410 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



the howl of distress on the part of the bee,^. 

 Old bee-keepers know what this "howl" or 

 uneasy humming means. It does not always 

 indicate qneenlessness, it is true; but, with 

 other conditions easily ascertained, it is not 

 difficult to tell whether the hive is queenless, 

 without even hardly handling a frame. 



How the divisible brood-chamber can be han- 

 dled anymore rapidly than a good hive con- 

 taining modern Hoffman frames with V edges, 

 is past my comprehension. I harve handled the 

 former somewhat in our own apiary. That is 

 to say, we have had a Heddon hive in our yard 

 for a number of seasons; and I have manipu- 

 lated that hive perhaps more than any other 

 one hive in our yard. We have also had a Dan- 

 zenbaker hive in our yard for a part of one 

 season. I have seen divisible-brood-chamber 

 hives handled by bee-keepers who were very 

 enthusiastic over them; but. taking it all in 

 all, I think I can get a more satisfactory kno wl - 

 edge with a given number of hives containing 

 full-depth Hoffman frames in less time than 

 from any equal number of horizontally divided 

 brood-chamber hives I have ever seen or read 

 of. I say I tltink. A positive assertion right 

 here — and I refrain from making such a one — 

 is but little short of rank egotism. Individual 

 tastes, ways, and habits of working, will lead 

 to a variety of opinions. 



Mr. Heddon and Mr. Danzenbaker, of course, 

 will both think their ways are better, and they 

 certainly have a right to their opinions. Now, 

 why do I like mine (or, more correctly. Hoff- 

 man's) better? A Hoffman-frame hive can be 

 split perpendicularly \n two parts. A divisible- 

 brood-chamber can be split horizontally in two 

 parts; but it will be apparent that such a split 

 does not show brood s (i?-/acc— only the edges of 

 the combs, and those very imperfectly. A per- 

 pendicular S'\)]\t does show the whole surface 

 of two combs. Then if we remove one comb 

 we have for examination the two surfaces of 

 the one comb besides two surfaces of each of 

 two other combs. 



Although I have studied and experimented a 

 good deal, I have never been able to diagnose 

 accurately a colony merely by looking at the 

 top and bottom edges of the combs; but if, for 

 instance, I can see just one frame from the cen- 

 ter of the brood-nest, or can see the two sur- 

 faces of two combs when a brood-nest is split 

 as I have explained, I can judge — and so can 

 every experienced bee-keeper — pretty accurate- 

 ly the amount of brood in those combs. To 

 test myself. I have repeatedly, after forming 

 an opinion, examined every frame, and I do not 

 know that I have at any time found that I was 

 mistaken in my first impression. Now, then, if 

 it is a fact that the Hoffman-frame hive can be 

 diagnosed as quickly— and I think more satis- 

 factorily than by dividing the brood-nest the 

 other way, horizontally— do we not, by having 

 full-sized frames, gain some advantages'? Bees, 



according to my experience here, breed better 

 in full-sized frames than in half-frames; and 

 this experience of mine has been corroborated 

 from what observations I could make, where 

 horizontally divided brood-chambers were in 

 use. 



Last fall— or, rather, late last summer — we 

 tried one Danzenbaker hive. I know one swal- 

 low does not make a summer; but in spite of 

 all we could do, we could not get the bees by 

 any kind of feeding to breed satisfactorily in 

 the two chambers at once. The queen seemed 

 determined to stay in one hive-section at a 

 time; indeed, she would fill out the frames of 

 one section full of brood; but go below or above 

 she just wouldn't. The bees would put in pol- 

 len and honey, but there it stopped. 



But with the Heddon hive we obtained very 

 much more satisfactory results. Why ? The 

 Danzenbaker brood-frame uses thick and wide, 

 top-bars and bottom-bars, l^^ wide by % thick; 

 but I have found that, between two sections of 

 the Heddon, burr-combs will be built, and this 

 to a great extent completes the two sets of 

 brood-frames. But even this slight obstruc- 

 tion seemed to hinder somewhat the normal 

 circles of brood, when compared with brood- 

 frames solid without any obstructions between. 

 I am, therefore, of the opinion that it would not 

 do to have thick and wide top-bars for section- 

 al brood -chambers; and that, if we are to have 

 any thing of that sort, Mr. Heddon's decision 

 for narrow and thin top and bottom bars is 

 about right. But he has burr-combs, and these 

 I won't have— even if a part of the nuisance is 

 obviated by a slat honey-board. Mr. Danzen- 

 baker, in the attempt to obviate these, has pos- 

 sibly run into a snag more serious yet in the 

 use of wide bars. 



About this time I imagine I hear Doolittle 

 chuckling, and saying, "There, didn't I tell you 

 bees don't like to go past thick and wide top- 

 bars?" Now, I am not taking any back track 

 yet on this question. While I fear heavy bars 

 between parts of the brood-chamber will not 

 be satisfactory, I know they do not form any 

 obstruction between brood-chamber proper and 

 surplus — certainly far less obstruction than the 

 old-style hive with thin top- bars, burr-combs, 

 and slatted honey-boards; or, worse yet, burr- 

 combs and no honey-boards, said burr-combs 

 stuck fast to the bottom of the surplus. 



I have endeavored to give you my honest im- 

 pressions of what I believe to be true regarding 

 these matters; but I was not quite willing to 

 give expression to them just yet, because I de- 

 sired to experiment and observe further along 

 these lines. But now that the divisible-brood- 

 chamber hive is being discussed, I think it is 

 well that we look on the side that I have pre- 

 sented. I do not claim to be infallible in my 

 opinions; and if I should change my mind it 

 will be because truth, and an honest purpose to 

 get out of ruts, will force me to do so. 



