264 



GLEAXIXGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



chasing bees in a common box liive, you can ; 

 turn the hive over, and tack wire cloth over | 

 the bottom ; but if the colony is a powerful j 

 one, and the weather hot, I would much 

 rather have a wire cloth covered opening in 

 the top, as well as bottom. The hives, 

 when thus prepared, may be canied in a 

 spring wagon or buggy, or even in a lumber 

 wagon, if you drive slowly. Wliere it can 

 be done, I would spread straw under the 

 liives and pack it around the sides; this will 

 prevent jolting. 



Of course every coml> is to be made per- 

 fectly secure, where the bees are to be 

 shipped by rail, or entrusted to any wlio may 

 not give them careful handliuij. "We fasten 

 the metal cornered frames, by sticks placed 

 at each end of the frame. These sticks are 

 10 inches long, by about 7-16 inch by i. For a 

 10 frame hive, you will need 22 sticks. Put i 

 tlie first two against the side of the hive 

 tight up in the corners, then a frame of 

 comb, and another pair of sticks. When all 1 

 the combs are in, the last two sticks are to j 

 be made a little wedge shaped at their lower 

 ends, and pusiied down hard between the 

 comb and the side of the hive. The frames 

 should.be so tightly wedged, that the whole 

 may be tipped about in any direction. You 

 are now ready to tack on the wire cloth. 

 We use a cheap, painted wire cloth. If the 

 cover, bottom board, quilt, enameled sheet, 

 etc., are to go with the bees, I would attach 

 tliem to the bottom with strips of lath, leav- 

 ing a space of an inch for the air to circulate 

 between the lower wire cloth and the attach- 

 ments. If the upper story is to be sent with 

 the hive, I would make a separate package. 



It is quite important that none but old and 

 tough combs be used, when shipping bees 

 by rail. The beautiful new combs built on 

 the foundation would be very nice to send 

 out to customers, but they would be almost 

 sm-e to break down. Bees can be sent by 

 freight, and I have sent them safely in that 

 way, as far as Massachusetts; but, as a gen- 

 eral thin g, I think I would risk them only 

 by express. 



Where bees are to be moved in a wagon oi 

 buggy, and the colony is an old one with the 

 combs all bridged over from one to another, 

 I would not go to the trouble of putting the 

 sticks in, for I have always found them to 

 move safely Avithout, even if they are in met- 

 al cornered frames. Have them well venti- 

 lated and handled carefully, of course. 



If bees are to be sent long distances, be 

 sm-e they have a good supply of stores, for 

 the excitement attendant on the contlne- 



ment and jolting about will sometimes cause 

 them to consume honey enormously. On 

 this account I would be very careful about 

 moving bees needlessly. Carrying bees into 

 cellars and out again many times during the 

 winter, I should object to, just on this Jic- 

 count; especially, if we can winter them just 

 as well without so doing. Fix a permanent 

 stand for your bees, give them a good chaff 

 hive, and they, as well as yourself, will be 

 spared naucli annoyance, if they can l>e al- 

 lowed to remain there year after year. 



If you wish to move bees during the day 

 time, while many are in the fields, you can 

 get them nearly all in, by smoking them at 

 intervals for about a half hour. This will 

 give those that are out time to come in, and 

 the smoking will prevent any more going 

 out. If the colony is a very strong one, leave 

 a hive with a comb of brood on the old stand, 

 and the owner can start a nucleus very con- 

 veniently with the returning bees. 



It is ([uite desirable that the express agents 

 should handle bees carefully, and the sight 

 of them buzzing about just under the wire 

 cloth is, usually, a guarantee of safe hand- 

 ling; but, as many do not know how to han- 

 dle and take care of bees, we have of late 

 had a large printed card tacked to all the 

 hives and nuclei sent out. Since doing this, 

 we have never had any complaints of dam- 

 age in transit. The card reads as follows: 



? 



Tills liive contains LlTe Bees, and tliey 

 'svill be "billeil*' If roisglily liandled, or 

 left 111 tlie sun, or not kept tUis side Hr« 

 Will you plea!*e l>e carefnl of tlio little fel- 

 lows? A. I. ROOT, ITXediaa, O. 



As soon as you receive bees, place them at 

 once where they are to stand permanently, 

 and let them out as quickly as possible. 

 They will buzz about, and make quite a 

 stir for a while, but all will get back to their 

 hive safely; for their buzzing about is just 

 to mark their new locality, as we described 

 in BEE-HUNTING. Set the hive level, and I 

 would have it square and true with the 

 points of the compass. Set it on tlie bottom 

 board, loosen the wire cloth where the en- 

 trance is to be, and -then let them remain, 

 until they get acquainted with the surround- 

 ings a little. Next day, if you clioose, you 

 can take oil the wire cloth, and remove tlie 

 sticks, using smoke, of course, t<i keep them 

 out of the way. When this is done, put on 

 the enameled sheet and cover, and adjust 

 the hive on tlie bottom board so that the 



