FIFTY YEAES AMONG THE BEES 203 



LOADING SUPERS ON WAGON. 



Unfortunately, although the wagon was built especially 

 for the purpose, some irons prevent a perfectly level floor on 

 which to put the supers, so strips of thin board or lath are laid 

 so the supers will be level. The size of the wagon-box is such 

 as to take on one side three supers running crosswise, and on 

 the other side two supers running fore and aft. Great care 

 is taken to build up the piles true, and when all are on they are 

 fastened together by laths with nails driven partly in, so the 

 nails can easily be drawn upon reaching home. Each pile has 

 a lath vertically; across the top, laths are braced in both di- 

 rections, so that tTie whole load is practically one solid pile 

 (Pig. 64). As the load comes mainly on the hind axle, 40 

 supers are as many as we like to haul at one load. We seldom 

 take so large a load. 



As I have said, putting the load on the wagon at the close 

 of the season is something of a ticklish job, and is mostly done 

 under cover of smoke, my assistant playing the smoker where- 

 ever it will do the most good. The character of the tent-escape 

 comes into fine play here, for it can so quickly £ind surely 

 be thrown into the right place that the robber bees have little 

 chance at the piles, so the smoking is mostly done at the wagon. 

 A robber-cloth (Pig. 75) is even a little better than the tent 

 escape. 



When the load is all on, the wagon is drawn away to a 

 distance safe for the horses. This may be 8 or 10 rods, or it 

 may be more than twice that distance. Fortunately, at each 

 out-apiary the ground lies in such a way that after the first 

 few rods the ground is descending, making it easy to draw 

 the load the longer distance. Then the horses are hitched on 

 as speedily as possible. 



HONEY-EOOM. 



Generally, Philo will be ready to take off the load when 

 we get home, unless we get home too near bedtime and Philo 

 has gone home, in which case I am not always a good enough 

 fighter to keep the women from helping to carry the supers to 

 the honey-room. This is an addition built on to my dwelling 



