24-2 



(iLEANINUS IN BEK cri/riHK 



Apr. le 



The time was when the eight-frame Lang- 

 stroth hives took the lead. While they still 

 occupy a very i)roininent place in the sup- 

 ply houses, the ten-frame hives are gaining 

 ground every day. From some experiments 

 tliat we have been conducting at one of our 

 outyards. the ten-frame outfits seem to be 

 in the lead, not only in wintering, but for 

 honey. Fatlier Langstroth figured out very 

 carefully this brood-nest; and while a cubi- 

 cal brood-nest is theoretically correct, per- 

 haps the dimensions that he gave us are 

 more nearly right from a ])raetical stand- 

 point. 



The eight-frame Langstroth hive came 

 into existence because it was su])posed that 

 the ten-frame was too large for the produc- 

 tion of comb honey. Later experience shows 

 that, if there is to" be any reduction in the 

 size of hive-bodies or brood-chambers it 

 should be along vertical rather than lateral 

 lines; hence we see a strong tendency grow- 

 ing more and more toward the ten-frame 

 hives, shallower than Langstroth, otherwise 

 the same dimensions, especially shallow ex- 

 tracting-supers. 



As we have said before in these columns, 

 where one runs for extracted, the ten-frame 

 is much to be i)ref erred; and even if he wish- 

 es to confine himself to the production of 

 comb honey, it is doubtful if he would gain 

 any thing" by adopting the eight-frame 

 width. 



The tendency all along seems toward a 

 standardization of sui)ers, covers, and bot- 

 toms as w^ell as hive-stands, for there is 

 nothing more annoying than to have two 

 widths of hives in a yard, or different yards, 

 one with eight-frame and the other with 

 ten-frame size. As the latter seems to show 

 a little the advantage in the production of 

 extracted honey, and is probably nowise 

 inferior for the i)ro(luction of comb, it is not 

 at all surprising that the whole bee-keeping 

 public seems to be turning more and more 

 toward the ten-frame width of hive. 



THE KEMAKKABLY EARLY SPRING IN THE 

 EASTERN states; EXCELLENT WINTER- 

 ING AND SPRINGING OF THE BEES. 



Fortunate indeed it was that bee-keep- 

 ers inmost of out Northern States have had 

 and are having a very early spring. Settled 

 warm weather came on in many localities 

 along about the first of March— something 

 that was very unusual. A year ago at Me- 

 dina we did not have really good bee weath- 

 er until along toward the first of May, and 

 even after that the weather was cool and un- 

 favorable. 



After our very severe winter there proba- 

 l)ly would have been a good many losses 

 throughout the country had there not been 

 an early spring. As it was, the weather 

 moderated in the nick of time, brood-rear- 

 ing started, young bees hatched out to take 

 the place of survivors dying off. It follows, 

 therefore, that, even if unfavorable weather 

 should come on, there would be a large force 

 of young bees in most colonies of practical- 

 ly all the northern and eastern States, and 



to a great extent in the western States. 

 When we say "eastern" States we have in 

 mind territory east of the Mississii)pi. 



Speaking of the si)ring in general, we have 

 been having an old-fashioned sjiring, and, 

 we may say, an old-fashioned winter. It is 

 the kind that we rememV)er in our early 

 childhood days, when it was cold all winter 

 and then it merged suddenly into V)almy 

 sjiring. For the last twenty-five years we 

 have been having what are called o])en win- 

 ters, many days of which the bees could 

 actually li> when wintered outdoors. This 

 class of winter in our locality would contin- 

 ue on clear u]) into the first of May, it being 

 neither winter nor si)ring. Brood-rearing 

 would get started, then get a bad setback by 

 sudden cold that would last a week or ten 

 days. The i)ast winter and si)ring has been 

 a delightful contrast. We had oin- winter, 

 with good stiff steady cold, and now we have 

 been having our spring — lieautiful balmy 

 days when all nature seems to be giving up 

 praises to (lod for his goodness. 



While it was getting a little dry in some 

 sections, heavy rains came on in the nick 

 of time; the ground is soaked, and the clo- 

 vers and all plant life seem to be showing 

 up with unusual luxuriance. We never saw 

 a spring when the jirosjiects for fruit-bloom 

 and clo\er were more favorable, and, accord- 

 ing to our i>rophet, \'irgil Weaver (see i)age 

 197, ^hirch 15) , whose i)rophecy is based on 

 a series of observations made for years back, 

 this should be a dorer year. He jiredicted 

 over a year ago that last season would be a 

 failure, and his prediction was almost liter- 

 ally fulfilled for the section of country he 

 outlined. 



THE statement OF A HIGH AI'THORITY IN 

 FRUIT CULTURE ON SPRAYING. 



"The American Apple-orchard" is the 

 title of a book by F. A. AVaugh, recently pub- 

 lished by the Orange Jiuld Co., of New York. 

 It contains over 200 })ages of interesting and 

 valuable matter. Whether one is interested 

 in growing fruit or not, he will find this book 

 very readable. If he is an apple-grower he 

 can not afford not to have it. It reminds us 

 of the time we used to read the Tim Bunker 

 papers, years and years ago. AVhile we 

 were not at all interested in agriculture, yet 

 Tim Bunker's writings were so entrancing 

 that we followed his series of articles as we 

 would follow a serial story. 



Well, this F. A. AVaugh is a writer a good 

 deal after the same style. AA'e mention his 

 work here because of the author's high 

 standing in fruit culture, and because he ad- 

 vises against si)raying trees while in bloom. 

 Those fruit-growers in the vicinity of our 

 bee-keei)ing friends, who insist on spraying 

 at the wrong time in spite of the advice of 

 experiment stations, all over the United 

 States, and up-to-date fruit-growers, should 

 be shown a copy of this work. If they are 

 so behind the times as to spray while the 

 trees are in bloom they have a lot to learn, 

 and it would be dollars and dollars in their 

 pocket to purchase a copy of this work and 



