ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 125 



empty combs was placed over each colony, and the top covered with 

 wire cloth. A hay rack was covered with hay to the depth of about 

 two feet, the hives set upon the hay, and held together in a bunch by 

 passing- a rope around them. The journey of 25 miles was made 

 without mishap. Those 20 colonies furnished 400 pounds of surplus; 

 besides, they needed no feeding- for winter, while the bees kept at 

 home stored no surplus, and each colony required feeding, on the 

 average, about 15 pounds. 



Had buckwheat yielded well, which, in this locality, happens 

 about once in a dozen years, nothing would have been gained by the 

 move. The inability to foretell the honey flow in any locality, is the 

 greatest obstacle in the way of successful migratory bee-keeping. 

 Local showers sometimes cause a great difference in the yields of 

 honey in localities only a few miles apart, but migratory bee-keeping 

 does not allow us to take advantage of this, as, by the time we have 

 moved to the locality that is furnishing honey, the flow there may be 

 over, and, possibly, started up in the home-yard. There is nothing 

 to be gained by changing one possibility for another of equal value. 

 But moving to another location which promises well at a time when 

 we know nothing will be gathered if the bees are kept at home, is a 

 far different thing. For instance, only forty miles from here, on a 

 direct line of railroad, is a locality where it is nothing unusual for 

 100 pounds of comb honey, per colony, to be secured, yet nothing' is 

 in bloom here at that time. The expense of moving to and from a 

 locality no farther away than this need not be so very great. From 

 30 to 40 colonies can be moved on a hay rack; or a special rack might 

 be made which would accommodate 50 colonies. An apiarist who is 

 going to practice moving his bees to secure better pasturage, must 

 have hives, fixtures, and other arrangements suitable for that pur- 

 pose. The arrangements ought to be such that three or four min- 

 utes would be sufficient for preparing a hive for moving. One of 

 the greatest advantages of fixed, or self-spaced, frames is that they 

 need no fastening when the apiary is to be moved. Of course bees 

 moved in hot weather must have abundant ventilation; but this alone 

 will not save the broody if they are long confined. To save the brood 

 the bees must have plenty of water. 



Some localities are blessed with an almost cofltinuous flow; 

 spring flowers, white clover, basswood, and fall flowers; and, by the 

 way, a man who is to make a specialty of bee-keeping ought to seek 

 such a locality; but many who are already engaged in bee-keeping 

 are permanently located, have friends and relatives li-v^ing near, and 

 prefer not to seek a new location even if the profits would be thereby 

 increased. Then, again, it is difficult to find a first-class locality for 



