BEGINNING WITH BEES 
123 
age bees—that is, bees without combs — can 
be sent anywhere. 
Right here it would be ivell to empha¬ 
size again that combless bees especially 
should never be ordered unless hives con¬ 
taining frames of foundation ( better full 
sheets) are all ready to receive them. To 
a less extent this applies also in the case 
of nuclei. 
Assuming that the hives are in readiness, 
one can order at least from one to three 
pounds of bees to the package. There 
should be a queen in each package, unless 
the bees are for the purpose of strength¬ 
ening weak colonies. (See Uniting.) A 
single pound of bees, if ordered early in 
the spring, could build up to a full colony ; 
but, if one desires to get the honey the 
The picture shows a row of hives, the colonies of 
which came from two-pound packages received from 
the South, and which, according to David Running, 
held their own against bees that wintered in the 
cellar under the most favorable conditions. 
where it is cool, and keep it there for sev¬ 
eral days. At the end of that time the 
hive can be set outdoors on its permanent 
stand. This should be done at night rather 
than in the day. 
The bees when set outdoors have in the 
meantime become accustomed to their new 
Buying bees by the pound is a good way to start, 
provided you don’t get too small a package. Cut 
the wire cloth from one side of the cage and lay 
this open side flat on the frames. Put on an empty 
super, then the cover, and let the bees work their 
way down into the hive. 
first season, the bees should be ordered 
early, and there should be at least two 
pounds, or better, three. 
Package bees are liable to cause the be¬ 
ginner trouble if hived on frames of foun¬ 
dation during the middle hours of the day. 
The strange surroundings and the newness 
of the hive sometimes cause the bees to 
swarm out, so it is advisable to use per¬ 
forated zinc or excluders over the entrances 
for the first two or three days or until the 
bees get quieted down. (Sep Drones.) 
In case they should swai'in out the excluder 
holds the queen in the hive, and, of course, 
if they swarm out the bees will come back 
to the queen. See Swarming. 
A very much better plan, after putting 
the bees in the prepared hive, is to set the 
whole in a dark cellar, on the cellar floor, 
This colony occupying the five-story hive is one 
started from two pounds of bees received in the 
latter part of April, 1918, at David Running’s home 
yard. These two-pound packages received by ex¬ 
press from the South will often go ahead of the 
colonies wintered in the North. 
