96 DADANT SYSTEM OF BEEKEEPING 



to protect the screen. Thus 400 colonies were hauled from 2^ 

 to 30 miles without any loss. They were brought back to the 

 original apiaries in the fall during frosty weather. At that time 

 no ventilation is necessary. A deep wire cover gives them suffi- 

 cient air. 



In addition to the advantage of bringing bees to rich pas- 

 ture, we believe there isa gain in what Mr. Demuth calls "morale" 

 in the behavior of the bees, when they are transported. We have 

 often noticed that bees brought to a new spot, whether it be in 

 spring or fall, and having to learn a new country, become more 

 active. It seems to increase their energy, their morale, to find 

 themselves in new fields. We are not the only ones, besides 

 Demuth, to have noticed this. Others have spoken of it also. 

 It sems to act upon them as upon pioneers who go forward 

 to new countries, for we believe that the great energy, the posi- 

 tive activity, of the American people, are due to their having 

 been pioneers in new spots as yet uncultivated. Bees may be 

 induced to more activity in several ways and we believe this 

 is one of them. 



A similar argument is brought forward by a beekeeper of the 

 Netherlands, who, after having described the nomadic methods 

 of Hollandish beekeepers, who move their bees to the heathet 

 fields every summer, asserts that the moving of the bees increases 

 their activity and the breeding propensity of their queens. We 

 might cite similar opinions from several other noted apiarists 



