740 
SHIPPING BEES 
some beekeepers do. Again, there are some 
producers who, tho they do not extract 
from below, desire to have left over for 
winter a large number of extracting combs 
well filled with sealed honey so that at the 
close of the season they can give the bees 
the necessary stores by simply giving these 
combs. In cool or cold weather they are 
invaluable. They save all feeding, and 
considerable extra time, besides the cost of 
sugar. 
The yield per day for a strong colony of 
bees may vary all the way from half a 
pound to twenty or even more pounds. Ten 
or more pounds would be considered a 
good daily gain from clover, but more than 
double the amount is often gathered in a 
day by strong colonies from sage, orange 
blossoms, or other rapid yielders of nectar. 
SCOUTS PRECEDING SWARM.— See 
Absconding Swarms, also Swarming. 
SECTIONS.— See Comb Honey, Appli¬ 
ances for and Hives. 
SELLING HONEY. — See Bottling 
Honey, Extracted Honey, Comb Honey, 
Marketing Honey, Shipping Cases, and 
Specialty in Bees. 
SELF-SPACING FRAMES. — See 
Frames; also Frames, Self-spacing, and 
Hives. 
SEPARATORS. — See Comb Honey, 
Appliances for. 
SHADE FOR HIVES.— See Apiary. 
SHIPPING BEES.— Under Migratory 
Beekeeping mention is made of the advan¬ 
tage of moving bees from one locality to 
another to catch the honey flow. The prac¬ 
tice has been extended so that bees are 
sometimes moved from one state to another 
in carlots. This enables the owner to gather 
two or three crops of honey; whereas if 
he were to remain in one locality he would 
secure only one. 
Shipping bees in carlots from one place 
to another has been practiced more in the 
West and North than in the East; but some 
beekeepers in the northern states, just 
before winter sets in, move their bees to the 
extreme South, build them up during the 
early winter or spring, catch a crop of 
honey, then move them back north to catch 
the clover honey flow. 
The publishers of this work have moved 
several carloads of bees in this way. In 
their first two shipments they were success¬ 
ful; but later ones were not as successful, 
for the reason that the seasons both south 
and north were unfavorable. Unless there is 
a fairly good crop of honey to be secured 
at both ends of the route the practice of 
moving bees in carlots is not a paying one; 
and as the seasons are somewhat uncertain, 
the movement of bees from north to south 
and from south to north is attended with 
considerable risk. 
Usually the freight alone on a carload 
of bees from Florida to Ohio will run 
over $1.00 per colony, provided there are 
350 colonies to the car. The larger the 
number of colonies, the lower is the freight 
relatively. Unfortunately the railroad 
companies require that the attendant who 
goes with the bees pay regular railroad 
fare. This ruling is decidedly unjust, be¬ 
cause the attendant in a carload of horses 
can go free. The freight rate on the bees 
themselves, the loss of some bees and brood 
during shipment, railroad fare of attendant, 
his time on a basis of twenty hours a day,* 
make the expense of moving from the ex¬ 
treme South to the North about $2.00 per 
colony. If the bees are moved back to the 
North there must be entered a charge of 
about $4.00 against each colony. In order 
to cover this expense the season will have 
to be good at both ends of the route to 
yield a profit. 
In some cases the weather is extremely 
hot when the bees are moved. If the tem¬ 
perature ranges around 80 or 90 in the 
shade, the loss of bees and brood will be 
considerable in spite of the precautionary 
measures on the part of the attendant in 
spraying the bees with water, as will be 
explained further on. This loss may 
amount to nearly 50 per cent of the bees 
and brood. If colonies are worth, with 
the queens, $10.00 each, it will be seen that 
in addition to the charge of $2.00 there will 
have to be entered another of $5.00. 
It sometimes happens that the car isUn¬ 
necessarily delayed en route; and every 
day of delay means the loss of bees as well 
as brood. Ordinarily a car of bees will not 
* He won’t get much sleep, as he will have to he 
on the alert almost day and night. 
