108 AUSTRALASIAN 



remain there about three weeks before bringing it back. 

 By doing this very few bees would be lost. 



Where bees are to be moved in a cart or wagon a good thick 

 layer of straw to ctand the hives on will prevent jarring to a 

 considerable extent. If movable comb hives, the frames should 

 be secured so that they cannot move. 1 am frequently obliged 

 to shift bees at Matamata, and I secure the frames by putting 

 two end bars between each pair and wedging the last frame 

 tight from the side of the hive. The bottom board is secured 

 to the hive body by screwing two thin battens on each side to 

 both parts, a strip of wire cloth is fastened over the entrance, 

 and the cover is also made secure. The hives are prepared in 

 this way over night and shifted as early as possible the next 

 day. 



When moving bees in box-hives I have always practised the 

 method recommended below to a correspondent of the New Zea- 

 land and Australian Bee Journal, who applied for advice in the 

 following manner : " I have purchased 10 boxes of bees at a farm 

 eight miles off. I want to get them over to my own apiary, and 

 to put them into frame hives. The road is a rough one. I 

 propose about the end of September to drive the bees from 

 each box, and to bring them over here in empty boxes covered 

 with cheese cloth ; then to hive them on full sheets of 

 foundation, and to utilise the old combs and honey as best I 

 «an. They will most probably be a good deal broken up on 

 the journey over. Can you advise any improvement on this 

 plan 1" 



To this I replied as follows : — The present is a very good 

 time to move bees in box hives, but we do not think the above 

 is the best method that could be adopted, for several reasons. 

 First, a good deal of brood would be destroyed, which at this 

 time of the year is of greater value than later on. Second, 

 you would need to feed liberally to get your foundation drawn 

 out, and unless the colonies are very strong and the bees 

 crowded together by division boards, very little comb building 

 would go on for the next two or three weeks. If the bees are 

 in common boxes we would advise you to adopt the following 

 plan in preference to the one you suggest : — Take some scrim 

 or cheese cloth, tacks, paper, and your smoker with you to the 

 boxes the afternoon or evening before you intend to move 

 them. Cut the scrim into pieces that will cover the bottoms 



