TRANSPORTING BEES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 176, 26 July 1911, Page 8

TRANSPORTING BEES.

PRACTICAL HINTS ONi,THg CARRIAGE OF HIVES;

(By I. HOPKINS;!,

The great progress and expansion „» commercial bee-keeping now t?S 1 throughout Newman? Klfe necessitated much moving of heT^ , new localities. Beginnerslrho bS to adopt beekeeping as a busing who have been working up a decent 6 Sd apiary for a season or. two, often S it to their advantage td remove t2 bees to a more promising district TW. again, the formation of new outiniari.! by established beekeepers, *{&£(£? mg place every season, makes the tram" port of bees necessary, so that a frW hints on the matter from one who h had a good deal of experience in pack mg bees for transport, may .help those who are shifting bees for the flrsttiinel to carry out the work successfully The best time of the year for movW bees long distances, when it "may £ necessary to confine them for-two V more days up to a week or t\vo i s jn the warmer parts of New Zealand'or say, any part of the North Island from the middle of June till the end of the third week in July. In the Soiith Island the bees would be ready for, shiftuia a week or two earlier, and can be left till early in August. ' * At the times stated there would not, in the ordinary course, be any brood in the hives, and the colonies •would Iμ ' sufficiently reduced in strength' to k comfortably confined to the lower compartment of the hives or brobd chambers. When there is brood'in 1 the combs and the bees are confuied for i day or two, the. brood invariably dies, and soon becomes a putrid mass, risking the life of the whole colony. If therefore, it is absolutely necessary to move bees during the breedihg: season when there would he much brood in the combs, and it cannot be disposed of by giving it to other colonies, then it •would be best to cage the queena nearly, or quite three weeks beforehand; so that all the brood would: have matured, and the young bees had emerged before packing the hives.' ■-. ■ ■"• ~.: ; Plenty of ventilation, and fplenty of room for the bees, that is,: not : ov«----crowded, with, of course, ample food fof • the inmates, are the essentials for safe transport. '•■• • . ■ . -~ If the hives are furnished-with selfspacing Hoffman ir.-jnes, and the combs are wired, all the better. With, colonies small enough to allow of abundance of room, the ten frames will-only need pressing together with small wedges from one side of the hive. But, if the hive is fairly full of bees without being over-crowded, and they confined for more than a day, it is better to withdraw one frame arid to insert small wedges between eachijofii'tte remaining nine, to give more room for yen» ■tilation. . ■ j PACKING FRAMES! ■' j The packing frames (see illustration)', of which two are required for.each hive, ' can be made out of 4 x J 'or 4'X'lis battens, nailed together in. the form shown just to fit the top of tbe'hives, and in fitting the top; it will fit the bottom also. In the one illustrated, two 2iin battens were used on each end in the place of one 4in., but the -framea on the hives are constructed wholly of 4in battens. The frames being nailed together as shown, neither; side lof it will be flush, but one side must be made so by filling up the two ends with short battens. There will then be a space in the centre of the frame of about .12Jin x Bin which should be covered, with small mesh wire netting on the flush side (queen cage wire cloth is best and cheapest). The packing frames being ready, and the frames of the hive secured, place one of the former on the ground, or better still, on a spare bottom hoard alongside the hive, flush side uppermost; remove the cover and mat,, and place the second packing-frame on top, flush.side downward. " Next have ready four 2im x Jin battens to reach from the upper to the lower frames, one for : each side as in illustration, which should be attached to the frames by screws for convenience of putting on and removing. B will be noticed whe n the hives are'p&cm in this manner the packing frames msure ventilation both top and bottom, and the hives may be packed one above another without interfering' with «■ \ One thing more, the bees when confined for more than one day should he supplied with some water. I use the -cheapest sponges;—a sixpenny one usually makes three. This should be-tied on the upper wire netting and be moistenea with water once a day. If the owner is not travelling with the bees;; paste* directions for watering on each hive. • PLACING THE HIVES ON WAGONS AND TRAINS. \ ■ When travelling by road, the '/biyel should be placed on the vehicle vnta the hive-frames running across the ff ftg" on, from side to side, as the J ar J£~ a rough road comes sideways on.', v\ nen travelling by rail, however, any jar usually comes, from the front, therefore it is best for the frames to run parallel with the train. . ..V MOVING BEES IN BOXES. I don't know that I am justified to speaking of box hives in a New Zealand Journal unless to condemn them, but » "The Farmer'" has a large emulation outside of the Dominion, the information may be useful to some readers. Fairly open and strong paper-hangers scrim is the best material for P* 1 * 1 "" box hives in. Pieces large enough w tie securely around the boxes should ■» cut, and a supply of strong string (binaer- twine is best) should be on hand.* good bee-smoker by which to qu" , "" the bees should also be available. Slow a few puffs of pungent smoke (old <uy sacking makes excellent smokers material) into the entrance, then wait ior.» minute or two, and then .give m °™ smoke. The box can then he turnea upside ''down, the scrim put over, nna tied securely, and while travelling, tne box should remain in the same P 05 * 0 ", upside down. The reason is, the como being secured to the top of the box, they cannot break away very ™**%.?L better ventilation is secured. "»« can be given by wetting the serun. It may be well to mention that tne bees should, in both cases,..be packea the evening before removal, after tne bees are all in, and be shaded from the sun when traveDing} in .fact, they ere better in the 'dark.