254 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



which was owing, to a great extent, to the want of 

 practical knowledge on the part of those having them 

 in charge. 



HOW OUR FIRST SHIPMENT WAS PREPARED. 



Boxes were made of boards fths thick, one foot 

 square and six inches high. Into these the combs, 

 bees and all, were transferred in June, when honey 

 was plenty and young queens matured readily. The 

 combs were cut to fit neatly into these boxes, leaving 

 proper spaces between, and braced with strips of 

 wood, being careful to have combs in each box that 

 had eggs in. The bees were now divided and a por- 

 tion put in each box, there being enough comb and 

 bees in an ordinary sized hive to fill two or three of 

 these boxes. Those that were without queens sup- 

 plied themselves from eggs found in the combs. In 

 this way we found no difficulty in making nearly an 

 average of three well organized little colonies from 

 one old stock. Any spaces left for want of combs 

 were filled in by the bees themselves; they also 

 fastened up the old combs thus transferred from the 

 old hive, very nicely and securely. Being permitted 

 to work in these boxes from June until the close of 

 the season, they were well stored with honey and 

 pollen for their long journey, and in a compact, port- 

 able shape 



To these boxes we added another box at the side 

 (when packing them up to ship), three inches by six, 

 and one foot long, having first made a large opening 

 in the side, and securing these boxes by tacking 



