1893 



(JLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



343 



ested in the grocery business, and various other 

 enterprises; and, though nearly threescore and 

 ten years of age, he is a very active business 

 man. 



Our interview was very pleasant, and will be 

 long remembered by the" Rambt-ek. 



THE HIVER— ITS COST. 



I!. I.. TAYLOR REVIEWS THE MATTER. 



In the whole history of apiarian inventions, 

 perhaps there is nothing so specious in its 

 chai'acter, so well calculated to deceive the 

 unwary, as the hiver: and I feel that at best 

 great disappointment is inevitable, for many 

 will undoubtedly be so blinded by the glare of 

 its false promises that they will make haste to 

 demon-^trate their faith in its supposed virtues 

 by investing in it money which I fear will never 

 be recovered. To prevent, so far as may be, 

 the vexation and loss likely to result, is so evi- 

 dently praiseworthy that I am moved to point 

 out. for the consideration of those interested, 

 some difticulties that must be encountered in 

 any attempt to make use of what seems ad- 

 mitted to be the least objectionable of the 

 hivers thus far brought out; namely, the Pratt 

 1893 pattern. 



Taking it for granted that the hiver will 

 operate in accordance with the claims and ex- 

 pectations of the inventor, what I have to say 

 now may be conveniently considered in answer 

 to the question: "What will it cost?" for, 

 whether the outgo necessary to its possession 

 and use is money, labor, or other thing of value, 

 it is equally comprehended within the meaning 

 of the item of cost. 



The first cost of the device specifically called 

 the hiver is, of course, not great; but of what 

 possible use would it be alone? Of course, to 

 complete the hiver there must be added a hive 

 entire, and the hive must be furnished; and if 

 furnished according to the practice of practical 

 bee-keepers, the expense in an apiary of any 

 considerable magnitude would soon be felt to 

 be onerous enough. It is no answer to this to 

 say that the hives in any case would be needed 

 for the swarms, for that is not true. Under 

 good management I think I may safely say 

 that only about a third of the colonies on an 

 average, in apiaries devoted to the production 

 of comb honey, cast swarms; and when extract- 

 ing is practiced, the proportion is less still; so 

 that, in an apiary of 200 colonies, the wear and 

 tear on about 150 hives, together with the in- 

 terest on their cost, and their necessary man- 

 ipulation and storage — no inconsiderable items 

 — would be a dead loss unless in some way the 

 use of the hiver brings compensation. Would 

 exemption from the care of swarms be ade([uate 

 compensation? At a venture. I should choose 

 to have the swarms hived in the old way. I 

 think the expense would be less. 



But when the too sanguine purchaser of the 

 hivers has paid for them, and got them in 

 position, he finds himself in a dilemma. The 

 road divides: but whichever brancli he lu'oposes 

 to take, he finds himself confronted by items of 

 cost springing out of the ground, demanding 

 recognition, and refusing to be laid. By tiie 

 choice of the, right-hand branch he may expect 

 to be able to iiroduce comb honey, 1o IciM^p up 

 the numbei' of his colonics, to get some bcnelit 

 from the young (|ucens r<'ared during and in 

 conse(iuence of swarming, and to guard in some 

 degree against damage liable to result from the 

 uniting of swarms, but at the expense of much 

 care and hard labor, and of sundiy vexations 

 and costly mistakes and misapprehensions. By 

 taking ihe other lie >-liii'ks the heavie-.t of the 



labor, but thereby sacrifices all young queens, 

 and some old ones loo; foregoes the production 

 of comb honey, and suffers the number of his 

 colonies to be rapidly reduced. 



Mr. Pratt, after contemplating both, and pre- 

 sumably trying both, has chosen the left-hand 

 road, ilis plan is, to place the hiver under the 

 colony in thi> spring, and leave it undisturbed 

 till fall. When a swarm issues, the only exit 

 for the (pieen is through the hiver into the hive 

 below, whither the swarm is supposed to follow 

 her, and set up housekeeping anew. There is 

 no exit for queens, young or old. to the open 

 air. Now let us see "what additional items of 

 cost must accrue against the hiver used as the 

 inventor recommends it to be used. 



First, inasmuch as there is no provision for 

 the renewal of queens, either at the swarming 

 season or by superseding, the colonies must 

 rapidly perish: and within three years, if the 

 plan is adhered to. the apiary will be as quiet 

 as a grave. At what sum shall this item be 

 estimated? But Mr. Pratt will exclaim that 

 it will not operate so, for queens will be reared 

 or procured, and supplied in this way or that. 

 Well, at what sum shall this item, i. e., the 

 securing of queens by his method, whatever it 

 may be, be estimated? He may take the 

 clieaper of the two courses, and find thq,^ very 

 dear. 



Second, there can be no success in the pro- 

 duction of comb honey if the bees swarm, for it 

 can not be supposed that the bees will carry 

 their honey up through the old brood-combs, as 

 they are becoming empty by the hatching of 

 the brood, into the sections, but the combs will 

 be filled first to the extent of fifty pounds or 

 more if so much is gathered; and then, loth to 

 go up through so much solid honey to the sec- 

 tions, they will jiroceed to fill the new brood- 

 chamber. The great bulk of all this honey 

 should have gone into the sections; and when 

 no swarm issues, who can say what proportion 

 of the colonies, rather than go into the sections, 

 will work downward through the hiver, entice 

 the queen down, and then go through the same 

 process as though they had swarmed ? Let any 

 one at all skilled in the production of comb 

 honey say what the hiver would be costing un- 

 der such circumstances as these. 



Then, third, though the proposed plan did 

 not involve the destruction of the colonies, the 

 sacrifice of all the young queens must seem, to 

 all who know the difference between a vigorous 

 queen and a decrepit one, a tremendous price to 

 pay for a set of hivers. The queen -breeder's 

 price list would give only an inadequate idea 

 of the cost, and this is an item which can not 

 be avoided except by dropping the Pratt plan. 



Any one giving the matter candid considera- 

 tion can not escape the conclusion that Mr. 

 Pratt has made a very serious mistake in 

 choosing this branch of the road. He no doubt 

 will say that all this damage may be avoided, 

 and he would be right, but only on condition 

 that he turn sharp around, retrace his steps, 

 and take the other way. Let us retrace our 

 steps, and try that way. We have tried the 

 way of <'ase and ruin; let us explore now the 

 course that gives promise of success, it may be, 

 but gives no promise of exemption from care 

 and labor. 



We have learned at least some of the things 

 that must be obviated before we can indulge 

 even a, faint hopi' of success: viz., we must 

 save the young {piecns or else rear or purchase 

 and introduci' otheis; we must know contin- 

 ually the condition of the old queen, and, in 

 case of accident to her through the vicissitudes 

 of the new method of swarming, be prepared to 

 replace her; and the tastes and inclinations of 

 the b<'es must i)e hunujred in order to any 



