1^H(» 



GLEANINGS IN IJEE CULTUIiE. 



669 



of ii Ijoard to form an cutraiK-i'. Xoti' the I'l'- 

 sull: III March, sonic evil spirit, citiicr in tiic 

 form of a dog, cat. or mccldiiiig person. piisJKMl 

 the iiivc foi'ward four or live inciics — of course 

 cliilliiig a line strong s\\ ai'm of bees. It was no 

 fault of tile lii\('. exce|it liie ]acl\ of a jiroper 

 bottom, ami we decided to adopt the standard 

 frame. i)ut in some secure hive: so this season 

 we bouglit of a supply-deah^i'. not a manufac- 

 turer, as we ougiit. a lot of hivi'S in liie Ihit. and. 

 by liis unpar(h>iial>l(' lilunder. insK'ad of gix'ing 

 standard fiames lie sent another odd-sized hive: 

 and. as we had waited hito, and the swarming 

 season was at hand, we accepted them. Well, 

 vv(^ then had three sizes of frames in a small 

 apiary. We could say with lllake. ■"Duin the 

 hives." At last the head of the family, beingof 

 a mechanical turn of mind, suggested a rcMiiedy. 

 and we have just ado|)ted it. and now we breathe 

 a sigh of reli(>f. We have uniform frames: we 

 can unite or divide as we please. We cut 

 enough off tli(> bottom of each frame in the 

 Controllable hives to make them standard 

 depth, the length f()rtunalely b(>ing the same, 

 and cut enough otf the bottom of each hive to 

 make it right. The new ones we found, after 

 trying three (and not liking them), could 

 be remodeled: and. by getting new frames, lie 

 all right. As we have no suitalile place picpared 

 for doing such work, the cutting of frames was 

 done in the open air, with the bees still on. 

 We placed the rejuvenated hive under the 

 shade of a tree some rods away, jiutting in first 

 an empty frame: then carrying a full frame from 

 th»^ swarm to be operated on. we smoked as 

 many as might be otf. upon the empty frame, 

 saved the end jiieces. cut the c(jmb. nailed on 

 the bottom, and. putting it in place, went for an- 

 other. It took two of ns from half an hour to an 

 hour to transfer each colony: but we think it 

 will be worth the trouble and the time. 



Our bees have done linely this summer, none 

 of them making less than :{.") lbs., and our best 

 about 70 lbs. They are still working on buck- 

 wheat, and have been for abont six weeks, as 

 we sowed it for a succession, and wehoite to have 

 very little feeding to do for winter. 



Mi:S. (}. M. HAIiKKK. 



Natick, Mass.. Aug. 28. 



Thank you, my good fri;'nd, for the moral 

 you have given us against adopting frames and 

 hives of odd sizes. Your remedy is the rational 

 one — cut them down to orthodox dimensions or 

 smash them n\). 



ERNEST'S NOTES OF TRAVEL AMONG THE 

 YORK STATE BEE-KEEPERS. 



n.OSED-KXI) vs. IIAXGIXfi FKAMES. 



I may say at the outset, that one of the main 

 reasons why I made this trij) was to learn some- 

 thing about closed-end fi'ames. and. in particu- 

 lar, frames at fixed distances, whether closed- 

 end or otherwise. Mr. Elwood. Capt. lletlier- 

 ington, and almost all bee-keejx'rs whom I 

 visited among thi' York State hills, ar(> using 

 lixi'd frames of some soi't. It will be remembered 

 that Elwood and Iletlu'rington use the closed- 

 end (^uinby fianie and system. Their frame, 

 howevei'. is about 2 incli(>s shorter than the 

 regular (^uinby, retaining, I believ(\ the original 

 depth. 



Well, after leaving Mr. Tunlcllff, Mr. Elwood 

 and I started cii route for one of his out- 

 apiaries. and were discussing fixed distances 

 and the lajjidity with which they could be 

 handled, as coni|)ared with the common siis- 

 piMidi'd or hanging frames. Said 1. "■ /,/' fixed 



frames can be handled as rapidl\. and at- tJie 

 saiiH' time without killing bees as the hanging 

 frame, they will lie the frame of the future.'" 

 Mr. Elwood did not boast vei-y much what he 

 couki do — ill fact, he did not make any very 

 grcnit claims as to the system, etc.. which he 

 was using. Some time ago. in an ai'ticle he said 

 he could handle the cicjsed-end (^uinlis' as 

 rapidly as we could the hanging frame. 1 well 

 remember at the lime I did not doubt lii> veraci- 

 ty, hut I did somewhat ([Uestion his kiiowledge 

 as to the manipulation of the suspended frame. 

 1 told him. as we approacln^d one of the apiaries, 

 that one of the privileges that I had longdc^sired 

 was to see him 01' some other bee-kec^iier using 

 th(> (i)uinl)y frame handle them as rapidly as 

 the liaiigiiig frame, and not kill bees. 



By this time the yard which we were to visit 

 loomed up in sight off in the fields at the foot of 

 one of those big hills. It is located at some 

 distance from llie roatl. partly because of the 

 protecti'd position, and partly because it is se- 

 cluded from those who might pilfer or mi'ddle 

 with the hives. We drove u[) under a low- 

 spreading evergreiMi not a great way from the 

 apiary. We there nnhitched and led the horses 

 a little bit further off and gave them their oats. 

 As we did so, Mr. Elwood said there was a 

 spring up on the hillside, and that. Ixd'ore eat- 

 ing our lunch, jf I felt inclined we would go up 

 and see It, and get a pail of water. After stroll- 

 ing a little distance among the rich under- 

 growth, suddenly a lieautiful spring of water 

 came insight. Perhaps! miglitaswcll remark, 

 by way of i)arentliesis her(\ that all the York 

 State water, especially from the hillside springs, 

 is clear and cold. In my own State of Ohio it 

 is not very advisable for me to drink from dif- 

 ferent wells or sjirings — at least to any great 

 extent: but on my bicycle tour through New 

 York I drank fi-eel'y from every roadside spring 

 with imimnity: and. oh how good, pure, and 

 cold it did taste! What would I have given if 

 I could have transported one of these springs, 

 that seemed so common in York State, to my 

 own home in Ohio! Doolittle had water from 

 one of these springs pi])ed to his house. I re- 

 member how thirsty I was, and how refreshing 

 the water. Just thing of it — a running spring 

 in the house, of lieautiful water I But. to return: 



Mr. Elwood and I secured the lunch-basket; 

 and after hunting around for a good log to sit 

 on. we partook of a hearty lunch: w liich. being 

 dispatched, we put on our veils and proceeded 

 to the yard. I had exp(>cted to see large Quin- 

 by hives: but. to my surprise, the brood-nest 

 or l)rood - chambers were no larger, on the 

 average, in cubic capacity, than are those ir. 

 our eight-frame Dovetailed hives. I had sup- 

 posed that the York State bee-kiH'iiers. like the 

 Uadants, advocated and used large brood- 

 chambers. So far as I was able to discover, 

 however — in the production of comb honey at 

 least — they practice contraction, and use brood- 

 chambers no larger in caiiacity than an ordina- 

 ry 8-frame Langstroth hive. The frame being 

 :.''inclies shorter than the original Quinby. (> of 

 these frain(>s would be about eipiivaleut to 8 

 of the Langstroth. I should say. without figur- 

 ing. I was siiiprised to learn that all or nearly 

 all of the bee-men of York State who have 

 adoiited the Quiiibv closed-end fi'aine. like Mr. 

 Elwood and C'ai)t. Iletherington. use it 2 inches 

 shoifer. and it is no doubt a better frame for 

 the reduct ion in length. 



Aftei lighting the smoker. Mr. Elwoo.l and I 

 entered the yard, and he proceeded to oiien up 

 a hive wliih' I was looking on with eager ex- 

 jiectancv. The entrances wcr.' on tln^ under 

 side of the hive. IJIowing a little smoke under 

 to firive away the guards, he lifted otf a case of 

 sertioiH. I expecti'd to see those frames come 



