716 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



December, 1918 



Fig. 2. — The home apiary of Adams & Myers, extensive fruit-growers near Niagara Falls, N. Y. Mr. Adams 

 is shown on the left and Mi Myfrs on the rig'ht. They believe in windbreaks as will be seen at the 

 background facing north. They believe in packing and lo-frame colonies that will not swarm. They are 

 prosperous business men. The methods that these men employ in operating the. bee and fruit ranch could 



be copied to advantage by others. 



of an equivalent capacity tiered away above 

 my head. I can lift a heavy load along 

 about the height of my chest or waist, when 

 half of that load might be considerable of a 

 strain if it were above my head. ' ' 



I watched these men at work. It was evi- 

 dent that by their management they do not 

 "break their backs" any more than the 

 beekeepers with hives of 8- and 10-frame 

 capacity. The secret of it it that the indi- 

 vidual unit, while heavier, can be lifted to 

 better advantage because it is never above 

 the chest line. I became convinced that 

 the statement that "a 10-frame hive is all 

 that a man can lift" is not true. I also 

 became convinced that the 13-frame hive is 

 better than a 12-frame one because it is ex- 

 actly square. There are some queens that go 

 a little beyond 12 frames, but seldom beyond 

 13. 



Advantages of a Square Hive. 



Another advantage of having a hive 

 square (13-frame) is that the cover and bot- 

 tom will always fit, no matter how placed; 

 and if one believes that frames crosswise 

 of the entrance are better than framete 

 lengthwise, he can have his choice. As a 

 m.atter of fact, he can run them lengthwise 

 during the summer and crosswise during the 

 winter. 



Little or No Swarming Trouble. 



I asked Mr. Myers whether he was trou- 

 bled much with swarming. 



"Very little," he replied. "We have 

 tried enough of the 8- and 10-frame hives 

 to know that we could not use them. The 

 fact that we can have powerful colonies- 



colonies that will rarely swarm — decided us 

 in favor of a 13-frame hive. With such hives 

 we can give the bees attention at our con- 

 venience. We are not compelled to drop 

 everything and run." 



Easy to Prepare for Winter. 



There is a further advantage in the big 

 hive; and that is that the brood-nest can be 

 contracted to eight or nine frames, and the 

 space on each side can be filled with pack- 

 ing for winter. In the spring it is very easy 

 to reduce or remove the jjacking and add 

 additional combs. 



If I were a fruit-grower, I am frank to 

 say to our readers that I would adopt either 

 the 13-frame hive or the long-idea hive with 

 30 or more frames. I would make the long 

 or coffin-like hive so that I could put on 

 upper stories of ordinary 10-frame hives 

 whenever the needs of the colony called for 

 30 frames. In this connection I wish to 

 say that the modern commercial beekeeper, 

 running for extracted honey, who does not 

 contemplate colonies that will pretty nearly 

 fill a barn, is losing the chance of his life 

 to make money if he is in a good locality. 

 Inside the Honey-House. 



Let us now look into the beehouse where 

 Adams & Myers do their extracting. We 

 find a modern 8-frame power-driven reversi- 

 ble extractor, capping-melter, buzz-saw ta- 

 ble, tools, and all other appliances that good 

 mechanics and practical men know how to 

 utilize. We shall find something more, and 

 that is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. You will 

 hardly be able to understand what all this 

 outfit means till it is explained. Listen. 



