MAILINO QUEENS. 813 



600. How many bees are there in a pound? This ques- 

 tion has been propounded to us several times. L'abbi 

 Collin, by careful experiments, found that in a normal con- 

 dition it takes about 5,100 bees to weigh a pound ; while in 

 the swarm, when they are supplied with honey, it takes less 

 than 4,300. Their weight wiU vary according to the 

 quantity of honey they have absorbed. 



601. Parties contemplating the breeding of bees and 

 queens (489) for sale, will do well to locate themselves as 

 far South as convenient for easy shipment, as it is by fai 

 more lucrative to raise them there than in the North. This 

 is very easy to understand. In the South, the bees usually 

 winter safely, and breed early, so that the colonies are 

 strong, while those of the Northern latitudes are still con- 

 fined in their hives, struggling against the rigors of Winter. 



If an Apiarist purchases bees or queens at the proper 

 time — Spring — to recruit his Winter loss, he will most likely 

 buy them from some location South of him, as he can there 

 obtain stronger colonies, and earlier queens, than in his own 

 latitude. 



602. On the other hand, as the honey of the Northern 

 States is superior in quality to Southern honey, bee-culture 

 for honey production can be made fuUy as profitable in the 

 North, in spite of the difficulties of wintering (619). 



Transporting Bees Short Distances. 



603. The box-hives may be prepared for removal by 

 inverting them and tacking a coarse towel or sack over 

 them, or strips of lath may be laid over wire-cloth, and brads 

 driven through them into the edges of the hive. 



Confine the hive, so that it cannot be jolted, in a wagon 

 with springs, and be sure, before starting, that it is impossible 

 for a bee to get out. The inverted position of the hive wiU 

 give the bees what air they need, and guard their combs 



