1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



71 



fraihes that tan be used either 



SIDE UP. 



SOME INOENIOUS METHODS FOR MxVKINO SUCH 

 FRAMES. 



SN some of our former volumes it was sug- 

 <;ested that the bees could be made to 

 — ' fill every frame clear, down, and build 

 the combs tight to the bottom-bar, by i)lac- 

 ing the frame upside-down a few days, dur- 

 ing a yield of honey. It is true, a few cau- 

 tious ones tried to make out that it would 

 injure the brood by so doing ; but others, of 

 larger experience in transferring from vari- 

 ous kinds of hives, soon dispelled that no- 

 tion. With ordinary hives it is a rather dif- 

 ficult matter to put suspended frames bot- 

 tom-bar upward ; but in the chaff hive we 

 can do this in the upper story without trou- 

 ble, and this is the way I often get fractured 

 combs mended, by fastening the comb back 

 in place, close up to the top-bar, and then 

 letting it remain resting on one of the lower 

 frames, in an inverted position. Well, our 

 friend below has a very ingenious plan of 

 making frames so they can be inverted at 

 any time, and still hang on the rabbet either 

 side up. 



FrknrlRoot:—A.t the convention recently held in 

 Battle Creek, Mich., L. C. Whiting read a p;iper 

 about the coming hive with revorsilile frsmea, etc., 

 originated by VanDeupen, of Sprout Brook, N. T. It 

 may interest some to know that, a year ago, I made 

 frames reversible, and have experienced the bene- 

 fits enumerated in his paper. I inclose to you bj' 

 mail my method of doing it, and, as you see, it can 

 be applied to any frame with comb in, if desired. I 

 have my material cut for frames for n<»xt year, and 

 all are to use the raetal arm. I use the L. frame 

 with wires; for the support in the center, I use a 

 strip ?i wide, of picture-back stuff — and by its use 

 secure openings by its side through the cards for 

 winter passages. I have always pressed the wires 

 into the wax by the use of an " excavator" (every- 

 body will know what that is, if they have ever bee» 

 to a dentist), bending the point to an angle of 45 de- 

 grees, and on that foot cutting a slot to ride on the 

 wire. Tour button-hook arrangement is the same. 



One great advantage of the reversible frame is to 

 secure the comb well drawn out, and attached to 

 both top and bottom bar. 



I will suggest, that with my frame there is little 

 chance for the bees to stick them down — a metal 

 arm resting on a metal rabbet. Again, it will al- 

 ways hang perpendicularly, there being but one 

 place of contact; and if desirable to raise the frames 

 from the bottom-board for winter, It is easily done 

 by placing blocks under the lower arm. I send you 

 one end of the frame. 



Itt 



BUKUKSS' DEVICE FOR A REVERSinLE FRAME. 



By turning one arm under the bottom-bar, the 

 other is secured /i.rcrt for hanging on the rabbet, and 

 vice verm. 



Weather is fine; bees are flying to-day, and every 

 few days so far. I am wintering 58 colonics. They 

 were in line order when put into winter quarters, 



and are on summer stands, in double-walled hives, 

 the inner walls made of plaster Vi inch thick, and 

 filled between with shavings or fine chips. My hive, 

 like your chaff hive, is to remain the same summer 

 and winter. Of course, it is " the best hive made." 

 None for sale. 



And now I wish you a merry Christmas, and suc- 

 cess in all your und( rtakings. In regard to the 

 frame, if it looks foolish to you, throw it away and 

 say nothing about it. I am not sensitive, but 1 like 

 the frame that I can tarn over. F. W. Burgess. 



Huntington, Long Island, Dec., 18S1. 



The above idea is extremely ingenious, but 

 I can not quite agree with our friend in say- 

 ing it will cause tlie frame to hang straight 

 down. Supporting frames by a single nail 

 or wire is quite an old device, and the mat- 

 ter has been discussed several times in our 

 back volumes. Sliould the bees store more 

 honey or pollen in one side of the comb than 

 the (Sther, it hangs any thing but straight, 

 and sometimes causes 'much trouble. Any 

 comb that swinsfs on pivots, as it were, must 

 have some kind of a stop at the bottom. If 

 the Iwttom is free, we want two arms at the 

 top, and the further apart these are, the tru- 

 er the frame hangs. Now, although frames 

 can be reversed, and with the effect of get- 

 ting the combs built clear down to the bot- 

 tom-bar. shall we ever need to reverse them 

 more, after we once get them so built V If 

 not, why should we go to much expense just 

 for this one occasion V You can, if you de- 

 sire, set all your frames bottom up, on the 

 bottom-board of the Simplicity hive, and 

 then slip the hive over them. If the bot- 

 toms are not spaced true, fasten them by 

 wedges, and after about three days, or even 

 less, during a honey yield, they will be done, 

 and can ever afterward *•' stand on their 

 feet." In other words, just turn your hive 

 upside down a few days, to make the bees 

 finish the bottoms of their combs. 



FOUL. BROOD. 



DOES IT EVER OUIGINATB FROM CHILt^ED BROOD? 



^^[^RIEND ROOT:— A bee-keeper living near Ncav- 

 j«pl hall, Los Angeles Co., say.s that foul brood is 

 '^^ not heard of lately, but that a few years back 

 there were apiaries that were botkered with it. He 

 was correct in that assertion ; but when he says that 

 the claim, that diseased honej' being fed to bees was 

 not the cause of the first appearance of foul brood 

 in Ventura Co., he is decidedly "off." I claim to be 

 the bee-keeper who imported the disease to this 

 county, but disclaim any " honor" — on the contra- 

 ry, it was a sad misfortune. It was brought about 

 by a dry season, the particulars of which I gave to 

 the Los Angeles Bee-Keepers' Association in 18T8, 

 and which was copied by the -.4mcnc((u Be« Journal 

 and many leading agricultural papers, to which arti- 

 cle I refer Mr. Lechier. His further remarks, about 

 foul brood boing only in apiaries where artificial 

 swarming was practiced, are not verified in any par- 

 ticular case that his been reported to the Ventura 

 Bee-Keepers' Association. 



I have consulted all the parties who made the 

 claim, that diseased honey was the direct cause of 

 the appearance of the disease, and none of them, so 

 far as I can ascertain, have ever met Mr. Lccbler at 



