1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



351 



shape to fit and protect a swarm of any size, 

 large or small, and that, too, without the use 

 of division-boards. 



There are two important features to be se- 

 cured in the construction of a bee-hive — the re- 

 quirements of the bees and the convenience of 

 the bee-keeper. It becomes important to decide 

 how far we can afford to sacrifice the one to 

 secure the other. A plain box or chamber, 

 affording a cavity of sufficient size, is all that is 

 required by the bees for a domicile. They will 

 store as much honey in a log gum or a straw 

 skep as in a hive of modern pattern. Even 

 movable frames, that have become an indis- 

 pensable feature of modern bee-keeping, are 

 not appreciated by the bees. I have more than 

 suspected that a plain box hive, of the old 

 type, with the combs built securely to the sides 

 and top all around, furnishes better conditions 

 for wintering than the modern movable-frame 

 hive. 



In buying bees to transfer, I sometimes used 

 to get an old neglected movable-frame hive. 

 The frames would be irregularly spaced, and 

 the combs built crosswise in every conceivable 

 shape. I soon learned that they were not as 

 valuable for my use as the plain box hives. I 

 have never been able to see how these improv- 

 ments furnished any of the requirements of the 

 bees, or conveniences to the bee-keeper. There 

 are a great many of these primitive bee-keep- 

 ers all over the country, who will have from 

 one to half a dozen colonies of bees, kept in 

 this way. They buy improved hives and fix- 

 tures, but never expect to look into a hive after 

 the bees are put in. It pains me to see my poor 

 neighbors pay their money out for something 

 that will do them no good, and I am inclined to 

 recommend only box hives for box-hive bee- 

 keepers. 



THE BEST FORM FOR A HIVE. 



I am aware that bees adjust themselves to a 

 very wide range of circumstances, and even to 

 serious inconvenience in the hives they some- 

 times occupy, without seeming to materially 

 affect the results. 1 am sure that this furnish- 

 es no proof that there is not an economical 

 form for a hive, that will give better results than 

 any other form. I am aware that there is no 

 such fixed form generally recognized among 

 bee-keepers; but the size and shape of hives, in 

 use varies through a very wide range, and are, 

 I am well satisfied, many of them at least, the 

 result of accident rather than the careful con- 

 sideration of the requirements of the bees or 

 the convenience of the bee-keeper. I have 

 never been able to find any sensible reason why 

 a hive in cubical form, with a square frame, 

 was not the most perfect form. It furnishes, 

 more nearly than any other, the natural re- 

 quirements for a brood-chamber in permitting 

 a round, compact brood-nest, and at the same 

 time it furnishes the most economical form for 

 the convenience of the bee-keeper. 



Such a hive I have used for many years. Be- 

 fore the advent of the one-pound section I used 

 a deep frame, but it was not just square, but 

 deeper than wide. This gave good results; but 

 I wished to use wide frames in the regular 

 hive-body, for holding sections. Accordingly I 

 made a slight change in the dimensions of the 

 hive, which enable me to use my present square 

 frame. The hive in most general use, and the 

 most popular, perhaps, of all, is the long shal- 

 low hive of the old Langsiroth pattern, with its 

 improvements and modifications. I wish to 

 compare these two forms of hives in some of 

 their important features, and for convenience 

 will call them the square hive and long hive. 



SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES OF A SQUARE 

 HIVE. 



First, in the construction it is the most eco- 

 nomical form, giving greater holding capacity 

 than any other. Any one who can make figures 

 can convince himself of this if he is interested 

 enough to make a careful comparison of the 

 square and long hive. It affords the same 

 economy in construction, and it also gives less 

 surface exposure to the cold of winter and the 

 heat of summer, which is an item of more im- 

 portance than might at first appear. 



When I took up my pencil and made a care- 

 ful computation of the comb capacity of the 

 square and long frame, I was not a little sur- 

 prised to discover that the square frame (12%x 

 12%) actually contained the most comb space. 

 The compact form of the square hive, giving 

 the least possible surface exposure, and at the 

 same time giving a brood-nest of the best pos- 

 sible form to resist cold, contributes largely to 

 the best results in wintering. It has a repu- 

 tation for good wintering qualities that few 

 will think of questioning. The same features 

 that make it favorable for wintering are also 

 favorable for spring management. There is 

 no place where these favorable conditions are 

 more appreciated by the bee-keeper than in the 

 spring. 



There is not much in the claim that the long 

 shallow frame has a decided advantage in 

 manipulating; as the square hive has, if con- 

 veniently constructed, a side opening that 

 makes the frames easy of access. There is, 

 though, one advantage in a shallow frame— a 

 prominent one— which I will not fail to recog- 

 r^ize. It spaces more uniformly at the bottom 

 of the frames. If fixed frames are used, of 

 course this advantage all disappears. 



There has been some discussion in the past 

 over the height of the hive for the best con- 

 venience for yard work, and I regard it a mat- 

 ter of some importance among other features 

 of the hive. The square hive furnishes the 

 best height for convenient work possible, in 

 sitting at a single hive or standing when tiered 

 two stories. 



Among the many who have discovered that 

 the long hive is not a model of perfection is 



