing cleats 

 17 inches long between 

 tnem, and 20 inches 

 from each end we have 

 a pair of legs 9J inches 

 long. By using this car- 

 rier with the short legs 

 you do not have to bend 

 over so much when you 

 pick up and put down 

 your load at each end 

 of the journey to and 

 from the yard. We have 

 a two-inch strip nailed 

 across the top of the 

 side-pieces, 17 inches 

 from one end to prevent 

 the hives from sliding 

 when we go down the 

 cellar steps, which are 

 at an angle of about 30 

 degrees, and the short 

 legs do not interfere in 

 any way. By making the side pieces of I^- 

 inch lumber you would get a better handle, 

 and your carrier would not weigh over 12 

 lbs. , and would be an improvement over the 

 two loose pieces you mention as now using. 



If you would supply your stretcher with 

 legs, Hke the one in the accompanying cut, 

 you would find it a great improvement. In 

 loading up as well as unloading, an almost 

 unlimited amount of stooping dovra, lifting 

 up, and letting down again, which forms 

 the hardest part of all the work, would be 

 saved. 



Then, again, it is not only on level ground 

 where the stretcher can be used to advan- 

 tage, but on uneven and even on quite steep 



Lyonsville, Mass. 



W. W. Gary. 



A SWARM ENTERING A HIVE. 



grades also. Although the bottom of my 

 bee- cellar at my former home was on a lev- 

 el with the outside (a very desirable fea- 

 ture), it was quite a little pitch to get to it 

 and from it with the bees. We never had 

 any trouble in carrying up or down on ac- 



OUR HIVE-CARBIER; the ADVANTAGE OF THE 

 LEGS. 



Mr. Editor:— Your plan on page 280, of 

 carrying bees on a stretcher, or bee-carrier, 

 as we always called it, is all right, but I be- 

 lieve I can suggest a point or two that will 

 make the work of handling the same quite a 

 little easier. I have used such a rig to car- 

 ry into and out of the cellar for many years, 

 and know from experience that it has saved 

 us many back aches. I would not be with- 

 out one, if I had a cellar to winter in. 



count of hives slipping on the carrier; but 

 if there should be any danger it could be 

 easily prevented by driving a few headless 



