1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



mn 



to a great extent in the North, with the fur- 

 ther advantage of being able to work con- 

 tinuously on chilly days, without endanger- 

 ing the brood, and the entire elimination of 

 winter losses. 



This summer 1 have been working out 

 some advanced problems in bee-keeping, 

 and all my work has been done indoors. I am 

 planning to continue my work next season, 

 and then I hope to have a sufficient number 

 of colonies for more exhaustive experiment. 

 I have just put away twelve nuclei for the 

 winter. 



I can not concur with your Mr. Pritchard's 

 conclusions concerning queen-cells. Virgins 

 are the only rapid (and consequently eco- 

 nomic) method. But I have no time for 

 discussing this at present, only to say that 

 my season's work along this line has been 

 fruitful, and I may find time for some other 

 article in the future. At present I want to 

 tell of what I call the community (or tene- 

 ment) hive — a device peMnps more partic- 

 ularly adapted for use indoors. 



This hive I keep on the porch adjoining 

 my study upstairs. The length is normally 

 Langstroth — 20 inches; and its width, that 

 of ten ten-frame hives placed side by side. In 

 other words, it permits of ten ten-frame hon- 

 ey-boards and supers being placed on top. 

 This makes a Langstroth hive-body with the 

 capacity of somewhat over 100 frames. 



But, to describe more minutely, I may 

 say that the tenement hive is divided trans- 

 versely into compartments of 16 inches. A 

 clean vertical saw-cut H in. deep, and run- 

 ning at right angles to the rabbet on each 

 of the parallel sides, effectively holds a met- 

 al division-board, which also, upon occasion, 

 may be easily removed. You have then, 

 side by side, ten ten-frame hives all in 

 one. The division-board I use is made of 

 perforated tin. Next year I shall probably 

 use wire cloth, as this is quite adequate, less 

 expensive, and permits of greater circula- 

 tion of the community heat and odor. The 

 division-board fits squarely on the bottom 

 of the hive, and reaches to the top so as to 

 prevent the passing of bees from one divi- 

 sion to the other. 



I am sorry I can not describe in detail the 

 bottom-board of such a hive, for I use no 

 bottom-board. I make the hive-body deep 

 enough, and clamp the structure right down 

 to the floor of my porch. This makes it 

 rigid, and prevents the sides, otherwise un- 

 stable, from coming together or wabbling 

 apart. Of course, the same purpose would 

 be attained if a bottom-board were screwed 

 on. Next year I shall make one so. The 

 entrances must be arranged alternately. I 

 use simply a cluster of three auger-holes ar- 

 ranged triangularly in the center of each al- 

 ternate compartment on each side. Thus, 

 externally, each colony appears back to 

 front with its nearest neighbor. To be plain- 

 er, suppose we call our ten hives in order, 

 A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, and say the 

 entrances face east and west. Then A, C, 



E, G, I, would open to the east, and B, D, 



F, H, J, to the west. The danger of mixing 



is thus reduced to a minimum. I have ab- 

 solutely no trouble — not even with virgins 

 in their nuptial flights. 



As to covers, when I worked with you in 

 Medina you used to turn out a perfectly flat 

 cover with metal ends. This would be very 

 good, and abundantly sufficient. Not hav- 

 ing such a cover, I use ten ten-frame-super 

 covers, or bee-escape boards. Being indoors, 

 nothing else is required for summer. And, 

 in fact, any ordinary flat cover will supply 

 additional protection when it is necessary. 

 You can then open any compartment and 

 look it through without inconvenience to 

 its neighbors on either side. 



The advantages of such a hive are so ob- 

 vious as hardly to need comment. First, as 

 to cost. There is a great saving in material 

 and labor. I can not tell what the factory 

 price would be; but I made my own hive — 

 did it in a few hours — and I know the rela- 

 tive cost of ten ten-frame hive-bodies. 



Secondly, as to the utilization of space. 

 Here is the hive of all hives for the man in 

 the city — the great ideal for the porch, the 

 flat roof, or the cramped back yard. 



Thirdly, for uniting, equalizing, etc. No 

 fighting — not a dream of such a thing. The 

 community heat and colony odor penetrate 

 and permeate all. The frames are inter- 

 changeable, of course. One may ask about 

 robbing. There is not the slightest trouble, 

 and my neighbor's apiary is next door. In* 

 fact, so perfect is the socialism of the sys- 

 tem that the economy of the single hive 

 seems to prevail. Destitute colonies seem 

 never to starve so long as their neighbors 

 have a drop. From many experiments, I 

 am practically certain of this. 



Fourthly, and following closely on the 

 above, is the subject of queen introduction. 

 This, to say the least, is much simplified. 

 Any ordinary queen-breeder knows how 

 much easier it is to introduce a queen from 

 one compartment of a double nucleus to the 

 other compartment, than to introduce such 

 a queen to a foreign colony. In fact, the 

 principle is the same as caging a queen in a 

 hive prior to releasing her. In each case, 

 the common community odor is transmit- 

 ted through the wire cloth. 



Finally, wintering. Need I say any thing 

 here? Is it not sufficiently obvious that 

 each colony is protected by the warmth of 

 its fellows? Why do arctic explorers with 

 Eskimos, dogs, and all, herd together? Read 

 Peary in Hampton's. The inter-communi- 

 cation of heat — that's the idea. My stock 

 of bees is slim this year; but I am purposely 

 wintering on an open porch, and without 

 any protective padding to test the winter 

 value of the community method. 



I noticed the other day in an old maga- 

 zine where Mr. Edison, or some such think- 

 er, advocated, instead of the congested city, 

 the community house, winding like a rural 

 road through the long vistas of the country. 

 The mechanical features and advantages of 

 this inventor's architecture find some par- 

 allelism here. One can almost see arising a 

 new style of apicultural architecture in 



