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A. For more than 20 years I have moved bees every fall, and 
never had any trouble. But I moved them only five miles or less, 
In the fall the combs are heavier with honey than in the spring, 
and there are also more bees. So you will see that there must be 
a little more care against breaking combs, as well as a little more 
care to have plenty of ventilation. Aside from this you ought to 
have no more trouble in fall than spring. If you can have your 
choice as to time, it will be well to wait till as much after the 
first of October as you can, for the cooler it is, the less danger of 
suffocation, although, of course, if you wait for severe winter 
weather there would be danger of the combs becoming brittle 
with the cold, and breaking. 
Q. I want to move my bees about 40 miles by waterway to a 
better location, as the bees are mostly wild and dark. Which is 
the best way to close the hive and not smother the bees? 
A. Use wire-cloth for ventilation. To close the entrance of a 
hive, take a piece of wire-cloth as long as the inside width of the 
entrance and 2 or 3 inches wide. Bend it at right angles, and then 
crowd it into the entrance so it will be wedged fast. But that will 
not answer if your entrances are like mine, 2 inches deep. In 
that case take a strip of wire-cloth about 2 inches wider than the 
depth of your entrance, and as long as the inside width of the 
entrance. Double over the edge three-quarters of an inch, or an 
inch, and crease it down fiat. Place the wire-cloth against the 
entrance with the folded edge down at the bottom-board, and 
nail over the upper part of the wire-cloth a strip of lath with a 
small nail at each end. If the weather is cool, or if the bees be 
moved at night, this ventilation at the entrance may be enough. 
If more is needed, make a frame the same size as the top of the 
hive, cover it with wire-cloth, and fasten it on top of the hive 
with screws. If necessary, the cover can be put about 2 inches 
above this, a block at each corner holding up the cover, being 
fastened with hive-staples. Even this ventilation, if the weather 
bf hot and the bees kept on the way long, water should be sprayed 
on them from time to time. 
Mustard. — Q. Do you consider mustard a good honey yielder? 
If so, how does it compare with smartweed in the yield of honey 
and quality? 
A. Mustard is a good honey-plant. Just how it compares in 
yield and quality with smartweed (by which you probably mean 
heartsease) could be better told by someone having an equal acre- 
