74 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



dream, and build air castles, and make 

 plans for the future. 



I believe in bee papers. Each of the 

 bee journals I am taking has had some 

 article which, to me, has a dollar-and- 

 cent value equal to the subscription price 

 of that journal for the rest of my probable 

 life time. It is not always the direct 

 information obtained from them that 

 counts, but the new ideas which they 

 suggest, and the experiments which they 

 induce us to make. 



We are controlled not so much by what 

 we think, as by what we have thought. 

 We are governed not so much by our 

 convictions as by the ghosts of our dead 

 convictions. It is this that causes us to 

 get into a rut. Could we shake off these 

 ghosts of dead ideas that have no vitality, 

 but which cling to us just the same, we 

 should have the enthusiasm and earnest- 

 ness of a boy who knows what he wants 

 (and gets it too ) coupled with the knowl- 

 edge and experience of years, and our 

 progress in bee keeping, as in every 

 thing else, would be very much hastened. 



We bee keepers cannot afford to get 

 into a rut. I keep more than one bee 

 paper to help me keep out of it — in order 

 to find something new, some live idea. 

 This keeps up the enthusiasm and gives 

 a pleasure that is above dollars and 

 cents; and, if I do not find it in one 

 journal I may in another; for no bee paper 

 can possibly cover the whole field of 

 endeavor in our pursuit. 



I am especially interested in those 

 articles that relate to the lessening of 

 cost and manipulation of hives. Hive 

 furniture is not simple enough; and too 

 much time, energy and money are wasted 

 in polish and smoothness, where accuracy 

 is really the only thing needed. Then 

 there are too many varieties. These are 

 puzzling to a beginner, and sometimes 

 even to a bee keeper of some experience. 



Some time ago I sent for some Langs- 

 troth brood frames. They shipped me 

 the short top-bar variety. I do not like 

 these, as I do not want spacers in the 

 frames, and without spacers they slip 



down in whenever I tip the hive. I tried 

 lengthening the top-bar, by driving a 

 staple in the end; but gradually the 

 staple will work down into the wood. 



Nor do 1 think it necessary that the 

 top-bar should be so heavy. 1 have a 

 few frames with top bar only ^ x f and 

 they seem to be every bit as good as 

 those with a heavy top-bar. Yet I do 

 think 's-inch a bit light and would pre- 

 fer to be on the safe side and have them 

 a //tt/e thicker. [7-16 suits me— Editor] 



The most of my frames are of the 

 triangular top-bar sort. But the frame 

 I like best has a top-bar i inch square, 

 and is supported by nails. I have about 

 800 or 900 of these, and am always 

 glad, upon opening a hive to manipulate 

 frames, when I find one or more of 

 these among them. Bees do not put 

 so much burr and brace romb on these, 

 hence they are easier to lift out. Besides, 

 the nail-supports give so much more 

 room for the fingers to take hold of the 

 frame to draw it out. 



There is one disadvantage in this frame. 

 The end-bar is very easily split when 

 driving in the supporting nail. Were it 

 not for this, I think it would be the best 

 and cheapest frame for me. I can pre- 

 vent this splitting by fastening in an iron 

 clamp and then driving the nail; but this 

 makes the putting together of frames 

 slow work. Possibly, if I had a better 

 arrangement for clamping, it might go 

 better. I wonder if seme good bee keep- 

 ing brother knows of a better way of 

 driving a nail through the end-bar without 

 splitting the wood. 



These frames are very movable, but I 

 want them so, and can keep them from 

 moving out of place by notches in the 

 tin at the end of the hive; and it were 

 best if there were spacers at the bottom, 

 too, but I do not want spacers on my 

 frames. However, I can attach to my 

 bottom board a wire spacer tacked to a 

 strip of wood as long as the width of the 

 hive. I use a deep, inclined, bottom 

 board two inches deep in front, below 

 the frames, and i inch at the back. I 



