86 TItE PKACTICAL BEE GLflOE. 



couple of feet during their absence, or at night, without pre- 

 cautions being taken to cause the bees, in the morning, to take 

 notice of the alteration, a number of them will return to the 

 stand to which they were accustomed, and will flutter about 

 it and die there. It follows that if the bees to be purchased 

 are located more than two miles from the purchaser's apiary, 

 they may be transported direct without risk ; and that if their 

 old home is less than two miles off, special care must be taken 

 to prevent their return to it. Put briefly, bees may be moved 

 directly two feet and under, or two miles and over ; but for 

 intermediate distances due precautions must be observed, viz. — 

 cither to move the stock by short stages of two feet, in the 

 evening, after the bees have been flying freely, or to move it 

 from the old stand to a spot more than two miles away, and to 

 let the bees fly there for a fev; days, then moving them 

 to their new home ; provided always that this second journey 

 be not less than two miles. If neither of these precautions 

 can be adopted, a third one may possibly answer the purpose, 

 viz. — the bees can be carried to their new location in the even- 

 ing, and arrangements can be made to oblige them, when they 

 fly in the morning, to observe that the scene, meanwhile, has 

 changed. This is done by placing about the entrance such 

 impediments to their flight as will demand their attention. A 

 little grass may be pushed into the entrance so that they may 

 have to squeeze their way out ; a cloth may be hung down in 

 front of the hive ; and boards or branches may be so arranged 

 that the bees, when they leave the hive, will notice at once the 

 alteration that has been made in its position. This will cause 

 them to mark the new situation and to return to it. The 

 impediments may be reduced on the next day, and removed 

 altogether on the day following, provided that the bees have 

 been flying freely meanwhile. When stocks are being moved 

 from one place to another in the same apiary, and more than 

 two feet at a time, similar precautions must be taken, with 

 this addition — that the old sites must be altered as much as 

 possible in appearance, any bees collecting there being carried 

 back in the evening to their hives. Further, it is to be remarked 

 that moving bees two feet per day can be safely done only 

 on days on which the bees fly, so that they will have marked the 

 position after one move before they be moved again : also, 

 that as a general rule, in winter months, when the bees have 

 been conflned to their hives by stress of weather for not less 

 than a few weeks, they may be moved any distance with safety, 

 because they will naturally mark their new position after having 

 been for so long imprisoned. 



157. Moving Stocks in Skeps by Road or Rail When 



moving established stocks by car, cart, rail, or steamer, account 



