1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



395 



THE EIGHT-FRAME HIVE PREFERRED. 



LOCALITY XOT A FACTOR IN THE MATTER; 

 EXTK A- PROLIFIC QUEENS NOT NECESSARY; 

 WORE BEES IN LARGE HIVES, BUT LESS HON- 

 EY. AND MORE BEES IN THE FALL AS CON- 

 SUMERS THAT HAVE TO BE FED; HOFFMAN 

 FRAMES PREFERRED. AND WHY. 



By C. Davenport. 



As it seems some of the readers of Gleanings 

 wish the discussion on large vs. small hives 

 continued, perhaps you will allow me to say a 

 few words on the subject. I prefer the eight- 

 frame size: but I am a specialist— that is, I 

 make a living, such as it is, by producing honey; 

 and from quite a large and extensive experi- 

 ence I know I can make more money with a 

 large number of frames in eight-frame hives 

 than I can with the same number in ten or 

 twelve frame hives. But in order to do so it 

 is necessary to feed some seasons in order to 

 keep brood-rearing up. I employ a man for 

 each yard the entire season. These are cheap 

 men; that is, one of them who has been with 

 me for a number of seasons is a man who has 

 one wooden leg; another is a man who is not 

 able to do a hard day's work. But they can 

 feed bees all right. I believe the majority of 

 bee-keepers, though, keep bees as a side issue 

 only, and many of these do not wish or have 

 not time to do much feeding in the spring and 

 early summer, if necessary. For this class, as 

 a general thing, I think the ten-frame hive the 

 best; for the honey those two extra combs will 

 contain, will, in a poor season, enable brood- 

 rearing to be kept up much better than it 

 would be with only eight. If no feeding were 

 done, and if a flow did come, the colony on ten 

 frames would have a much larger force of 

 workers to secure it; but when I have gone 

 beyond ten frames, in general I have got just 

 that much less surplus — that is, with a twelve- 

 frame hive I do not get as much surplus within 

 14 or 16 lbs.; and, besides, such a hive costs 

 more, and it is much harder work to handle 

 them. I do not think the locality makes much 

 difference to the specialist about the right size 

 of hive. Of course, it might make a difference 

 as to the time, and amount to be fed. I believe 

 I can make more in any locality with frames in 

 the eight-frame hive than I can with the same 

 number of frames in larger ones; for my expe- 

 rience has been that, as a general thing, eight 

 frames are enough for the best queens we can 

 get at the present time. In saying "the best 

 queens" I do not mean those that are the most 

 prolific. I have had queens th&t would keep 

 ten and in a few cases even twelve frames full 

 of brood; but these queens needed to be prolific, 

 for their bees were so short-lived that these col- 

 onies could not store as much surplus as others 

 whose queens did not keep eight frames full. 



Again, I have had very prolific queens whose 

 bees lived long enough; but they were worth- 

 less so far as surplus honey was concerned, for 



their entire time and attention seemed to be 

 devoted to raising bees, and swarming. 



Last season, a poor one in this locality, I had 

 in the home yard a high-priced queen that I 

 had bought the previous summer. She was in 

 a ten-frame hive, and she needed ten frames, 

 for she was very prolific. This colony did not 

 swarm. They partly filled one super. There were 

 perhaps 15 sections completed. An eight-frame 

 hive stood right beside this one, the queen of 

 which was a hybrid. I do not believe she laid 

 an egg in either of the outside combs during 

 the entire season; yet this colony filled 96 sec- 

 tions, and had plenty of stores for winter; and 

 it is to-day one of thestrongest colonies I have. 

 Another colony, in an eight-frame hive, whose 

 queen, a pure Italian, was also bought the 

 previous summer, filled five supers of 24 sections 

 each. There were a few in the last super that 

 were not completed. They also had to be fed a 

 little in the fall; but they are in good shape at 

 this writing. This queen is hardly equal to 

 eight frames; but I regard her as one of the 

 most valuable ones that I ever owned. 



Sometimes we see reports of queens that will 

 keep twelve or even fourteen frames full of 

 brood, and their bees store a large surplus. I 

 have had two or three such queens; but they 

 are very rare, and hard to get; and if we could 

 get them, would ihey be any better? Suppose 

 we had queens that would lay as much as two 

 of the best ones we now have; could we get 

 any more surplus for the same number of work- 

 ers, or per frame, than we now do? I do not 

 believe we could, from my experience. I be- 

 lieve that, after a colony gets to a certain 

 strength— a strength with the right kind of 

 queen— the eight-frame hive gives ample room 

 to develop, and they will store as much or more 

 for the same number of workers as one much 

 larger; and I had much rather produce 200 lbs. 

 of honey in two eight-frame hives than I would 

 in one sixteen-frame hive. 



Some of the advocates of large hives tell us 

 that bees in such hives will raise a good many 

 more bees during the latter part of the season, 

 and thus have more bees for winter; and that, 

 such being the case, they will winter better and 

 build up faster in the spring. I will admit 

 that colonies in large hives of twelve or four- 

 teen frames will raise more bees at a time when 

 there is nothing for them to do. This is why 

 colonies in big hives do not store as much sur- 

 plus. It takes a good deal of honey to raise 

 and keep these extra bees over winter— enough 

 so that, in large apiaries, it would amount to 

 8100 or more; and with me they generally die 

 off in the spring before they have done much 

 if any good. P.ut I winter in cellars altogether. 

 In outdoor wintering it may be quite different, 

 and the same may be true of deep frames. I 

 have better success in wintering with bees on 

 the standard frames than I do on those that 

 are deeper. 



