514 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1. 



and as soon as a few bees in each hive had 

 hatched I gave them a laying queen, and then 

 built them up by feeding and giving them 

 frames with full sheets of foundation as fast as 

 they could use them. At this time of the year 

 it is warm, and no danger of robbing, and they 

 will build up faster than one would suppose. 



That same season from 40 colonies, spring 

 count, I secured nearly 150 lbs. of surplus 

 from each, and made a very large increase by 

 the method I have just described. But per- 

 haps I should say that all these colonies were 

 very strong ones. They were the best ones 

 that could be picked out of over 150. They 

 also had a very good range, and at that time 

 they were practically all the ones there were to 

 work on it. But now if these colonies had been 

 in box hives, would they have stored that much 

 honey? I do not believe that they would — at 

 least, it is certain that I could not have got 

 them to do so. 



Another old statement is, that one who keeps 

 bees in box hives, and uses a starch or cracker 

 box on top for a super, will get as much surplus. 

 True, but not in as marketable shape as the 

 one who uses improved hives. In this locality 

 the former will not get as much, nor half as 

 much ; for, from some cause or other, bees in 

 a box hive will not go up through a hole or 

 holes in the top, and store as much honey in a 

 box inverted over the same as they will in a 

 super over a frame hive; for, with a very few 

 exceptions, a small boxful on top makes them 

 think it is time to swarm, and there is no way 

 to prevent them that I know of — at least, no 

 way either to prevent or to allow them to 

 swarm, and still get a surplus by using box 

 hives; for a swarm that is hived in a box hive 

 will not fill a box on top at once, as they will a 

 super where a frame hive is used. And now 

 suppose that, from the same yard, the same 

 day, we have two swarms issue that are the 

 same size, and just alike in every way; say 

 that we hive one in a small frame hive, the 

 other in a box hive that is large enough to hold 

 all they can possibly store, without having to 

 go up into a box on top to work; which one 

 will store more ? I believe I can get the one in 

 the frame hive to store at least a third more by 

 using sections, with full sheets of foundation 

 in them; for while, in some seasons, I think as 

 some others do, that there is not much advan- 

 tage in full sheets, as a rule I believe we can 

 get a good deal more honey by using them. 

 But I do not think foundation is the only thing 

 that will cause the colony in the frame hive to 

 store the most. I think that shallow supers 

 and the tiering-up system enables or causes 

 bees to store more than they will when they 

 are given as much room all at once as would be 

 necessary in the case just mentioned. But by 

 keeping bees in box hives, and hiving the 

 swarms from them in small frame hives, and 

 using supers, etc., in the usual way, we can get 



good returns from them provided they winter 

 well, and then swarm at the right time. But, 

 no matter what kind of hive we use, or what 

 kind of bees we have, we shall sometimes lose 

 one or more queens during the winter, and 

 quite often a young queen will be lost when she 

 goes out to mate. 



The reader will now readily understand that 

 a colony, in either case just mentioned, has at 

 that time no brood from which they can rear a 

 queen; and when a colony in a box hive loses 

 its queen at such a time, it is a good deal more 

 work, and much more difficult to remedy the 

 matter, than it is when the same thing occurs 

 in a frame hive. 



Another old statement is to the effect that it 

 is easier, and less work, to keep bees in box 

 hives. I can not agree with this either. In 

 fact, I think it is right the other way, even if 

 we are keeping bees merely for pleasure, unless 

 those who winter them outdoors can do so with 

 less loss by using box hives. But even if this is 

 the case, the difficulty I have just mentioned 

 will, I believe, balance this. If it will not, 

 there are many other serious disadvantages in 

 trying to use box hives that surely will. Now, 

 on the other hand, if we are keeping bees for 

 pleasure, and also all the profit we can get out 

 of them, I believe we can not only produce hon- 

 ey with less work, but that we can get more of 

 it by using improved hives. 



Southern Minnesota, June 5. 



[Friend D., I do not think there is any conflict 

 in our views, if I understand you correctly. 

 Referring to the editorial in question, speaking 

 of hives, I said, "Construction may enable him 

 also to secure a little more marketable honey, 

 and perhaps a little more in the aggregate. 

 The old statement, that bees will store as much 

 honey in an old nail- keg as in the most improv- 

 ed hive, still stands practically uncontroverted." 

 You will see from the above that I do not say 

 that modern hives would not give any more 

 honey, nor that they would not produce more 

 marketable honey; but I still think that a box 

 hive, under normal conditions, having the 

 same cubic capacity as a modern movable-frame 

 hive containing section honey-boxes, will pro- 

 duce practically as much honey in the aggre- 

 gate (not marketable) as any other.— Ed.] 



BEE-KEEPING IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. 



DOES IT BECOME LESS PROFITABLE AS CIVILI- 

 ZATION ADVANCES ? 



At the recent convention of Ontario bee- 

 keepers, W. Z. Hutchinson rather argues that, 

 as a country becomes settled and civilization 

 advances, bee-keeping is likely to become less 

 profitable. Under such circumstances we should 

 probably feel justified in expecting that, in the 

 long-settled countries, the number of hives kept 

 would be very small. Such is, however, not 

 the case. Germany has 1,900,000 hives; Spain, 

 1,690,000; Austria, 1,550,000 ; France, 950,000; 

 Holland, 240,000 ; Russia, 110,000; Denmark, 

 90,000; Belgium, 200,000; Greece, 30,000. The 



