1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



251 



jects suhstantiaUy are attained bj- each, your hive is 

 more simple, more couveiiient, and much better 

 adapted for jrencral introduction and use, since tlie 

 mode of using- it can be more easily taught. Of its 

 ultimate and triumphant success 1 iiave no doubt. 

 . . . It, in fact, combines all the good tjualities 

 wiiich a hive ought to possess, while it is free fr<)m 

 tile complication, clumsiness, vaiu ivliimx, and decid- 

 edly objectionable features which characterize most 

 of the inventions which profess to be at all superior 

 to the simple box or the common chamVier hive. . . 

 Very truly yours, 

 Rev. L. L. Langnlrotli. Samuel Waonek. 



As soon as IMr. Wagner became acquainted 

 with niv hive, instead of publishing liis transla- 

 tion of bzierzon, for which he was tiien in nego- 

 tiation, be urged me to write a book which he 

 believed would, with my movable frame, do 

 more for the promotion of American bee cul- 

 ture than any thing froiii abioad. BtMug an ex- 

 cellent German scholar, and very familiar with 

 both ancient and modern apiculture, more espe- 

 cially with all that could be learned from Ger- 

 man sources, he placed all his varied informa- 

 tion at my command absolutely, without money 

 and without price, and labored with untiring 

 zeal to make my book and hive a success. Sel- 

 dom do we find such an admirable example of 

 rare magnanimity and disinterestedness. 



Visiting him at intervals, and corresponding 

 with him frequently, he kept me posted up in 

 every thing occurring in Germany which was of 

 iuterestin our favorite pursuit. Hi-largelibrary, 

 so full especially in the German literature of 

 bee-keeping, was thoroughly at his command, 

 and he could turn at once to book or- periodical 

 for information on any point that might come 

 up for discussion. L. L. Langstkoth. 



Cuntlnual. 



WHAT SIZE OF FRAME SHALL WE USE IN 

 QUEEN-REARING] 



DOOLITTLE PKEFKKS THE REGULAK ONES. 



A correspondent writes: "lam thinking of 

 going into the queen business, in a limited way, 

 this year; and, if prosperous, increase the busi- 

 ness till the most of my time will be employed 

 in it. What size of frame would you use in the 

 nucleus hives — small ones or sections, as recom- 

 mended by Pratt and others, or those of the 

 same size I am using in my regular hives?" 



Af tei' years of trial along the line of which is 

 the best size of frame to use in queen-rearing, I 

 have failed to find any special advantage in a 

 small frame, wliile with ine th(>re are many dis- 

 advantages: therefore I have come to the con- 

 clusion that it is the oartof vvjsdom to use the 

 same size of frame in tlie nucleus hive that we 

 are using in the hive which we have adopted 

 for general use in the apiary. As we are used to 

 hand ling these frames we can handle them more 

 rapidly, and with less injury to the bees and 

 combs, than we can those of an odd size, thus 

 saving time in our work, and avoiding that irri- 

 tation to the bees which causes them to annoy 

 their keeper by following him around and try- 

 ing to sting him and every thing else that hap- 

 pens near the hives. With me it is much easier 

 and more expeditious to handle one or two full- 

 sized frames than it is three or four small oiu'S. 

 Then the bees work more to our profit where 

 the regular size of frame is used. If any comb 

 is built by the nuclei it is in just the frames we 

 want it, and always of the size of cells we wish, 

 as these smal colonies build only worker comb, 

 where the young queen is left with them long 

 enorgh for them to build comb. Where I have 

 had coinbs in which the mice have gnawed 

 holes, or the bees have made holes in them by 

 cutting out moldy pollen, or in which there hap- 



pens to be drone comb of more or less amount 

 which 1 have removed, I always give them to 

 these nuclei when forming them, and, as soon 

 as the young queen commences to lay, the bees 

 will commence to build comb and repair these 

 places if honey is coming in from the fields, or if 

 fed when no honey is to be obtained. By leav- 

 ing the young queen with them the length of 

 time required, we have our combs all made as 

 good as those built out on foundation, save the 

 cost of foundation and the fuss of putting it in 

 the frames, while such mutilated combs are 

 just as good to form nuclei with as whole combs. 

 By a little looking-over of our combs each year, 

 sorting out all those not being quite up to the 

 standard, and using them as above, all the 

 combs in the apiary can be kept in perfect order 

 for all time, unless the cells should become so 

 filled with cocoons as to become too small to 

 raise bees in, a thing which has -not happened 

 in my apiary during the past twenty -four years. 



Again, if we use the regular size of frames, all 

 the honey stored in these will be right where it 

 will be of use to the bees of any colony in the 

 ai)iary. eitlier for spring, summer, or winter, so 

 that we do not have to store away a lot of combs 

 and honey at any time of year because it is not 

 in shape for use. In connection with the regular- 

 sized frame 1 would always use the regular-sized 

 hive for nuclei. Why? Because in this way 

 we have nothing which will be a loss to us 

 should we not be prosperous in the business, as 

 may happen, as is hinted at by our correspond- 

 ent when he says, " If prosperous." etc.: and by 

 using the regular hive we are ready to unite for 

 winter on any stand we desire, without chang- 

 ing hives or any thing of the kind, or can build 

 up any nucleus into a full colony at any time. 



But, as I consider it, the greatest advantage 

 in the full or regular-sized hive comes in not hav- 

 ing our nuclei robbed out occasionally, as is 

 almost sure to happen with some of the weaker 

 ones, where small hives are used. Such robbing 

 causes a general demoralization of the whole 

 apiary, often to such an extent that the bee- 

 keeper alihost wishes he had never known such 

 a thing as a bee. By using the regular- sized 

 hive, and placing the nucleus on one side of it, 

 while the entrance is at the other side, no nu- 

 cleus that is large enough to hold a queen to ad- 

 vantage will ever be robbed out, and smaller 

 than these should not be used. To help the read- 

 er to understand better, we will suppose that the 

 regular hive is twelve inches wide inside, and 

 that the entrance used is cut from the bottom of 

 the front board tbe whole length of it. and that 

 the hive fronts south. Form your nucleus on 

 the east side, of the hive, using two combs; and 

 next these combs draw up the division-board or 

 dummy, which should allow the bees to run 

 under the bottom of the same. Now close up all 

 of the entrance except one inch in length at the 

 west side of th(\ hive, and you will have it as I 

 use them, and I have not had a single nucleus 

 robbed since I found out this plan. 



Now, suppose I wish a nucleus in the next 

 hive, on the same row in the apiary. In this 

 hive I placi' thi- two frames and dummy next to 

 the west side of the hive, while the entrance is 

 on the east side, the conditions being the same 

 as relating to the prevention of robbing, while 

 the doorway to each hive is not at all similar. 

 The next hive is fixed like the first, the next like 

 the second, and so on. to the end of the row. In 

 this way the young bees do not mix; and in re- 

 turning from "their wedding-Might, no queens are 

 lost by entering the wrong hive, as us.^d to hap- 

 pen with me when I used an entrance in the 

 same place with all the hives in the apiary. I 

 consider this far preferable to painting the 

 fronts of the hives of difterent colors, laying 

 sticks of wood about the hives, etc., as has been 



