158 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



hot sun, and had them arranged in tiers on the 

 hurricane deck, so that a current of fresh air was 

 constantly passing between and around them. At 

 Aspinwall we had them placed in an express car to 

 cross the Isthmus, and obtained permission to remain 

 in the car with them, for the purpose of keeping the 

 side doors open to give a free circulation of air. Ar- 

 rived at Panama, they were placed in an open boat or 

 lighter, which was taken in tow by a steam tug and 

 run alongside the steamship, which lay at anchor 

 some three miles from the dock. We had them care- 

 fully handled, and kept them shaded from the sun ; 

 but so intense was the heat, that they suffered very 

 much. Had they been exposed to the direct rays of 

 the sun, the combs would have melted in a few min- 

 utes. We sailed from Panama on the morning of 

 the 15th, and arrived off Cape St. Lucas on the 24th, 

 where we met cold, chilly winds, making it necessary 

 to close up our bees a little, and shelter them from 

 the weather; without this precaution they would 

 have been seriously affected by the sudden change 

 from extreme heat to cold. Arriving at San Fran- 

 cisco on the evening of the 29th, we shipped on 

 steam boat for Sacramento, and reached there on the 

 morning of the 31st. 



The bees had remained in close confinement all this 

 time, forty-seven days. We found but eleven dead 

 out of one hundred and fourteen, one hundred and 

 three having survived the long and tedious voyage. 

 This number we reduced by uniting those that had 

 become weak, making one strong stock from two or 



