COMMENCING BEE KEEPING. 87 



must be taken of the risks which they will have to run over bad 

 roads and indifferent springs, or at the hands of careless rail, 

 way shunters and porters ; and also of the risks which the public 

 and animals in the neighbourhood will be exposed to should any 

 accident release the bees en route and give them " cause of 

 action." For stocks in skcps, an old-fashioned and a useful 

 precaution is to push three or four stout wooden skewers 

 through the skep and combs, from side to side, two or three 

 days before the moving. The skewers, fastened by the bees, 

 act as stays to the combs, and can be withdrawn after the 

 journey. To further reduce the risk of combs breaking away 

 from their attachments, the skep is travelled bottom up. It is 

 first covered with some ventilating material, as directed above 

 (153), and is then inverted, placed in a large lidless box, and 

 packed underneath and around with straw. A rope handle is 

 attached to the box, and also a label in a prominent position, 

 and bearing the words—" LIVE BEES, AND HONEY COMB : 

 WITH CARE." An improvement upon these precautions 

 would be — to travel, yourself, with the bees. 



158. Moving Stocks in Frame Hives by Road or Rail Stocks 



in frame hives can generally be transported with safety when 

 the following instructions are observed. A hole 4" x 4" is cut 

 in the floor board and is covered with perforated zinc. Two 

 lengths of loosely-made straw or hay rope are placed on the 

 floor board at right angles with the frames. Frames with 

 honey and no brood are removed, their places in the hive being 

 filled with frames of old, empty combs, or with empty frames 

 having bands of canvas tacked on from top to bottom, or from 

 end to end, to which the bees may cling. Soft, new combs 

 with brood, if to remain in the hive, are tied in their frames 

 with two broad bands of calico or canvas running under the 

 combs and fastened over the top bars. The dummy is moved 

 up and screwed in position. Instead of the sheet and quilts, 

 a piece of coarse canvas or perforated zinc is laid on the frames 

 and tacked down. Two strong laths are laid across the frame 

 shoulders, and are securely screwed to the hive. The frames, 

 caught thus between the laths above and the straw ropes below, 

 cannot shake about. In the evening, when all the bees are at 

 home, the doors are removed, and the entrance is covered with 

 a piece of perforated zinc securely tacked to the wood. The 

 body box is then screwed to the floor board. The extra frames, 

 roof, doors, etc., travel separately. With large stocks, and in 

 very warm weather, it is advisable to leave in the hive only 

 sufficient bees to cover the brood, and to travel the remainder 

 in a skep as directed for swarms (153), hiving them in the 

 usual way (236) on arrival at the new locality. 



