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80 



SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



Latham, of Connecticut, one of the 

 most observing kee-keepers I have 

 ever met. We have used the wider 

 spacing for years, as more conven- 

 ient, without realizing until lately that 

 tt was one of the causes of our success 

 in avoiding swarming. 



Let it not be understood by any one 

 that I lay claims to the total preven- 

 tion of swarming. That is impossible. 

 But when I see practical bee-keepers, 

 such as I met the past summer in the 

 vicinity of Syracuse, report as many 

 as 18 swarms out, in one apiary, at 

 one time, I feel that there is a general 

 need for more thorough understanding 

 of the usual causes of natural swarm- 

 ing. 



I am asked whether we have a non- 

 swarming breed of bees. No, neither 

 do I think we can ever get a really 

 non-swarming race, if they are placed 

 in circumstances that will induce their 

 natural propensity to become devel- 

 oped. 



The advantages of the above method 

 are the doing away with hive manipu- 

 lations during the honey crop, such as 

 cutting out queen-cells, taking out 

 brood, shifting stories, etc. All the 

 required work, outside of increasing 

 the ventilation and adding supers, has 

 to be done during the dull season. I 

 know that those who have excessive 

 swarming, who will try this method, 

 will find themselves greatly relieved by 

 the results. 



Mr. Root — This is one of the most 

 interesting discussions I have heard 

 for a long time. 



You perhaps have seen in the edi- 

 tion of the A, B, C, issue of 25 years 

 ago, that I was very much interested 

 in his method of the Prevention of 

 Swarming. I incorporated that under 

 the subject of Dadant hive. The 

 statement is there made that Dadants 

 have only a small percentage of 

 swarming. I have kept that in every 

 edition, and it is going to stay there. 



Now, in regard to the spacing of the 

 frames of the brood chamber of 1% 

 Inches from center to center instead of 

 the usual spacing of 1% inches. In 

 regard to the spacing of the frames, I 

 may as well plead guilty. I have to 

 plead guilty to a good many things. 



In this particular case, I will give 

 you a little history, and I might as well 

 make a confession: 



Unfortunately, in this particular in- 



stance, I happened to occupy an in- 

 terest where I controlled the spacing 

 of frames. In the early history of mod- 

 ern bee supply business I got inter- 

 ested in fixed frames. I got interested 

 in Quimby fixed frames, and they 

 were fixed frames, without any doubt. 



In 1890, I went on a bicycle, the first 

 almost then known, through the Mo- 

 hawk Valley, and visited Quimby's old 

 home, the locality where this large 

 hive was in use, where the wide spac- 

 ing was used generally. 



Mr. L. Root argued with me the use 

 of this broader spacing used by Da- 

 dant's, and I became convinced that it 

 was all right. 



When we introduced the HoCCman 

 frame, after a great deal of discus- 

 sion and correspondence with a good 

 many bee-keepers, we decided on a 

 distance of 1% inch. The discussion 

 and consensus of opinion of a majority 

 of bee-keepers at the time was in favor 

 of 1% inch. 



I took the matter up then with Dr. 

 Miller, and consulted several of the 

 foreign works. The majority of opin- 

 ion seemed to -be for 1% inches, and 

 not one of them suggested the point 

 brought up of non-swarming. The 

 main reason given for the 1% inch 

 was there would be less drone combs 

 because drone brood required more 

 room. 



Mr. Kildow — Was it not then sug- 

 gested that 1% inch spacing would 

 stop so much honey along the top of 

 the frame? 



Mr. Root — Th.a,€\*sjr'a^ one of the points 

 — reduction of drOTieTbrood, more honey 

 in the supers; andj^some adopted spac- 

 ing little less thanvl^inch from cen- 

 ter to center, v^ v 



The A. I. Ueot Company decided in 

 favor of 1% inch and subsequently 

 the Hoffman^rames were adopted by 

 Mr. Lewis an3 Mr. Faulkner. 



Summing up what Mr. Dadant has 

 said, I believe he is right, and if he is 

 right what are the rest of us going 

 to do? 



Mr. Dadant — I don't care. 



Mr. Root — Here is what you can do: 

 We will say the Hoffman frame, I pre- 

 sume, is the standard, 1%. If you 

 space that 1% from center to center, 

 you are going to have a line of bee 

 glue of the worst kind. If you nail a 

 strip l-16th inch on one side and 



