746 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



place and mine; but I should advise him to ex- 

 periment on a somewhat small scale before set- 

 tling on nine frames in an eight-frame Dovetail 

 hive. 



It is true, that the difference as to distance 

 from center to center is not very great; but I 

 am afraid that little difference is on the wrong 

 side. Let us figure a little. The inside width 

 of the hive is 13>8 inches. Divide that up for 

 the 9 frames and 10 spaces, and you will find 

 your 9 frames about L3;3 inches from center to 

 center— only about ^\ of an inch closer than the 

 1^^ with the 8 frames— less difference than one 

 would suppose: but then, you must remember 

 that we have gained about an inch of space by 

 throwing out the dummy. Without knowing 

 any thing positive about it. I suspect that there 

 is hardly any gain in spacing closer than \%, 

 and it is possible that there may be some loss. 



By throwing out the dummy, and letting the 

 frames occupy all the space, you are obliged to 

 give up fixed distances; for you couldn't get 

 out a frame with nine at lixed distances, and 

 must rely on crowding together to get the first 

 frame out. 



With nine frames you might do better, but I 

 suspect the nine frames would better have full 

 room, and I would have a larger hive for them. 



SPACE BETWEEN TOP-BAKS. 



Now some words as to the real idea that was 

 in that straw. The matter of getting rid of the 

 sticky, dauby nuisance of burr and brace combs 

 is one of very great importance— at least, it is 

 with me. I can't say how it may be with oth- 

 ers, but in my experience I am satisfied that a 

 good many more bees are killed with brace- 

 combs than with close-titting Hoffman frames, 

 shoulders and all— that is, before any brace- 

 combs ar(! built in the Hoffmans. 



But I am obliged lo say that, with the Hoff- 

 mans as sent out. th(Me arn too many brace- 

 combs. So 1 have hpcn doing some experiment- 

 ing. One strong colony had frames with top- 

 bars % thick, and a space of -^8 between them. 

 In this there were no brace- combs to speak of. 

 But thnie may be a difference in colonies, and I 

 think I have seen top-bars of the same thick- 

 ness with occasional brace-combs. 



Knowing that he^s when left to themselves 

 build out their combs of honey so as to leave a 

 space of about a quarter of an inch between 

 two surfaces of comb, I could see no reason why 

 they should want any larger space between top- 

 bars, and it seemed to me that a wider space 

 than nccessiiry was only inviting brace-combs. 

 I had a number of frames with top-bars J4 

 thick and an inch wide. These, when spaced 

 1% from center to center, left a space of % be- 

 tween the top-bars. In order to reduce this 

 space I nailed on the side of each top- bar a 

 strip \ in thickness. The strips I had for this 

 purpose measured ^ in width, so that, when 

 the frames were spaced ]'^„ from center to 

 center, the space between top-bars was }4 of an 

 inch for the upper -j'ij, and ^s for the lower t^,. 

 I did not think this so well as to have a uni- 

 form space of I4 inch; but 1 happened to have 

 just those strips, and for experimental purposes 

 it turned out all the better. 



In ordei- to have theexperiment as general as 

 possible I distributed these frames in a number 

 of hives, putting two frames in a place, the re- 

 maining frames in the hives being loose hang- 

 ing frames with ^h top-iiars. The result was 

 the same in each hive. The spaces between the 

 old and new frames were pnmptly filled with 

 a plentiful supply of brace-combs— of course, 

 that was to be expected; but the space between 

 the new top-bars showed in no case a brace- 

 comb. Lifting out the combs, however, I found 

 that, in mosi cases, the bees had built more or 



less comb below the added strip. That is, in 

 the lower f^i, where the space l)etvveen top-bars 

 was ^4. the bees had built more or less comb 

 directly on that part of the top-bar where the 

 strip was deficient. One might have supposed 

 that they would have built brace-combs from 

 one top-bar to the other, but they didn't. They 

 merely put on a thickness of i^ inch, leaving H 

 inch space clear. 



I would rather have waited another year be- 

 fore giving the result of my experiment, and do 

 not now give it as any thing positively con- 

 clusive; but as it is an important matter I 

 should be glad to have others experiment and 

 report. It is just possible that, with longer 

 time and under other circumstances, the bees 

 may conclude to fill up with wax or propolis 

 that ^4 space. Yet the questiim comes back, 

 Why should they, if that's the space they leave 

 of their own accord ? iSo I hope others will ex- 

 periment and report. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo. III. 



[We should like to have a report from others 

 in regard 10 the brace-comb qui stioii; :ind when 

 we say "■ brace-combs" we mean those bits 

 built between the top-bars. When we speak 

 of burr-combs we mean those built between 

 top-bars and cover or super. Now. we can 

 widen the top-bars, as Dr. Miller suggests; 

 but it narrows up still more the projections of 

 the top end of the end- bars, so that there may 

 be danger of their splitting off. These projec- 

 tions, or forks, as it were, are narrow enough 

 already. Before the end of this year we hope 

 there will be enough reports in so that we can 

 decide intelligently.] 



FIGS. 



LITTLE OK NO HONEY FKOM THOSE RAISED IN 

 CALIFORNIA. 



Editors Gleanings : — I have found the issue 

 of Gleanings for the 1.5th of August a very 

 inteivsting number. After reading it I am 

 constrained to supplement some of the articles 

 I saw therein, with the following observations: 



The article " Do bees gather syrup from 

 figs?" reminds me of that passage in the Bible 

 where it says something about our not being 

 able to gather figs from thistles. But as I can 

 not draw any lesson between the two quota- 

 tions. I will content myself by saying that here 

 in California we grow the finest figs in the 

 world. We have had them on our place for 

 years. The trees grow very luxuriantly. We 

 are opposite the Golden Gate — about some 

 twelve miles from that strip of water which 

 connects the finest harbor in the world with 

 the great Pacific Ocean. The figs produce two 

 crops of fruit a year. The first is now ripening; 

 in fact, they have been gradually coming in for 

 the past three weeks, and one crop will run into 

 the other, so that we shall have ripe figs almost 

 up to Christmas, if early frosts do not set in 

 before that time. 



Though several varieties are cultivated all 

 through the State we have but one kind, and 

 that is the black sort. These figs are large and 

 luscious. When fully ripe they are the nicest 

 fruit that I know of. It was only a few days 

 ago that I learned of a new way of eating 

 them. Heretofore the strawberry was my 

 favorite fruit. I have changed my "taste" 

 since; in fact. I think Isaak Walton, had he 

 only lived at this time, and could sit down and 

 eat figs in the way I am about to tell of, would, 

 in all probability, move to amend that saying 

 he made about the strawberry being the best 

 of fruits. What I was going to say about eat- 



