340 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



strong an opinion there is against them, I 

 will copy from the American Bee Journal 

 what was said at the Los Angeles conven- 

 tion on this subject. The question was 

 asked: "In producing extracted honey, 

 has ihe self-spacing frame any advantage 

 over the ordinary hanging frame ?" Here 

 is the discussion : 



N. A. Kluck — Self-spacing frames have 

 a great many advantages. Tiiere is a great 

 deal of difference. 



J. M. Hambaugh — I think I am quali- 

 fied to speak of the advantages and dis- 

 advantages of self spacing frames. I have 

 been in ihe business of inspecting every- 

 body's apiaries in San Diego county, and 

 I think we have about as greiit varieties 

 as any Slate in the Union. If you could 

 go with me and see the (Hsad vantages of 

 ihe different kinds of self-spac'.ng frames, 

 you would everlaslingly place condemtia- 

 tion on them. If you want to examine 

 rapidly, and get over a good deal of space 

 in a day, you will almost curse the time 

 you ever saw a self-spacing frame. And it 

 is a great disadvantage when it comes to 

 rapid handling and inspecling of frames 

 throughout the country. If 1 had my way 

 about it, I would everlaslingly do away 

 with self-spacing frames. That has been 

 my experience, and I think that of a good 

 many others. There may be some advan- 

 tages for the time being, but wait until 

 you waiil to take the frames out, and get 

 at ihem rapidly. Then you will find they 

 are a great disadvantage. With the other 

 frames, you will find by placing your 

 fingers right, you can lift them right out. 

 But .self-spacing frames you will have to 

 pry out the first ones, until you can lift 

 the frames up and get them out. Other- 

 wise they are very hard to gel out. 



Mr. Abbott — How about the self-spac- 

 ing hive, not a frame? 



Mr. Hambaugh — I have never had any 

 experience, if you mean hives. 



Mr. Abbott — Yes, sir, I mean the body 

 of the hives. 



Mr. Williamson — All the experience I 

 have had fails to apply when it conies to 

 a movable frame. For rapid handling, 

 you must have a loose-hanging frame. 



Mr. Hyde — I am for a hanging frame, 

 first, last and all the lime. 



Dr. Miller — There are self-spacing 

 frames and self-spacing frames, and it 

 does not necessarily follow because you 

 found a hive — and you will find them — 

 where the frames are stuck fast, that all 

 self-spacing frames act that way. The 

 only thing is to have a sufficiently small 

 point of contact. Generally you have 



that too large. I would like to ask Mr. 

 Hambaugh the smallest point of contact 

 he found between any of those frames. 



Mr. Hambaugh — After they were in 

 use a certain length of time I found all 

 of them exceedingly hard to pry apart. 



Dr. Miller — If we let any large amount 

 of space come in contact that is bad. But 

 did you find any of them touching at only 

 a single point above and below ? 



Mr. Hambaugh — No; all touched about 

 half way. 



Dr. Miller — If" there is only a single 

 point at the top you will find those will 

 be just a delight to handle. You will 

 have no trouble in getting them out. The 

 bees cannot accumulate a lot of propolis 

 there. We ought to have — I have tried 

 hard to get that — we ought to have a spac- 

 ing-nail that would automatically go in, 

 with a head % inch thick. I cannot get 

 them inside of that. I use a heavy com- 

 mon wire nail, and with a guage, drive it 

 in so that it projects % inch. A staple 

 would answer the same thing. 



Mr. Hambaugh— To one side or an- 

 other, enough so that they would go past 

 each other. 



Mr. Hershiser — Just as fast as I pull 

 these frames out of the hive I go and get 

 a claw-hammer and pull the nails or 

 staples out. 



Dr. Miller — Anybody that does not like 

 them — there is no law against pulling 

 them out. 



Mr. Abbott — I might say I have been 

 using a hive for more than ten years in 

 which the hive spaces the frames, I pro- 

 nounced the Hoffman frame a humbug 

 ten years ago, and I actually would not 

 have one if I were manipulating it; but 

 why one should suppose that a frame can 

 not be spaced anj' other way when it can 

 be accurately spaced with metal is beyond 

 me. The "St. Joe" hive has frames which 

 are spaced in that way, and you may nail 

 your frames and not touch them for ten 

 years, and you will have no trouble to lift 

 any one of them out with ease. That 

 hive has been sold for about 15 years, all 

 over our Western country, and I have 

 heard of no complaint of frames being 

 stuck fast. 



Mr. Hambaugh — I did run across a hive 

 of that kind from which it was simply 

 impossible to remove the frames. They 

 had gotten so propolized, and we had so 

 everlaslingly much trouble tr^'ing to get 

 those frames out and overhauling them, 

 that the owner declared he would do 

 away with them. If that is the "St. Joe" 

 hive, I don't want anything to do with it. 



Mr. Abbott— That is not the "St. Joe" 

 hive. 



