18'.t5 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



47 



above parties says tlie eiglit-frame liives jruve the 

 best result?, while t lie otlier mnii says his colonies 

 in the ten-frame hives did the best. 



This is exactly as it always will be. In some cases 

 ton frames will be found best, while in other cases 

 the eiirht-frame hive will do equilly well, if not bet- 

 lei'. Tlie question of the tight number of frames to 

 use must be decided by each bee-keeper for himself. 



SHORT VS. LONG LANGSTROTH FRAMES. 



WHY THE FOKMEK ARE PKEFERKED: THE DIS- 



CrSSION OF LONG AND SHORT FRAMES. 



AND OF THE LANGSTROTH IN 



PARTICULAR. 



By Jiihn Cra\icrnfi. 



The discussion for and against the eight- 

 frame hive has been read carefully, and I 

 should be pleased to give my experience. 



About li"! years ago I used the ten-frame 

 Langstroth hive in Indiana. I then became 

 convinced that it was not the best for economy. 

 I changed part of my frames so as to hang 

 crosswise in the ten-frame hive — that is, I 

 made the frame !iJ^xl3-V inches — what is com- 

 monly called now the short Langstroth frame. 

 I then found I could winter bees better on the 

 short frame, for the simple reason that the bees 

 could form themselves into a more compact 

 body than they possibly could on the long 

 frames during the long cold winter. Then, 

 again, in the spring, when breeding commenc- 

 ed, they could and did breed up with more 

 rapidity than I could possibly get hives with 

 the long frames which were sitting beside the 

 ones with the short frames. This all came 

 from the more square and compact form the 

 bees could form themselves into, which was not 

 possible for them to do on the long frames early 

 in the season, when ordinarily there are not 

 more than enough bees to cover five Langstroth 

 frames. 



This is where I found that there was econo- 

 my in the short frame and a smaller hive, and 

 for spring increase. It is a self-evident fact, 

 that a more uniform temperature can be main- 

 tained by the same quantity of bees on ten 

 short frames in a square hive than the same 

 bees can on eight long frames whose space is 

 about the same in comb and cubic contents. I 

 kept this test there for three years, and then 

 I sold out and came to Florida in the fail of 

 1883. I then started with a few colonies all on 

 the short frames, with squai-e hives, 14;i4fxl4V 

 in., same depth as the regular Langstroth hive 

 and frame, keeping about 20 colonies until this 

 season, when I increased my stock up to 110 

 colonies, all on short frames, 10 of them in the 

 brood-chamber, which is made with a tight 

 bottom. All have tin roofs raised two inches 

 above the frames. In the spring I start them 

 up seven weeks before the usual time of 

 orange- bloom, so that, by that time, I have the 

 brood-chamber full, and usually one story 

 above full of brood in various stages. I give 

 queens full play to the top as long as I want 



honey-gatherers reared: then I shut the queen 

 below to the brood-chamber with zinc exclud- 

 ers, and add more stories, if needed, by raising 

 the ones up and placing an empty story next to 

 the brood-chamber, filled with comb founda- 

 tion usually, but I have found that starters are 

 about as good, except there is some more dan- 

 ger of drone comb being built. By thus tiering 

 up, and letting all honey be sealed up, I can 

 get good honey, well ripened in the hive, and 

 keep my bees busy all the time, by thus keep- 

 ing space vacant near the brood and queen. 



I see there are some doubts and failures 

 about getting queens to go up into the story 

 above. I have very little trouble; for when a 

 brood-chamber is becoming crowded I remove 

 two frames of sealed hatching brood from below, 

 placing combs in their place below, putting 

 these two frames of brood in the center, and 

 filling in combs on each side. I then scarcely 

 ever fail to get the queen up there, and I have 

 had them up in the fourth story the past sea- 

 son. 



Thus by proper management with the small 

 square hive with the short frame, I have a 

 small compact hive when most needed, and a 

 large one when most needed also, besides using 

 the surplus heat to ripen and cure my honey on 

 the hive, with no loss of bee labor. 



With this square hive and short frame I have 

 all the advantages for comb honey that can be 

 obtained in any long-frame hive: with half- 

 stories I can work them with and on the same 

 hive for both comb and extracted. If I wish to 

 work a hive for comb I raise up the story above 

 the brood and place a half-story next to brood, 

 placing the full-story on it. I let the half- 

 story of sections remain below until nearly 

 ready to commence sealing them. I remove to 

 the top or remove the story above, and place 

 another half-story under the one being sealed. 

 I can get comb honey in this way, and also ex- 

 tracted; but there must be no extracting done 

 at this time, or no comb honey will be obtained 

 This is plain to all comb-honey producers. 



I have another claim of economy in the small 

 square short-frame hive: and that is in materi- 

 al. It takes less lumber to form a square of the 

 same cubic contents than the long hive; less 

 roof for same volume covered, and less bot- 

 tom. All this yon can figure for yourself. It 

 is plain to be seen that you have less ground 

 floor in a four-story house of four rooms, and 

 less roof, than if the four rooms were in only 

 two stories. 



I should be pleased to call your attention to 

 the following, and then I am done: 



In the American Bee Journal of Nov. 1.5. 

 page 62.5, E. L. Holden says, *' I, in 18.58, bought 

 of Rev. L. L. Langstroth the right to use his 

 hive, for which I paid him I^S.OO. At the same 

 time I bought two hives, both of which I still 

 have, and have just taken the trouble to meas- 

 ure them. The Inside measurement of the hive 



