1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



209 



tins of this shape — >, as section-rests. You will find 

 them strong: enough, and the sections can be placed 

 close together at the bottom, admitting of a more 

 successful use of double-slotted sections by not 

 having the cracks between sections filled with 

 propolis, and your sections standing S(iuare. 



When T tins arc nailed to the bottoms of the su- 

 pers they have to be very accurately spaced. Not 

 so with the ' — < shaped tin. They will also worlj just 

 as well, if not better, on your bent staples, for hold- 

 ing section-rests. They can be placed on the sta- 

 ples without shaking off when moved about. I 

 would suggest that Dr. Miller try a few in his su- 

 pers. W. A. Chrysler. 



Chatham, Ont., Can., Feb. 3. 



We could make the cover bee-spaced as 

 you mention ; but for various reasons it is 

 cheaper and better to make the bottom- 

 board bee-spaced. The majority of bee- 

 keepers would be against you on this point. 

 Thanks for your information on the matter 

 of thick top-bars. 



^ I ^ 



WIDTH OF TOP-BARS. 



MR. HEDDON ARGUES FOR NARROW TOP-BARS AND 

 HONEY-BOARDS. 



Brother Oliver Foster's article on page 126, and 

 some of your foot-notes, call me out again. In re- 

 sponse to Bro. Foster's question In the closing par- 

 agraph of his article, I think I stated in my former 

 article, in connection with my declaration, which I 

 now wish to repeat, that I would never under any 

 circumstances make a top-bar more than 78 wide; 

 that if I found any great advantage, after thorough 

 trial, in placing top-bars just five-sixteenths of an 

 inch apart, I would do so with the Ji bars by put- 

 ting more frames in the same space. Well, I am 

 impatiently waiting for time and experience to con- 

 vince all you fellows that just all they will do with 

 the wide and deep top-bars is to find out that they 

 will lessen the amount of brace-combs built above 

 them; that they are a good thing when made deep, 

 but not Wider than ■'3. The deepness is the grand 

 thing, as I wrote years ago. It makes the bars stiff, 

 preventing sagging. It is in no way objectionable 

 in a Langstroth hive, and, of course, it is worth 

 something to lessen the quantity of brace-combs 

 above them; but the great point of getting rid of 

 brace combs below the surplus receptacles can nev- 

 er be wholly accomplished in that way. The break- 

 joint honey-board does it, and, after this little ex- 

 citement is over, the break-joint honey-board will 

 stay right where it is, doing that excellent service 

 that nothing else can do. 



In another of your foot-notes, on page 129, where 

 you say that you do not remember any one suggest- 

 ing raising all the frames in order to secure the 

 complete building of the comb clear to the bottom- 

 bar, I will tell you that, whether any one has 

 written about it or not, years ago Dr. Southard, of 

 Kalamazoo, made comprehensive experiments, and 

 reported the whole to me at the time. After all, it 

 is more costly, and not nearly as complete a method 

 of accomplishing the result as that of inverting. 



Ernest desires to know how I am going to use the 

 thick top-bars with my new hive, with such shallow 

 combs. Why, it would be very easy to make the 

 cases enough deeper to give me the same comb 

 depth that I now have, and make the bars thick; 

 but I shall never do this. With those shallow cases, 



worked upon the alternating plan, the board is kept 

 so closely to the bars, both top and bottom, that 

 very few brace-combs are built. Another thing: I 

 make the bars (which are just alike, top and bottom, 

 as all are invertible) not only less than % thick, but 

 i(s less than 'a wide, so as to have them just the 

 width of the worker comb. This allows us to read- 

 ily see right through every case, estimate honey, 

 brood, and cut out queen-cells without the necessi- 

 ty of moving the frames. When you once come to 

 use the hives in large quantities, you would find 

 that these little alterations so materially aid the 

 new system of maniigement that they are worth 

 very much more than any and all results which can 

 be gained from deep top-bars. We have been all 

 through the practice of both, on a large scale, year 

 after year, and we are very sure that we know just 

 how the matter is. If I thought I did not know, I 

 should begin to wonder if I am sure of any thing, 

 eveu my own existence. 



It is a splendid thing to have journals in which 

 we can agitate these questions, cause our brother 

 bee-keepers to think as they work, experiment as 

 they go, all of which will certainly lead to great im- 

 provements, and we shall all finally know what is 

 best. James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Feb., 1890. 



Yes, friend H., we are impatiently wait- 

 ing for time and experience to convince us 

 fellows. I wish the bees wouldn't be so long 

 about telling, or, rather, letting us find out 

 about all these good things. But, say ; if 

 you space |-inch bars only {'p, inch apart, 

 won't the bees object? Cheshire, and he is 

 backed up by Dr. C. C. Miller, says the aver- 

 age width of comb is jf of an inch thick. 

 The surface of the comb, on the average, 

 will be only ^\ inch apart. Xo, I would 

 rather have top-bars an inch or l,'o, spaced 

 {',. apart. The comb surface will then be re- 

 spectively j^; and 1',; inch apart. These dis- 

 tances are about right ; but i\; is a little close, 

 is it noty Now, I am not saying that you 

 can not space as close as this, but am only 

 asking for information. With regard to 

 your shallow brood-chambers, if you make 

 them deeper to accommodate the deeper 

 frame, you will have confusion, and your 

 customers in ordering will get the two mix- 

 ed. — Yes, sir, bee-journals are doing a splen- 

 did thing in agitating these new things, and 

 then afterward collecting and sifting the 

 facts for their readers. E. R. 



COIiONIES OUTDOORS. 



A POSSIBLE CAUSE OF EARLY FLYING IN SPRING. 



Friend Root:— The present winter has led me to 

 consider a question which, to me at least, is new. 

 My bees wintered in clamps outside are often, I 

 should judge, on the verge of flying out, yet re- 

 main in the hive. Last week I had occasion to 

 render a quantity of cappings and old comb, and it 

 led me to wonder whether the smell of heated hon- 

 ey and wax would, with the mildness of the weath- 

 er, cause the bees to be restless, and perhaps injure 

 them. Is it not probable that, when almost warm 

 enough for the bees to tly out, the smell of melting 

 wax and warm honey will disturb the bees in the 

 hive? If this is the case we should be very cautious 

 in the matter. Perh'js some of our bee-keepers 

 can give us conclusive evidence here. 



