THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



105 



In loading a whole car, the same in- 

 structions apply. The cases slioukl be 

 j)ilecl three deep if douhle-tier cases, or 

 six deep if single-tic". The car should be 

 loaded solid frotn end to end, with no 

 alley-ways between two portions of the 

 load. To accomplish this, the car can 

 be loaded sjlid from one end up to the 

 doors, then several lines of cases contin- 

 ued on to the other end, on the side op- 

 posite to the door where the cases are 

 handed in, then the cases piled solid in 

 the remaining space, commencing with 

 the end partially loaded. Of course the 

 cases must be perfectly uniform, so that 

 the last ones will be a perfect fit in the 

 places left for them. It would be well to 

 see to it before loading that the tops and 

 bottoms of the cases are not wider than 

 the end pieces. The doorways should be 

 boanled up inside in such a manner as to 

 be flush with the interior of the car. This 

 is done by nailing vertical strips on each 

 side of the doorway, so that when boards 

 just long enough to reach across are nail- 

 ed to these strips, their inner surfaces will 

 continue the line of the inner wall of the 

 car. When the piling and packing is 

 done, newspapers should be spread over 

 the pile, and strips of wood laid on them 

 to keep the paper in place. A quarter's 

 worth of old newspapers will more than 

 suffice for a carload. Carloads packed as 

 above arrived at a far eastern State in per- 

 fect condition. 



DiiNVER, Colo. Feb. 17, 1899. 



DR.AWN COMBS POW SKCTIO.VS. 



How 10 i{el Them — Their .Advantages. 



I. W. BECKWITH. 



BIFFP:RHN'T parties have told us that 

 they have the bees build the comb in 

 the brood-frames, and then cut it up and 

 put the pieces in the sections; but I have 



not seen where any of them explain how 

 they get the bees to build the comb prop- 

 erly for transferring; and, perhaps, what 

 I shall say on the subject may draw them 

 out; and, as some of them have practiced 

 this plan much longer than I have, they 

 are well qualified to criticise and enlarge 

 on what I shall say. 



I cage the queen of a populous colony 

 that has a good supply of young bees and 

 take away all of the combs except one 

 containing eggs and young larvae. I put 

 this comb between two empty ones at one 

 side of the hive. The object of these 

 empty combs is to catch the pollen which 

 might otherwise be deposited in the new 

 comb that they build; rendering it unfit 

 for the purpose intended. As soon as 

 the comb of brood is capped I replace it 

 with another. I keep up the strength of 

 the colony by shaking young bees from 

 other colonies in front of the hive. By 

 allowing but little brood in the hives there 

 is but little tendency to build drone 

 comb, even while the bees are rais- 

 ing a young queen. (See my article 

 on page 329 for 1898). The empty combs 

 that I give catch but little honey on the 

 sides next to the brood, except at the top, 

 the parts next to the brood being re- 

 served for pollen. I exchange these for 

 empty ones as often as necessary. I fill 

 the rest of the hive with frames furnished 

 with very light starters of wax, not foun- 

 dation, although a very narrow strip of 

 extra thin foundation would not be ob- 

 jectionable, but the wax is cheaper and 

 much more easily put on, and is just as 

 good in every respect. I think it is not 

 necessary for me to tell how to put on the 

 starters. 



One L frame full of comb fills eight 4^ 

 X 4 14 , sections. The comb should rest on 

 the bottom of the section and fit well 

 against the two sides, but if it does not 

 quite reach the top, no matter. A drop 

 of melted wax near each upper corner 

 will generally hold it in place if it is in- 

 clined to fall over, which it will seldom 

 do if well fitted. I sometimes stick a pin 

 through the section into the comb, espec- 



