1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



65 



to stay so; can not be excelled anywhere, and, 

 if well painted, will last a lifetime. 



FIG I i k 



Fig. 1 shows the end of case, B. with the 

 cleat b fastened to its lower edge to support the 

 metal hanger O, having oppositely folded edges 

 g, g, to keep it straight and true when its upper 

 edge is hung upon the cleat b. and its lower 

 edge is supporting the bottom -bars F, F, of the 

 frames or section-holders, and sections E, E. 

 I> shows paraChne-paper separators secured to 

 the end-bars of section- holders. M shows 

 wooden separators notched at m. to rest on top 

 of the flange of the metal hanger. Paraffine 

 paper is also covered over the sections, and 

 stuck down close and smooth, to obviate the 

 necessity of the bees gathering propolis and 

 soiling the sections. 



Fig. 2 shows the inside of a Higginsville 

 •cover as made for this hive, with eight scores 

 half through its thickness, which keeps it as 

 straight and true as a pane of glass, when nail- 

 ed through the cleats only where the holes are 

 pierced, which allows the two boards of the 

 cover to expand or contract in the grooves with- 

 out twisting or cracking. It combines together 

 the advantages of a flat and gable cover, with- 

 out a nook for wasps or spiders. When painted 

 outside, and coated with paraffine on the inside, 

 it is the cleanest, lightest, and best cover out, 

 and can be made absolutely storm-proof by 

 fastening a sheet of paralline paper with a 

 warm iron, smooth on the inside of the cover, 

 extending slightly beyond the edges, to turn 

 down over the top edge of the hive, so that no 

 water can pass into the joint under the cover, 

 which extends X inch over the sides of the 

 hive. 



Fig. 3 is a light strong-framed hive-bottom, 

 with grooved side-rails to hold the three thin 

 boards true and straight, when nailed at their 

 inner edges only, as Uic lioles are pierced, 

 which allows for expansion and contraction 



freely in the grooves by the thin bottom over the 

 end-cleats, so that it will not twist or split. 

 The grooves are spaced to form a 's'-inch bee- 

 space on one side, or a full '4 on the other, as 

 occasion requires, by reversing the bottom. 

 The side rails keep the bottom clear, that air 

 may circulate freely beneath it, so that it is 

 always dry, and affords no harbor for ants. 



Closed end brood- frames ake not a recent in- 

 iientUni. Tliey are time-tried and proven. It 

 would be a gross impositUm on the public to 

 claim the exclusive right to use thi'm. 



Moses Quinby, tht' veteran of original inves- 

 tigators ill his generation, in his " Mysteries of 

 Bee-keeping,'" advocated, if he did not invent, 

 the closed -end brood-frame. His biographer 

 says, •■ Mr. Quinby quickly observed that bees 

 did /(of winter as well in the L. hives (hang- 

 ing frames) as tn box hives, on account of the 

 spaces at the ends of the frames, and set about 

 to remedy it l)y making a closed-end frame." 



Loose liangiiaj frames, with currents of cold 

 air around the ends of the combs, destroy thou- 

 sands of colonies in winter and spring by chill- 

 ing the bees and brood until they perish, or are 

 reduced in numberx so as to be utttrly irorth- 

 less. One extra-strong colony will produce 

 more surplus in a short honey flow or a poor 

 season than ten weak ones, and are the only 

 ones that pay at all. 



That all may know at all times which is top 

 or bottom of the brood-frames, they are made 

 with wide thick beveled grooved top-bars, to 

 receive foundation starters, which are held 

 securely In place by pressing to the sharp side 

 of the beveled edge, and tilling, with glue or 

 melted beeswax on the opposite side, so that 

 they can not be dragged down by the weight 

 of a new swarm. Starters half an inch wide 

 are safest and best, securing straighter combs, 

 as they can not twist or bulge out of shape. 



r~C shows ^the narrow bottom-bars of 

 brood-frames, affording space to note the 



the 

 con- 



