3.S6 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



EvXTRACTED. 



LARGE VERSUS SMALL HIVES. 



A Small Hive may be Best Even with a Pro- 

 longed Flow. 



Upon another page in this issue, that 

 most excellent bee-keeper, C. A. Hatch, 

 of Wisconsin, gives his testimony in favor 

 of a ten-frame L,angstrotli hive; and, very 

 wisely, gives his reasons for this prefer- 

 ence. I have no doiiot that the plan of 

 moving to the outside the central combs 

 containing the young larvae, would result 

 exactly as he says it does. If the flow is 

 short, those outside combs of sealed 

 brood are practically dummies. Rather 

 expensive dummies, to be sure, but not 

 so expensive as it would be to leave the 

 brood combs in the central part of the hive 

 where brood would be replaced with 

 brood right in the height of the harvest. 

 This plan is the one followed by Chas. 

 Koeppen of this place, and, by repeating 

 the operation again in ten days, and cut- 

 ting out queen cells, he practically over- 

 comes swarming. Of course, all ot this 

 work takes some time, and it comes at a 

 busy season, and, if it could be avoided, 

 it would be better. My own belief is 

 that, for localities like Michigan, a small- 

 er hive, one in which these manipulations 

 are not needed, is better. I have admit- 

 ted that my friends who contend for a 

 large hive where the flow is prolonged may 

 be coreect, but here is a man, Mr. M. A. 

 Gill, who, I believe, once lived in Wiscon- 

 sin, but now has his home in Colo- 

 rado, that favors S-frame hives even 

 where the flow is as long as 91 daN-s. 

 Here is what he says in Gleanings: — 



A person can manage and care for more 

 bees here run entirely for comb honey, 

 during our long season, than in the Kast, 

 where the honey season is so short and 

 sweet. I have been trying liard for years 

 to like a large hive; but this year has con- 

 vinced me more than ever that I, at least, 

 "can secure more surplus honey with an 

 eight-frame hive than with any thing 



larger, especially where the season is as 

 long as it is here. The honey-flow with 

 me lasted 91 days, and 1 find it takes a 

 good queen, even to her utmost, to keep 

 an eight-frame hive well supplied with 

 brood [as she innst) for that length of 

 time. ]\Iy best colony for honey filled 12 

 24-lb. supers; 11 picked colonies in eight- 

 frame hives made 100 24-lb. cases of hon- 

 ey, while all my eight-frame hives aver- 

 aged 173 lbs. of comb honey. 



I do not wish to open the controversy 

 about large vs. small hives, but I candid- 

 ly believe that, where a person intends to 

 keep a large number of colonies, and 

 where the season is as long as it is here, 

 and where the owner intends to (and 

 does) meet all the demands of the bees 

 both fall and spring, and where there is 

 female help, that, taking into considera- 

 tion the cost of supplies, and the differ- 

 ence in honey delivered, there is more 

 real profit with eight-frame hives than 

 any thing lander. 



The editor replies as follows: — 

 With regard to the eighl-franie hive, I 

 noticed that it is used very largely in Col- 

 orado, although there was a tendency to 

 use the ten-frame width; but the use of 

 that size was confined almost exclusively 

 to those who made the production of ex- 

 tracted honey a specialty. 



There can be no doubt that the eight- 

 frame Langstroth hive is well adapted to 

 most localities in the United States. 

 While some other size or style may excel 

 it, yet on an average it meets fairly well 

 the needs of most localities and most bee- 

 keepers. And speaking about the size 

 of hives, I am a little inclined to believe, 

 from testimony that has been offered, 

 that a seven-inch brood-chamber, ten- 

 frame J^angstroth width, for the produc- 

 tion of comb honey, is a little better, es- 

 pecially if the honey-flows are very short, 

 as they are in many places in the north- 

 ern part of the United States. It is cer- 

 tainly true that a small hive in any case 

 is better for such localities than a large 

 one, except, perhaps, in some instances 

 where an out^-ard or two are used, and 

 the bee-keeper can not keep some one 

 to look after swarms. In such cases a 

 large hive often finds favor. — P^D.J 



I too, have noticed the tendency to 

 shallower hives and to more frames. I 

 have also noticed the tendency to fixed 

 frames. Takfen all in all, the tendency is 

 drifting towards the Heddon hive. The 

 Ileddon hive may not be adopted. A 

 substitute may be accepted. But, in my 



