106 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



this arrangement is very much superior to the 

 battery, but its cost is twenty or thirty times 

 as much. 



THE DOVETAILED OR LOCK-CORNEK JOINT IN 

 HEEI-HIVES; IS IT A FAULTY CONSTRUCTION? 



In the American Bee Journal, an interest- 

 ing series of articles is being written by Mr. 

 Emerson T. Abbott, under the caption, " Pro- 

 duction of Comb Honey." In the second arti- 

 cle, in the Jonrndl for Jan. 24, in referring to 

 the right number of frames for a hive, he shows 

 a decided preference for the eight - frame. 

 Among other things, he says that such a size of 

 hive does away with the necessity of contract- 

 ing the brood-chamber at any time, and this, 

 he adds, saves the expense of division-boards 

 and contracting. So far we agree. In discuss- 

 ing " the methods of putting hives together," 

 there are some of his points with which I do 

 not agree. "I have been led," he writes, "to 

 wonder a great many times why the so-called 

 dovetailed method has had such a run, as there 

 seems to be some serious objections to it." As 

 one of these objections, he thinks it has been 

 wrongly named, and then proceeds to define the 

 true dovetail. Surely a wrong name is not an 

 objection to the thing itself. Regarding the 

 name, I would say this was originally adopted 

 because it is a term better understood by bee- 

 keepers who have long been used to the same 

 adjective when applied to four-piece sections. 

 Of course, the same objection would apply to 

 the sections. We have, in fact, all along, in 

 referring to the hive in question, called it both 

 dovetailed and lock corner; and our 189.5 cata- 

 log, now ready to be mailed, distinctly refers to 

 it as the dovetailed, or, " more properly speak- 

 ing, the lock corner." 



Mr. Abbott further gives it as his opinion 

 that this joint has nothing about it which ren- 

 ders it superior to the ordinary halved plan, be- 

 cause, he says, "it adds neither strength nor 

 lightness;" and, further, that "it is much 

 harder to set the hives up square, as one has to 

 be very careful in nailing them." 



These objections hardly apply to hives of our 

 manufacture — at least, those from our present 

 automatic machinery. And on looking up our 

 records I find that Mr. Abbott has never had 

 any hives of us, of the dovetailed pattern, and 

 I therefore wonder what sort of dovetailed 

 hives he must have had experience with. If he 

 could spend half an hour in our establishment, 

 I'll bet a cooky we could convince him, without 

 a question, that oi//- dovetailed or lock-corner 

 joint is far stronger than any halved hive-joint, 

 because (fctual tests, over and over again, have 

 proved it in our shop. By the halving plan the 

 boards bite on each other only half way; by 

 the lock-corner plan the boards bite on to each 

 other the whole way; and added to this is the 

 friction of the lingers, as it were, hugging 

 against each other. By the halved plan, the 



strength of the corner depends entirely on the 

 nails: but not so in the lock corner. 



I have yet to see a dovetailed hive, wheu 

 properly nailed, gap at the corners through the 

 influence of the weather, for it is next to im- 

 possible; but when the boards are put together 

 by any other plan, a very large percentage (I 

 think I should be safe in saying 50 per cent), 

 after three or four years' time, will show a. 

 slight gap, owing to the effects of the weather. 

 In my travels among bee-keepers I have made 

 this a particular point of observation. More- 

 over, with the bee-keepers in Colorado, Califor- 

 nia, and in other places where they have those 

 hot winds and a glaring sun, nothing seems t& 

 stand so well as the lock corner. These are 

 facts, as I happen to know. Again, we have an 

 unpainted hive of the dovetailed pattern in our 

 yard, that has been exposed to the weather for 

 six years. It is as good as new, so far as the 

 corners are concerned. It shows not the slight- 

 est trace of rotting along the notches. There 

 is still another consideration: Dovetailed or 

 lock-corner hives save freight, because four 

 cleats of wood, an inch square, will hold se- 

 curely 20 sides or ends of the hive, without any 

 additional crating. By the use of our automat- 

 ic machinery, the expense is very trifling; and 

 this is more than made up by the great saving 

 in crating, in lumber, and time of putting up- 

 the hives. It follows, therefore, that, by dove- 

 tailing, we save expense to the purchaser. 



Mr. Abbott does not like the Hoffman frames. 

 I do not know how much he has tried them; 

 but on this point I recognize that there may be 

 an honest difference of opinion, and in view of 

 this we have for several years back (as we do- 

 this year) given our customers the option of a 

 loose unspaced hanging frame. 



THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FAULT - FINDING 

 AND KINDLY CRITICISM. 



I admire the courage of Mr. Abbott's convic- 

 tions, for I believe that he is honest in them; 

 and I admire, too, that quality in his writings 

 that speaks out plainly, even when they run 

 counter to the views of some of his friends. 

 Indeed, I know he has a very high and warm 

 regard for all the folks here at the Home of the 

 Honey-bees, although he does not see some 

 things as we do. We can always accept the crit- 

 icisms of friends, and take them in the spirit in 

 which they are written. We all prefer out- 

 spokenness far more than outward palaver to- 

 the face, and behind the back a dagger-thrust. 

 We here at Medina welcome criticisms that are 

 given in the spirit of kindness, and for the pur- 

 pose of getting at the truth, and for correcting 

 error; but we ignore those that are manifestly 

 given for the purpose of unloading some pent- 

 up feelings of animosity on the part of those 

 who are constantly seeking something with 

 which to find fault. There is a difference— yes, 

 a wide one— between fan\t-fiyicliny and kindly 

 criticism. 



