1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



585 



do not claim this way to be infallible. Bees 

 delight in breaking rules; but I have had 

 no failures yet. 

 Cannington Manor, Sask., Can. 



TEN-FRAME HIVE NOT WIDE ENOUGH FOR 

 TEN FRAMES. 



Sectional Hives not a Success. 



BY S. KING CLOVER. 



I notice that the ten-frame hive is being 

 discussed. I like the ten-frame Langstroth 

 hive of the regular depth, or even deeper. 

 This hive as now constructed is somewhat 

 faulty, not having been brought up to the 

 high state of perfection that the eight-frame 

 L. is. The fault is that it is not wide enough 

 to permit the proper handling of the frames 

 after being coated with propolis at contact 

 points, although I persistently scrape this 

 off. The ten-frame L. has no provision for 

 a follower, and the space is too great for nine 

 frames and a follower. The extra room in 

 the eight-frame L. hive for followers, etc., 

 is about right. Too often have I tried to 

 remove the outside frames, only to find that 

 they were too close to the hive walls, and 

 that the bees had built them fast with brace- 

 combs or propolis. Another defect, on ac- 

 count of room, is that the bees neglect these 

 outside combs and rear little or no brood in 

 them. I am compelled, in removing frames 

 from the brood-nest, to dive in wherever it 

 looks as though I can get a comb out easily, 

 and I do it in fear and trembling lest I roll 

 a valuable queen between the frames. The 

 ten-frame T^., if perfected, will be about as 

 near perfection in hive construction as it is 

 possible to obtain. In calculating inner 

 width I would first tack a piece of thick sec- 

 tion stuff, >s or 1% thick, by Yz X o or 4 in. 

 long to the side of the hive for the V and 

 square edges to strike against, insuring a 

 sufficient bee-space at all times on that side 

 of the hive. Then I would fill the hives 

 with frames and add a trifle {yi inch) for 

 proiwlis that seems always to be with us, 

 and sufficient room for a follower. I have 

 tried the shallow or sectional-brood-cham- 

 ber hives for two seasons, both as hive- 

 bodies and extracting-sujiers, but I can not 

 get the good big colonies in them that I can 

 in either the eight-frame I^angstroth-Dan- 

 zenbaker or ten-frame L. hives, nor results. 



I can not sit still when I read these arti- 

 cles advocating the sectional-brood-chamber 

 hive. I have little fear for the experienced 

 bee-keeper; but I do feel for the beginner 

 and those not so far up the ladder of experi- 

 ence as they may be. I always thought 

 that the old Gallup frame, 11>(X11X. turn- 

 ed out more bees, bigger swarms, stronger 

 colonies, in less time than any other frame 

 it has been my lot to handle, and it is 

 square. Then when it comes to extracting 

 shallow frames a four or five ton flow will 

 keep one busy about three weeks. Howev- 

 er, I have naught but kindness for the ad- 



vocates of the shallow frame and divisible- 

 brood-chamber hive. 



By the way, can we not have something 

 on the line of a large upholstering tack, 

 or something of that nature, that can be 

 driven through the bottom of the end-bar 

 to help keep the frame square, and prevent 

 killing bees when we stand a hive on end ? 

 An ordinary staple will not do, as it will 

 split the wood or be forced clear though it. 

 Something with a round head ^^ or X inch 

 thick, with a central nail or brad, which 

 can be clinched inside is what is needed. 



Mabton, Wash., May 5. 



[One of our readers has sent us a stamped 

 "button " that looks as though it might be 

 a good thing to use in this way. We will 

 have an illustration of it in an early issue. 

 —Ed.] 



♦ ■ ^ ' » 



ARE BEES SEMI-HIBERNATORS? 



Some Evidence to Prove that they are Not in the 

 * Real Sense of the Word. 



BY J. E. HAND. 



^ir. Editor: — Your theory, page 35, ,Ian. 

 15, that bees are semi-hibernators, seems at 

 first sight quite reasonable; however, when 

 we consider the full meaning of the word 

 " hibernate, " evidence is lacking to prove 

 that bees are in any sense true hibernal ors 

 or even semi-hibernators. The fact that 

 bees contract down to a small bunch for 

 mutual warmth is a direct contradiction of 

 the hibernation theory, for hibernation and 

 heat are not analogous terms. 



Your statement that bees take no food 

 while in this condition is only guessing, and 

 would seem to be contradicted by the fact 

 that bees wintered out of doors in unprotect- 

 ed hives consume twice as much stores as 

 when wintered in a warm cellar. Did you 

 ever see an animal or insect in a state of 

 true hibernation? If you have you will 

 know that they are dead so far as power of 

 motion is concerned; and that while in this 

 catalyptic condition frost and cold seem to 

 have no bad effect upon them. In this con- 

 dition they pass the entire winter without 

 taking food and awaken at the approach of 

 a certain temperature of heat and by no oth- 

 er means. 



It is true that an isolated bee will become 

 stiffened with cold at a temperature of 40° 

 on a cloudy day; however, while in this con- 

 dition I have not found that they are able 

 to abstain from taking food any longer than 

 when in a normal condition, nor are they 

 able to survive a temperature below the 

 freezing-point for even a few hours. If the 

 entire cluster falls into this helpless condi- 

 tion their doom is sealed unless they are 

 subjected to a higher temperature before 

 they starve or freeze to death. If further 

 proof is wanted, just poke into the winter 

 cluster of a colony of cross hybrids on a cold 

 day and you will be in position to receive 

 evidence of a convincing nature that hy- 



