OUT-APIARIES 
643 
light load at each trip, both going and 
coming. 
If there is a series of eight or ten yards 
one can well afford to have a light machine 
to cany the men to and from the yards, 
and a trailer capable of carrying 750 lbs. 
more,* altho it is surprising to see how 
much work can be accomplished with a 
Ford alone. 
Ford and trailer. 
A two-wheel trailer, if rightly designed, will carry 
from 700 to 1,000 pounds. In some places one can 
he rented for $1.50 a day. Its cost will run all the 
way from $50 to $150. It is a very common prac¬ 
tice in California for beekeepers to move their bees 
with a two-wheel trailer. 
The upkeep of an automobile costing less 
than $400 is about a third of the cost of 
operating the larger machines costing 
$1,200 or more. The fonner use small tires, 
and, what is of great importance, the first 
cost is much lower. Beekeepers should un¬ 
derstand that the main expense of operat¬ 
ing' an automobile is depreciation, which 
cannot be figured at less than 33 per cent 
the first year; 25 for the next, and 10 per 
cent for each succeeding year. The depre¬ 
ciation is the largest item; and as the cost 
of the low-priced machine is less than half 
the ordinary machines, the depreciation is 
accordingly less. 
But there is another item to be consid¬ 
ered. ' The little high-speed engine in the 
small machine will give about twice the 
mileage per gallon of gasoline of the heav¬ 
ier machines,- and this is no inconsiderable 
item. 
By lengthening the wagon-box a much 
larger bulk of hives can be carried at a 
*E. L. Hoffman, Zanesville, Minn., handles 1,000 
colonies with one assistant, a Ford, and a trailer. 
He secures big crops of honey, and with his Ford 
he sells and delivers his crop in his locality. The 
Ford with trailer is used very commonly in Cali¬ 
fornia and other States. 
load; and, generally speaking, the author 
would advise having the wagon-box stick 
out at the rear at least two feet or more, 
because a great deal of the stuff carried to 
the outyard is bulky but not heavy. But 
when the wagon-box is enlarged, precau¬ 
tion should be taken not to put on a load of 
more than 750 lbs. While the chassis of a 
light machine will carry 1,000 lbs., such a 
load is rather hard on the tires, and it is 
advisable to make an extra trip rather than 
trying to do the whole job in one load. 
Whatever the kind of hive used, some 
plan must be adopted for fastening in the 
bees, so that they may have abundance of 
ventilation while being hauled. As, how¬ 
ever, the hauling is done in spring and fall, 
less ventilation is needed than during hot 
weather. The ordinary entrance, say 14 
inches by % covered by wire cloth, will 
answer, as that gives a ventilating surface 
of about 12 inches, altho more would be 
much better. (See Moving Bees.) Of 
course, the bees should all be shut in when 
not flying, and in spring it is a good plan 
to shut up in the evening all that are to 
be hauled the next day. In the fall the 
weather may be such that bees will not fly 
at any time in the day, otherwise one must 
get to the out-apiary early enough in the 
This is a betfpr trailer and costs about $150. It 
will handle easily at one load 50 colonies, or one 
ton of weight. For moving bees it is always best 
to have a strongly built machine. 
morning to shut in all the bees he will haul 
that day. If one is to take bees to an out- 
apiary in the spring, the sooner it is done 
the better, as pasturage is then apt to be 
rather scarce at best. Where bees are to 
be brought home in the fall to be cellared, 
they may as well be brought just as soon 
as heavy frost occurs, or as soon as they 
