THOUSAND AxXSWERS 155 



A. For more than 20 years I have moved bees every fall, and 

 never had any trouble. But I moved them only five miles or less, 

 In the fall the combs are heavier with honey than in the spring, 

 and there are also more bees. So you will see that there must be 

 a little more care against breaking combs, as well as a little more 

 care to have plenty of ventilation. Aside from this you ought to 

 have no more trouble in fall than spring. If you can have your 

 choice as to time, it will be well to wait till as much after the 

 first of October as you can, for the cooler it is, the less danger of 

 suffocation, although, of course, if you wait for severe winter 

 weather there would be danger of the combs becoming brittle 

 with the cold, and breaking. 



Q. I want to move my bees about 40 miles by waterway to a 

 better location, as the bees are mostly wild and dark. Which is 

 the best way to close the hive and not smother the bees? 



A. Use wire-cloth for ventilation. To close the entrance of a 

 hive, take a piece of wire-cloth as long as the inside width of the 

 entrance and 2 or 3 inches wide. Bend it at right angles, and then 

 crowd it into the entrance so it will be wedged fast. But that will 

 not answer if your entrances are like mine, 2 inches deep. In 

 that case take a strip of wire-cloth about 2 inches wider than the 

 depth of your entrance, and as long as the inside width of the 

 entrance. Double over the edge three-quarters of an inch, or an 

 inch, and crease it down flat. Place the wire-cloth against the 

 entrance with the folded edge down at the bottom-board, and 

 nail over the upper part of the wire-cloth a strip of lath with a 

 small nail at each end. If the weather is cool, or if the bees be 

 moved at night, this ventilation at the entrance may be enough. 

 If more is needed, make a frame the same size as the top of the 

 hive, cover it with wire-cloth, and fasten it on top of the hive 

 with screws. If necessary, the cover can be put about 2 inches 

 above this, a block at each corner holding up the cover, being 

 fastened with hive-staples. Even this ventilation, if the weather 

 bf hot and the bees kept on the way long, water should be sprayed 

 on them from time to time. 



Mustard. — Q. Do you consider mustard a good honey yielder? 

 If so, how does it compare with smartweed in the yield of honey 

 and quality? 



A. Mustard is a good honey-plant. Just how it compares in 

 yield and quality with smartweed (by which you probably mean 

 heartsease) could be better told by someone having an equal acre- 



