AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



739 



I then tacked each lower corner of the 

 hive to the bottom-board with a 6-penny 

 wire nail. 



The next morning, before the bees got 

 out, I tacked a strip of lath over the 

 entrance, and loaded them into a com- 

 mon farm wagon, with about 6 inches 

 of hay in the bottom of the box. 



In order to ascertain if it made any 

 difference which way the hives set in 

 the wagon, I placed those on one side 

 crosswise, and those on the other side 

 lengthwise of the wagon-box. 



The hives were 10-frame Langstroth, 

 and at the end of the journey I could see 

 no difference in .favor of either way of 

 loading. The road was quite smooth, 

 and I found very few dead bees, and 

 scarcely a frame moved out of place. 



If Mr. Roese will try the Muth plan 

 of out-door packing for Winter, he Will 

 exclaim, "Eureka!" 



I prefer old rags to anything I have 

 tried for packing over the boards. The 

 hives should be tipped well forward to 

 allow the condensed moisture on the 

 boards, to run down and out at the front 

 of the hive. 



Although our prospects for clover 

 honey are very slim, I am glad to see so 

 many encouraging reports from other 

 localities. 



Worcester, Mo., May 25, 1891. 



Best Location for an Ajiary. 



THOS. CEISMAN. 



I should say, first, proximity to alfalfa 

 and clover fields; second, shade; third, 

 water. 



I think I can demonstrate the first two 

 propositions by my own experience. In 

 1885 I moved my bees to where they 

 are now located. There was then about 

 ten acres of alfalfa within a mile of the 

 apiary. Thirty-six colonies averaged 

 19 pounds per colony surplus. In 1886, 

 with 25 acres of clover and alfalfa 

 within range, 44 colonies averaged 21 

 pounds surplus. In 1887, with a range 

 of probably 50 acres, the average was 

 28 pounds per colony. In 1888 the 

 acreage had doubled again, and my aver- 

 age increased to 32 pounds. In 1889 

 there was not less than 300 acres of 

 alfalfa within 2 miles of my bees, and 

 my average was 67 pounds of comb- 

 honey per colony, with 50 colonies, 

 Spring count. 



In 1890 I started with 56 colonies in 

 the Spring, but owing to the lack of 



water to irrigate, and the small amount 

 of alfalfa saved for seed, in connection 

 with the dry weather in August and 

 September, my average was about 52 

 pounds surplus. But as long as the sea- 

 sons were favorable, the average in- 

 creased about in proportion to the in- 

 crease in acreage of alfalfa and clover 

 in range of the bees. 



Now, in regard to shade : My neigh- 

 bor Moon, who lives about two miles 

 from me, and has the same amount of 

 bee-pasturage that I have, and manages 

 his bees about the same, has them 

 located in a dense thicket of cherry 

 trees, where the sun and wind never 

 reaches them in Summer. For the last 

 five years his average has been just 

 about 10 pounds per colony more, each 

 year, than mine has. 



My apiary is located in open ground, 

 without any protection except a three- 

 wire fence on three sides, and an open 

 board fence on the other ; and the only 

 reason that I can see for the difference 

 in the amount of surplus honey pro- 

 duced is the shade and protection from 

 the wind. We each have a lake near 

 the apiary, and the facilities for getting 

 water are just the same in the two api- 

 aries. If not in shade, what is it? — 

 Read before the late Colorado State Con- 

 vention. 



HiyingaSwaraofBees. 



MBS. L. HARRISON. 



A farmer bought a patent hive, and a 

 neighbor, who had kept bees all his life, 

 coming in, asked him how he was to get 

 the bees in. The old bee-keel^er, who 

 had always kept bees in the old gum or 

 box-hive, and when they swarmed cut 

 off the limb and set the hive over it, 

 said, " You will have to cut a hole in the 

 bottom to put them in." There was 

 plenty of room at the fly entrance to run 

 them in, but he had never seen it done, 

 and could not think of any way but cut- 

 ting a hole. My bees cluster on fruit 

 trees, and I do not want to cut off the 

 limbs, so I shake them into a dish pan, 

 cover them with an apron, and pour 

 them down in front of the hive. When 

 bees are clustered high, I have a wire 

 basket attached to a long, light pole, 

 which I push up under the cluster, and 

 jar them into it. If I get the queen the 

 first jar, as I sometimes do, as she is 

 usually on the outside of the cluster, the 

 rest will soon follow. — From the Prairie 

 Farmer of last week. 



