1-14 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



March, 1918 



port. The frames, so far from being stan- 

 dard, are made to fit the boxes. 



He puts a series of 10 or 15 of these hives 

 on a side hill among the bushes, out of sight. 

 Into each he puts a good swarm of bees and 

 then leaves them for a whole year without 

 going near them. When we called at one 

 of the outyards shown in Fig. 1, consisting 

 of these let-alone barns or warehouses, I ask- 



(2) A Big Frame from One of Latham's Let-Alone 

 Hives, Showing' the Comb Built Downward, and 

 Producing Chunk Honey. The Frame is Made to 

 Fit Crosswise a Shredded Wheat Shipping Box. 

 When the Honey is Cut Out Enough is Left to Serve 

 as a Foundation Starter. 



ed Mr. Latham if that was the only visit 

 he had paid during the year. He turned 

 to the man standing nearby, who owned the 

 property, and said: 



' ' Do you remember seeing me around 

 here before, this year?" 



' ' No, sir, ' ' was the quick response. ' ' All 

 I know is that you come around about once 

 a year — not oftener. ' ' 



" Did you see any swarms'?" 



' ' No, sir, I never saw any, ' ' was the 

 equally quick response. 



We inoved down to the beeyard and found 

 it located among the bushes, almost out of 

 sight. There may be more ' ' method in his 

 madness " to keep away the naughty boys, 

 and perhaps to secure shade. 



' ' Now, Mr. Latham, ' ' I said as I saw the 

 great clusters of bees out in front, ' ' don "t 

 you think you have any swarming here?" 



' ' I don 't think so, ' ' he answered. ' ' Let 

 us look thru the hives and see whether they 

 have swarmed." 



Covers were held down by means of big 

 stones, which he lifted off and then opened 

 up the hives. Sure enough, there were power- 

 ful colonies that had evidently begun draw- 

 ing out combs at the front of the hive, ard 

 had kept working backward till they had 

 got clear to the back side. If an ordinarily 

 good working colony has 50,000 bees — well, 

 I should guess those colonies ha<l anywhere 

 from 75,000 to 100,000. That tliey couhl 



have swarmed and left such a force was im- 

 possible. No, they didn 't swarm, just as 

 the late Mr. Poppleton said they wouldn 't. 

 They had unlimited room, and kept on build- 

 ing more combs as these were needed. In 

 some of the hives we found the bees had 

 quite reached the back side in their comb 

 building. 



Mr. Latham does not take the trouble to 

 use comb foundation for the let-alone prin- 

 ciple. He merely takes a big knife, cuts out the 

 comb near the top-bar, leaving a starter for 

 the bees to fill in again. He does not bother 

 with any comb-honey fixings nor with the 

 honey-extractor. He simply ' ' robs ' ' these 

 hives in the good okLfashioned way, minus 

 the brimstone, and stores the product in tin 

 buckets for which he finds ready sale. After 

 he has robbed them as far as he dares, he 

 shuts up the hive and leaves them for a 

 whole year. If they die, he has not lost 

 much; and, if -they live, he will have a crop 

 of honey. But such colonies will not die or- 

 dinarily. 



Up among those Connecticut hills, Mr. 

 Latham, like Arthur C. Miller, believes in 

 the principle of having small apiaries and 

 big colonies. Mr. Miller goes on a somewhat 

 different principle. While he believes in 

 big colonies,' he uses Jumbo hives, which he 

 can tier up. 



Mr. Latham says that on his principle, and 

 up among the sumacs, he can jjroduce honey 

 for about one or two cents a pound. He 

 figures in his time in making these hives and 

 then starting the bees to housekeeping. After 



(3) Frame of Brood from One of the Big Let- 

 Alone Hives, Showing the Work of a Good Queen. 



that, they must absolutely work for nothing 

 and board themselves. They must do more 

 — they must " divy up " with him. Feed 

 themf No, he does not have time to do that. 

 Besides, they don 't need it with their fall 

 flows. 



Figs. 2 and 3 show some of his big frames. 

 Fig. 2 shows how the bees build the comb 

 downward, which he cuts out for his chunk 



