1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



447 



together than the bees placed it, they become 

 alarmed; and to prevent more crowding, and to 

 keep things in position, they go to work and build 

 brace-cumhs in the now too small bee-spaces. T'pon 

 examination, brace-combs will be found to be studs 

 of hard wax, with, in some cases, a touch of 

 propolis, possessing no small degree of resisting 

 power. Brace-combs will usually also be built in 

 all undersized bee-spiices, so the cause of their 

 presence in almost all cases is quite apparent. 



With regard to burr-combs, if we investigate the 

 matter we shall discover the reason why the way- 

 ward little worKers do so persistently persist in 

 building them. We all know, I presume, that bees 

 are severe economists, and most exacting in that 

 line. They economize heat, time, and every thing 

 pertaining to their welfare. Every available parti- 

 cle of sweets, and every thing that can be utilized 

 by them, is eagerly gathered and stored; but in 

 nothing are they more economical than in the 

 space inclosed within the walls of their domicile. 

 It is their inherent nature to occupy and utilize 

 every space, larger than a bee-space, within their 

 homes; and especially so is this the case at or near 

 the top of the brood-chamber; and now, just at this 

 point, I would ask. Is not the cause of the presence 

 of burr-combs apparent? and does not the remedy 

 readily suggest itself? My experience, running- 

 over quite a number of years, says the cure is at 

 our finger-ends; is easily understood, is unpatent- 

 ed, and may be had for the taking— simply ad- 

 just all the interior parts of the hive so that a 

 proper bee-space is maintained throughout, and 

 the goal is reached— the joy is yours; for under 

 these conditions there is neither room for burr- 

 combs nor supposed necessity for brace-combs, and 

 but very few of either will be built. 



Frames are spaced by different parties, all the way 

 from 1}4, in. to 1,'i in. from center to center, so it 

 will easily be seen that, in order to form proper 

 bee-spaces, top-bars must be of different widths, 

 according to the spacing practiced. 



Top-bars Ji in. square, and spaced 1% in. from 

 center to center, will form spaces ^ in. by Je in.; 

 and he who expects that bees will not economize 

 such roomy spaces at the top of the brood-chamber 

 has failed to note one very prominent and impor- 

 tant characteristic in bee-nature, and will simply 

 be disappointed. Like noxious weeds, his crop of 

 burr-combs will grow until these spaces are nearly 

 full, and super ventilation well nigh chopped off. 



Hut, what about deep top-bars? will one inch or 

 so of depth prevent burr-combs between top-bar 

 and super? Well, now, I am aware that this point 

 stiould be approached charily, as so many experi- 

 enced bee-keepers regard depth of top-bar as hav- 

 ing great virtue in that line; but with all due re- 

 spect for the opinions of others, I will frankly state 

 that, after six or eight years of experience with 

 thick and thin top-bars, I am pretty well convinced 

 that that virtue is not in depth of top-bar, but in 

 correct spacina- 



Although my real frame has a top-bar about Vi in. 

 thick, my ideal frame has one only 'g of an inch in 

 depth, and of the necessary width to form correct 

 bee-spaces. Most bee-keepers, I believe, regard i"o 

 of an inch as the bee-space. Well, I will not quar- 

 rel with that, tor it is worthy of notice that the bees 

 themselves, as yet, are not fully agreed as to what 

 a proper bee-space should be; but I would add that 

 it must not be even a shade more than i\ of an 



inch— anywhere between -^^ and /e will do; but be- 

 tween top-bars and supers, i^ of an inch has my de- 

 cided preference. The top-half of end-bars should 

 be of the same width as the top-bars, and the lower 

 half tapered down to the width of the bottom-bar. 

 The end-bars of my frames are all so made now. 

 In all fairness, it should be admitted that some 

 stocks seem to have a peculiar fondness for burr- 

 combs; and under almost any conditions some em- 

 bryons will appear in the hives of such bees. 

 Belmont, Ont., Can., May 20. S. T. Pettit. 



Friend r., I have always been greatly 

 averse to thick top-bars, for the reasons you 

 have given. It curtails too much the space 

 we should like to have filled with brood. 

 When the diagonal wires and tin bars were 

 invented, I thought I had solved the great 

 problem by enabling us to use thin top-bars, 

 leaving so much additional space for brood, 

 and at the same time having no sagging. 

 I should be very glad indeed to know you 

 are right in your deductions ; but, if I am 

 correct, a great many vrill not agree with 

 you— at least not until they have gone over 

 the ground carefully and made more experi- 

 ments. Give my respects to your good 

 wife, and tell her I have long been thinking 

 of making you a call, and that it will not 

 need the additional incentive of having my 

 expenses paid, to bring it about. And now 

 about the bee-space. In our locality it is 

 a very difficult matter to maintain an exact 

 bee-space. I find that old hives in our yard 

 will shrink and swell, under the influence 

 of the weather, i inch ; and as the frames 

 rest on the rabbets, near the top edge of the 

 hive, this must of necessity vary the bee- 

 space between the upper and lower set of 

 frames. We made some hives two years 

 ago that were just exactly 9^ inches deep. 

 As the L. frame is 9i inches deep, this 

 would leave f inch bee-space on top of the 

 frames. Well, last spring I measured these 

 same hives. Instead of shrinking ,',; inch, 

 as I thought they would do, they had actual- 

 ly swelled so that they were 91 deep. It is 

 quite dry weather now, and their present 

 depth is 9* inches. I have just measured 

 several of them. If we should have con- 

 tinued dry weather, they might possibly 

 shrink another sixteenth. I must confess 

 that I am very greatly surprised to note the 

 different depths of hives, due to climatic 

 conditions. This may not be true in all lo- 

 calities, but I should feel pretty sure that it 

 would be iu most of the Northern States. 

 Now, then, the point comes up, How are we 

 here in Medina, and a good many other 

 places, going to maintain an absolute bee- 

 space, so it shall be the same at all times ? 

 I confess I do not know. The question 

 arises, " Is it necessary to have an absolute 

 bee-space, at all times of the year?"" It 

 does not matter much if we do have, in the 

 spring and fall or winter, | or even i inch ; 

 but when honey is coming in, and brace- 

 combs naturally start, then is the time we 

 need pretty nearly [\. bee-space ; and if the 

 hives are made right we will get it provid- 

 ing the weather is dry. Our new Dovetail- 

 ed hive allows a bee-space of exactly ,';; be- 

 tween the brood-frames and sections. As 

 the sections are supported by flat tins on the 

 bottom edges of the super, a little shrinkage 



