1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



597 



And the place enclosed with wire netting purposely for their 

 proii-ction was very much neglected, except when they were 

 treated to honey and biscuits, of which all present were in- 

 vited to have iheir fill. 



liefore this, however, when most of the people had assem- 

 bled, Mr. Kreutzinger invited the visitors into the house and 

 informed them that the manager would entertain them, which 

 meant that he would escort them through the house and show 

 them the wonders of beedom. 



As we entered the shop we found three women seated 

 about tables scraping sections ; another was grading honey 

 and filling shipping-cases; one man was taking honey out of 

 supers, and another nailing up shipping-cases; also some one 

 was selling and wrapping up the cases — a very crowded, busy 

 little place. 



A glance at the other rooms was taken, and we then went 

 upstairs, where were shown section-presses of the latest kind, 

 a honey-extractor, In which some honey was extracted in their 

 presence. Other things, too numerous to mention, were 

 shown and explained. 



We then moved upward to the cupola, where the bees 

 were seen working in glass hives. 



When it was announced that a queen would be shown, the 

 visitors were all attention, and so curious were they to see 

 this very important bee that they all gathered around the hive 

 that was to be opened. The apiarist told them there was no 

 danger for the lookers-on, and at once proceeded to open the 

 hive. After a little hunt he pickt up the queen — a beautiful 

 Italian — and put her into a glass tumbler turned upside down. 

 After everybody had paid their respects to her majesty, she 

 was returned to her home. 



About 6 o'clock in the evening the company disperst, and 

 thus ended Mr. Kreutzinger's second annual " honey harvest." 



Cook Co., III. 



Moving Bees — Some Personal Experiences. 



BY H. B. HILL. 



The occasional reference to this subject in current bee- 

 literature, bearing evidence, as it does, of a general interest 

 in the preparation and care of bees in transportation, together 

 with She many requests received for more of our personal ex- 

 perience, are the only apologies we have to offer for devoting 

 so much space to a subject that we had grown to regard as 

 pretty well worn. 



But here we are reminded that each year adds to our 

 fraternity many young members, from whose ranks must de- 

 velop the Doolittles, the Hutchinsons, etc., of the future. And 

 their enthusiastic missives, pleading for light upon the sub- 

 ject of their newly-awakened Interest, recall personal experi- 

 ences eminently calculated to incite a deep appreciation of our 

 pleasant privilege and present duty to freely impart to this 

 most earnest and ever-hopeful multitude whatever aid may be 

 derived from the lessons of our own bee-keeping life. 



At some period in the life of most bee-keepers the matter 

 of moving becomes one of personal and direct interest. If this 

 condition transpires during his earlier day in the business, 

 considerable anxiety is involved, and information from every 

 available source is eagerly sought; while, tho not having had 

 occasion to give the subject previous consideration, the experi- 

 enced apiarist who finds himself making preparations for a 

 move, does so almost instinctively. Every detail tending to 

 success in the projected move receives minute attention, with- 

 out an anxious thought as to the result. Guided by a thorough 

 knowledge of their characteristic peculiarities and require- 

 ments, gained by years of practical work, the btes' every need 

 is considered and provided for; and necessary variations con- 

 forming to varying conditions are readily recognized by the 

 practiced eye, and treatment is accordingly applied. 



That it would be impossible to give stated rules for the 

 preparation and care of bees in moving that would suit alj 

 cases is one lesson which our experience will illustrate. 



The transportation of bees in box-hives is rarely practiced 

 beyond a local move, which we have upon several occasions 

 accomplisht with success by simply confining the bees with a 

 strip of wire-screen over the entrance, loading them into a 

 wagon and driving to the new location. The combs In such 

 hives are secured naturally, and after having been in use for 

 several years are very tough, so that no special care need be 

 observed In handling; and to facilitate loading compactly, 

 may be carried bottom upwards as safely as in their natural 

 position. 



There is one rule, however, that has a general application 

 in preparing bees for a move — one that is effected neither by 

 the style of hives, extent of the trip, or other conditions, viz.: 



Always carry a wad of cotton-batting as a ready and effectual 

 means of checking any possible escape of bees that may occur. 



Under certain favorable conditions bees may be kept con- 

 fined to their hives In transit for weeks with perfect safety ; 

 while under the excitement of adverse circumstances they 

 may die within a few hours. It is a fact also worthy of note 

 that as bees differ in temperament otherwise displayed, so are 

 some colonies disposed to take confinement seriously, and keep 

 up a constant hue of complaint ; while others, under the same 

 treatment, cluster quietly and appear to appreciate the com- 

 forts provided by their thoughtful keeper. 



In the fall of 1886, having been engaged to establish an 

 apiary on the south coast of Cuba, we purchast 15 strong 3- 

 frame nuclei from a breeder in Ocean county, N. J. They 

 were shipt by express to New York as the beginning of their 

 15 days' trip, where they were placed in an empty room for 

 two days to await the deferred sailing of the steamer. Upon 

 each screened top was placed a sponge saturated with water, 

 and a space of one inch was left over the frames, which were 

 secured by notcht sticks across the bottom into which the 

 bottom-bars rested. 



On the third day they were loaded upon a dray, driven to 

 the wharf and carried aboard the Ward Line steamship Cien- 

 fuegos, bound for Havana, and placed forward on the main 

 deck, where they remained during the voyage, and were care- 

 fully watcht. 



They would sometimes become restless as a result of in- 

 sufficient ventilation ; or, as often from too much draft or ex- 

 cessive heat, and were promptly treated accordingly. On hot 

 days a sprinkling of salt sea-water was administered to each 

 colony. That they appreciated these showerings was shown 

 by the greedy manner in which the last drop was invariably 

 taken up, while the sponges soakt with fresh water were re- 

 ceiving little or no attention. 



Arriving at Havana four days later, they were transferred 

 to lighters and taken ashore along with other freight, where 

 they were objects of great Interest to the assembled Havanese 

 In the government warehouse, in which they were placed with 

 our other supplies during the customary routine of business 

 which every foreign importation involves. 



The busicess manager of the new firm by which we were 

 employed being a Spaniard, our duties were confined to the care 

 of the bees, which were evidently a great novelty to the inter- 

 ested crowd, who, much to our discomfort and the bees' dis- 

 pleasure, persisted in blowing tobacco smoke through the 

 screens. Our knowledge of the Spanish language rendered 

 any verbal admonition out of the question entirely, tho with 

 some emphasis a rebuke in our native tongue proved equally 

 as effectual. 



After a stop of three days in Havana, the bees were re- 

 moved to the railway station, and under our personal care 

 taken to Batabano, a small town on the south coast, which 

 has since been demolish! by the insurgents. Here they were 

 transferred to a coastwise steamer for another sea voyage of 

 160 miles over the Caribbean to Cienfuegos, a considerable 

 seaport recently advertised extensively. Here, again, they 

 remained confined for three days while we were selecting a 

 permanent location for the apiary, which was finally decided 

 upon about three miles back from the city, whence they were 

 taken upon a huge native cart, placed upon their new stands 

 and liberated. Not to exceed 200 bees were found dead in 

 the hives ; queens were all lively, and brood in good condition, 

 and during the first hour of freedom in their new tropical 

 home many returned from a prospecting tour with abdomens 

 distended and pollen-baskets filled. 



Our plans were to buy native colonies, transfer them to 

 Langstroth frames, and Italianize from the stock we had 

 taken from the United States ; hence, the end of the foregoing 

 experience was the beginning of another more tedious and 

 widely different. One hundred colonies of native stock were 

 now required to carry our arrangement Into effect, and there 

 being no bee-keepers in the vicinity we were obliged to look 

 them up in the interior, and from 5 to 20 miles distant, and 

 move them on ox-carts to our new location. From the most 

 inaccessible places it was necessary to " pack " them upon the 

 back of mules. — American Bee-Keeper. 



L,angfStroth on tlie Uoney-Bee, revised by 

 The Dadants, is a standard, reliable and thoroughly complete 

 work on bee-culture. It coutains 520 pages, and is bound 

 elegantly. Every reader of the American Bee Journal should 

 have a copy of this book, as It answers hundreds of questions 

 that arise about bees. We mail it for $1.25, or club it with 

 the Bee Journal for a year — both together for only $2.00. 



^" See " Bee-Keeper's Guide" offer on page 607. 



