226 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



to Cuba, or to Texas, and attempting to 

 carry on bee-keeping as he has done at 

 ^is old home, would be sadly left. 



In reading our bee journals, and at- 

 tempting to profit by the advice they con- 

 tain, we should ever have in mind this 

 matter of locality. The experience, and 

 views and advice of M"-. Doolittle may be 

 all right for New York, and Ontario and 

 Michigan, and some of it may be all right 

 for Florida or California, but not all of it. 



Then there is another point: the more 

 thoroughly a m.an understands his own 

 locality, the greater his chances for suc- 

 cess. He must know at exactly what 

 time in the season to look for the differ- 

 ent honey-flows. It may seem incredi- 

 ble, but I have had bee-keepers come to 

 me to buy sections, come in great haste 

 and a heart filled with enthusiasm, the 

 bees were "just piling in the honey," 

 and the owners had only discovered it, 

 and the basswood honey harvest was com- 

 ing to a close. These men did not even 

 know ivhere the honey was coming from. 

 Of course, this is an extreme case, but 

 not so very exti eine as some of you may 

 think. A man ought to know what strain 

 of bees to keep, what size and kind hive 

 and fixtures to use, when to take his bees 

 from the cellar, if he winters them in the 

 cellar, whether to protect them on the 

 summer stands when he takes them out, 

 and, if so, in what manner, whether to 

 feed in the spring, whether to unite be- 

 fore the harvest, whether to shade his 

 hives and how, when to put on the sec- 

 tions, and so on through the whole 

 season, he should know, as nearly as it is 

 possible for him to learn, exactly what is 

 best adapted to his particular locality. In 

 reading articles in the bee journals he 

 should always ask himself: "Does this 

 apply to my locality?" 



To the one who will send me the best 

 article on this subject, between now and 

 September ist, I will send I5.00 in cash. 

 To the writer of any article, not the prize 

 article, that I think well enough of to 

 publish, I will send a queen of the Su- 

 perior Stock and the Review for one year. 



SIZE OF FRAMES AND HIVES FOR 

 EXTRACTING HONEY. 



There is no subject concerning bees 

 upon which so much has been written as 

 about hives. The great diversity of 

 opinions makes it a dangerous topic; 

 nevertheless, I am going to lay before 

 my readers some brief opinions of a few 

 experienced bee - keepers. How they 

 came to express these opinions came 

 about in this way: Mr. Aaron Snyder, of 

 Kingston, N. Y., wrote last spring to 

 several bee-keepers, asking if they were 

 starting entirely new in the business, and 

 going to run the bees entirely for ex- 

 tracted honey, what size frame and size 

 hive they would choose. He asked for 

 views concerning the Draper "barns." 

 He has sent some of the replies to me and 

 I make the following extracts: — 



Would use the Draper barns. 



F. A. Salisbury. 



Ten-fraine Langstroth, and then tier-up. 

 G. M. Doolittle. 



I would use the Heddon hive. I don't 

 take any stock in the Draper barns. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Farwell. Mich., April 17, 1900. 

 Aaron Snyder, Kingston, X. ¥.: 



Dear Sir — In order not to lose money, 

 one must not exchange fixtures mucli. 

 One hive is as good as another for ex- 

 tracting. All that is necessary is to pile 

 them up as fast as they need more room. 

 Respectfully, 



T. F. Bingham, 



Hamilton, 111., April 6, 1900. 

 Aaron Snyder, KingsWu, N. Y.: 



Dear Sir — Replying to your inquiry, 

 if I were to begin over again, I would 

 use a hive with a frame exactly the size 

 of that in the Draper barn. This hive is 

 originally known as the Dadant-Blatt 

 hive and is much in vogue in Switzerland. 



We don't like the Draper barn itself 

 because the cap and cover are fitted on in 

 the same way as the dovetailed lii\e. We 

 prefer a telescoping cap, which makes a 

 more expensive hive, but a very much 

 better hive, for all pui poses, as- usage 

 does not give it a chance to gap open and 

 give passage to robbers. 



Yours respectfully, 



Chas. Dadant. 



