Fig. 19.—Frame hive prepared for transportation. (Orig.)
MOVING BEES.
In moving bees the box hives should be turned bottom upward, the bees driven back by blowing a little smoke on them, and a few loose rolls of rags laid across the lower edges of the combs in such a manner that a piece of sheeting, sacking, or preferably cheese cloth or other open material may be tied over the whole lower end and drawn tightly, so as to press the rolls against the combs and hold them in place. It is even well to tack strips of lath outside of the covering, so placed that they will cross the rolls of rags and press the latter more firmly against the lower edges of the combs. Strips may also be tacked around the lower edges of the hive to hold the cloth in place, or it maybe fastened by winding with strong cord. The bees should be thus prepared as late in the day as possible, care being taken that none escape, and at dusk stood bottom upward in a spring conveyance or on straw or hay several inches deep in the box of a wagon, with straw packed between and around the hives. It is advisable to drive slowly, avoiding ruts as much as possible. By turning the hives bottom upward the weight of the combs rests on their points of attachment, and since in such hives the combs are not always attached well down the sides danger of breakage is lessened, especially when the rolls of cloth are pressed against the edges of the combs. If the bees are in frame hives, the frames of which have not been disturbed recently, it is likely that, with care in driving, the combs will not get displaced. If necessary to use a sheet or cloth to give ventilation, it should be tied over the top and the hive placed in the wagon in the same position it occupied on the stand, lest the combs, not being attached all the way down, should fall to one side or the other. Except during quite warm weather and for long trips it may not be necessary to adopt all the precautions here indicated, although in case bees are to be transported on long journeys by rail or water far more careful preparation is even necessary.
Fig. 20.—An apiary in Florida. (Reproduced from photograph.)
SELECTION OF SITE.
The apiary should be located where no surface water will collect during heavy storms, yet the ground should not be very uneven, but rather a gentle slope. In the colder portions of the United States a south-eastern exposure is decidedly preferable, though in the South the slope of the site is less important to the welfare of the bees; a direct southern or south western exposure, however, will be found extremely uncomfortable at times both for the operator and for his bees. A windbreak, such as a board fence, a hedge, or a row of evergreens on the north and west, is advisable as a protection against sharp winds in winter and early spring, which keep many bees from reaching their hives even when near the entrances. Some shade is desirable, yet such density as to produce dampness is extremely detrimental. In moist elevated regions, which are of course cool, no shade will be needed, except temporarily for newly hived swarms. Tall trees are objectionable in or near the apiary, because swarms are likely to cluster so high as to render their capture difficult and dangerous. Some of the self-hivers or nous warming devices now offered for sale may with improvement yet accomplish the end in view, but heretofore clipping one wing of each laying queen and using all precautions to prevent after-swarming, making artificial swarms, selection in breeding, or any other means known to limit swarming, have not sufficed to prevent the occasional issuance of a swarm with a queen having wings. Therefore it is advisable to have the apiary located under or near low trees, where the hives can be readily seen from the house. Carniolan, Italian, and Cyprian bees give less trouble to passers-by or to live stock than do the ordinary brown or German bees, or hybrids of these races, yet whatever race be kept, it is best to have the apiary as secluded as the necessary or desirable conditions will permit.
The frontispiece and figures 20, 21, and 75, taken from photographs of apiaries located in different parts of the country, give a fair idea of sites actually occupied and the arrangement of hive-.
Fig. 21.—An apiary in California. (Reproduced from photograph.)