iio 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



essary; the cover being held in place with 

 box staples at each corner, and a lath 

 nailed over the entrance. 



But if you intend moving far, even in 

 May, you better nail a wire screen on top; 

 then if you should get into a hot spell of 

 weather, you would be prepared for it. 



In hot weather it is absolutely necessary 

 to give additional ventilation, in the shape 

 of an upper story where the bees can 

 leave the combs at their will. This upper 

 story should be covered with a wire 

 screen. 



Well do I remember moving our first 

 load of bees from Clinton county. It was 

 after a good f^ow from clover and bass- 

 wood, and the hives were heavy with 

 honey and bees. 'Twas the first week of 

 August, and it was hot. It took us two. 

 hot, sunny days, the best we could do, 

 and we lost a good many bees and some 

 brood. Every chance we got, where we 

 could get water, we would wet them 

 down. Not only would we wet the bees, 

 but the outside of the hives and rack 

 were kept wet. 



Although we lost no colonies outright, 

 many were so weakened that they did not 

 do anything in their upper stories that fall. 

 This load of forty colonies, after the hard 

 usage they got in moving, stored $75 

 worth of buckwheat honey, after being 

 moved in such poor condition. 



If we move bees in the fall, we do it 

 during a cool spell in October. The dis- 

 advantage of moving in the fall is. they 

 are heavy with honey at this season of 

 the year. This makes it more likely to 

 break out combs, and they are heavier to 

 handle, and to draw. The first difficulty 

 can be avoided by carefully handling. 

 While we prefer to move in May, we have 

 moved a good many in the fall. In mov- 

 ing bees in the fall, or at any time when 

 the ground is rough, or frozen, we use bol- 

 ster springs on our wagons. Our bee rack 

 is a flat one, with a "dash", or, in other 

 words, the front is boarded up about 

 three feet high, to commence our load 

 against. This tight, boarded-up-front, al- 

 so protects the team, somewhat, should 



the bees get out in transit. Then, on top 

 of this "front" is built a seat for the 

 driver. 



The rack is U feet long, and seven 

 wide. When we only have a part of a 

 load, we couple our wagon up short, and 

 only use what we need. With this large 

 rack, we do not have to deck up, usually, 

 to get on all we can draw. With one 

 deck, a strip of board tacked around the 

 edge of the rack is all the fastening the 

 hives need in ordinary hauls. 



MOVING BEES BY THE CARLOAD. 



In moving bees in car lots, everything 

 should be in readiness at both ends of 

 the line. In the first place our new loca- 

 tion should be in perfect readiness for the 

 bees when we arrive; for, it is best to un- 

 load immediately after arriving. 



In preparing colonies to move by rail, 

 one must take into consideration that they 

 may be confined to the hive several days, 

 and another point is, we cannot select our 

 cool period as we did when moving with a 

 tsam. While all the moderately good.to good 

 swarms, will not need more than a screen 

 over the top, all the very strong swarms 

 will need additional space above, but it 

 need not be on so extensive a scale, as if 

 it were to be a hot-weather-journey. I 

 would not think of putting off moving later 

 than the middle of May; and if the bees 

 have wintered well, so there are plenty 

 of young bees hatching, 1 would prefer 

 moving, say a week earlier or the second 

 week of May. 



You will notice I want quite a per cent- 

 of young bees, as this confinement is hard 

 on those old bees that have gone through 

 the hardships of wintering. 



USE A STOCK CAR FOR SHIPPING BEES. 



Previous to packing up our bees for 

 shipment, we better see about a car to 

 ship in. This should be a single-deck 

 stock car. This open, well-ventilated car 

 is the car; and 1 think the only car fit to 

 move bees in. if it should turn hot as it 

 did once when we moved our Kalkaska 

 Co., yard, nothing would have saved the 

 bees. Whatever you do, do not make the 



