1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



369 



CLEATS FOR HIVES. 



I'm glad to Bee H. R. Boardman have the hardi- 

 hood to eay a word in favor of them. IE I adopt 

 Dovetailed hives, my Dovetailed hives will have 

 cleats at front and back, I thinli. 



HANDLING HIVES WITHOUT BOTTOM-BOARDS. 



By reading Bro. Boardraan's excellent article on 

 page 380 I see the reason why he can handle them 

 and I can't. He has deeper frames (I know that by 

 reading the picture), and he waits till colder weath- 

 er. As I don't want deeper hives, and don't want 

 to wait till cold weather drives my bees off the bot- 

 tom-boards, I think I shall never again leave them 

 to be lifted off the board at time of carrying in. In- 

 deed, I doubt whether I shall ever again carry a 

 hive into the cellar without having the bottom fast. 



COMB-BUILDING WITH CAGED QUEENS. 



On page 281, friend Root, you ask whether I have 

 noticed " changing from worker to drone comb aft- 

 er caging the queen." No, I don't think I ever no- 

 ticed any difference. But then, how could I? The 

 only comb they build is in the supers, the brood- 

 frames being full, and every section is filled full of 

 worker foundation. Yet it is quite possible that 

 bees do not build comb so freely without a queen. 

 I do not know whether there is any difference be- 

 tween caging the queen and taking her entirely 

 away. The bees will nearly always build queen- 

 cells with a caged queen, just as much as if no 

 queen were in the hive; and I doubt whether bet- 

 ter queens can be started in any other way. You 

 see, the bees don't get frantic about being queen- 

 less, but gradually conclude that the queen lays so 

 poorly that she must be superseded. 



Marengo, 111., April 19. C. C. Miller. 



Very likely you are nearly right, doctor, 

 in regard to brooding sticks, but I should 

 prefer to have as few sticks, or as little air 

 either, between the brood-nest and the sec- 

 tions as we can get along with. I am in- 

 clined to think that friend Murray is right 

 about having more si)ace under the combs. 

 I do not think it would be found objection- 

 able, either winter or summer. AVill those 

 who have tried it please give us their expe- 

 rience V — Now. look here, old friend, if you 

 insist on having cleats on the back and 

 front of your hives to handle them by. you 

 can not get them so closely together. Why 

 don't the hand-holes answer every purpose 

 as well as the cleat? Is it not because you 

 have always used the cleats, and have got 

 used to them?— In regard to comb-building 

 with caged queens, while it may be true 

 that they will not build comb as well, is it 

 not also probably true that they do not 

 gather honey with the same energy? Where 

 the queen is taken entirely away, I can 

 hardly believe that honey-storing will go on 

 with the same rapidity. 



FRANCE'S SHOT-TO\7EK BEE-HIVE. 



FULL PAX.TICULARS OF HOW TO MAKK, ETC. 



As I have so many letters asking for dimensions 

 to make my shot-tower bee-hives, I will try, with 

 the aid of some pictures, to give directions so any- 

 body can make them. But first let me say this hive 

 is to be worked for extracted honey on y, and to 

 be wintered outdoors on the summer stand, with 

 very little or no increase. The hive when complete 

 will hold four very large colonies of bees. 



Each division will be 13>^X13',4 inches inside, and 

 3 feet ejt' inches high above the bottom-board; will 

 hold two sets of 9 frames, one set above the other, 

 as shown in Fig. 1. Make the bottom 33 inches 

 square. That will give room for a 2-inch lining all 

 round, and one inch for partitions. 



You can see by the figures how the hive is made. 

 All the lumber not wide enough to make any part 

 of the hive must be tongued and grooved together. 

 One partition should be 33 inches wide, and 3 feet 

 6^2 inches high. Nail this across the bottom, in the 

 center; match the partition lumber. We now 

 want two narrow partitions to put the other way. 

 Be sure to set the partitions up square with the 

 bottom, and break joints with the narrow and wide 

 partitions. AVhen the partitions are in, make the 

 stationary sides. They will be 16 inches wide, and 

 long enough to reach from the bottom of the bot- 

 tom-board to the top of the partition. Nail this on 

 to the left-hand corner as seen in the cut, to the 

 end of the partition and to the bottom of the hive, 

 and leave half of the ends of the partition uncover- 

 ed to form a rabbet for the movable sides to rest in. 

 The sides will be better if made with two boards 

 matched than it would be made from one piece 16 

 inches wide. 



Fig. 3. F,g. 1. 



FRANCE'S SHOT-TOWER HIVE. 



In Fig. 3 you see the cover is held up by a cleat 

 2 inches wide around the hive, half of which is fas- 

 tened to the stationary side, the other half to the 

 movable sides, and half an inch below the top 

 of the siding. This holds the side-pieces togeth- 

 er when the side contains more than one board. 

 There is a four-inch strip up and down the left cor- 

 ner. That is put on to form a rabbet for the other 

 side of the movable sides, and should project be- 

 yond the side just the thickness of the lumber of 

 the door or movable side. 



In Fig. 1, entrances are shown. Those bottom 

 holes explain themselves. The other two holes are 

 I'a inches, with a half-inch hole at the left of the 

 large hole. Those two large holes are covered with 

 a button in winter, leaving the small one open, as 

 shown in the lower one. In the summer we leave 

 the entire hole open, as shown by the upper one. 

 There is a little alighting-board just below the out- 

 entrances. It is better to make those entrance- 

 holes and put on the upper cleat before the side is 

 nailed on. After the stationary sides are on we 

 put a two-inch lining on the inside of the stationary 

 sides. You see the edge of one of those linings at 

 A, Fig. 1. Take strips of lumber one inch thick and 

 1S4 wide; nail in a strip to the side in front, up and 

 down, even with the side, and another back in the 

 corner, and a short piece between them at the bot- 



