840 
TRANSFERRING 
A characteristic log-gum apiary. There are several 
rows of these gums that were transferred by 0. L. 
Sams. This is not at all a rare sight in the South¬ 
land. 
WHEN TO TRANSFER. 
A clay should be selected, preferably dur¬ 
ing fruit bloom in the northern States, 
when some honey is coming in, or when 
a honey flow is on in early spring in 
the South. The early part of the season is 
recommended, because at that time of the 
Log-gum apiary of J. S. Kelly near Wilmington, 
N. C. Mr. Sams holding an empty gum, and altho 
the bees were stinging him unmercifully, he stood 
his ground while the author was “snapping” him. 
the twigs. It is the last of the spring honey 
plants to bloom and the bees work on the 
bloom very diligently, but it yields nectar 
only sparingly. Altho the bloom lasts for 
thirty days, it is seldom that more than two 
supers, or 50 pounds of honey, is secured. 
A sample of the honey from Mt. Pleasant, 
Alabama, is a dark-reddish-amber color, 
with a pleasant characteristic fragrance. It 
has a good body and a mild flavor, which 
is more pronounced, when it was first gath¬ 
ered. It is considered fair table honey. 
after which they are placed in an up-to- 
date hive. When one by purchase or other¬ 
wise acquires a lot of old gums, he must 
transfer them into modem hives before he 
TRANSFERRING. — This term might 
mean moving bees from one yard to an¬ 
other, or bees from one hive to another. 
In the strict technical sense, however, it 
means moving bees from box hives, log 
gums, or straw skeps into modern movable- 
frame hives. The usual process involves 
the act of cutting the combs out of an old 
hive and fitting them into movable frames, 
The same bees after being transferred into modern 
hives. This apiary of 100 colonies belonging to 
W. _ J. Martin, with the help of Mr. Sams, was 
easily transferred from the log gums in one week’s 
time. 
year there will be relatively fewer bees and 
a comparatively small amount of honey. 
If, on the other hand, the work of trans¬ 
ferring is performed during the hottest 
part of the year, the gum will be full of 
bees and honey, and, of course, the opera¬ 
tor will be working at a great disadvantage 
-—particularly so if the time of work be 
Log gums used for producing comb honey, with 
the “supers” in position. 
can do anything. To do this he must pro¬ 
vide himself with as many hives, with a 
full equipment of frames, as he has gums 
or old box hives to transfer. 
