670 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



apart with a snap and an onslaught of heos. 

 Thci'c was no snap or onslaught. He |)ic'k('(l up 

 and handled the IVanics as rapidly as you or I 

 can handle suspended I'lames; and I am not 

 sine hut he manipulates them more rapidly. 

 Mr. Elwood then examined continuously 2.5or 30 

 other colonies: and when I came to think of 

 the time he had sp<Mit in doing it. of tiie queens 

 we had seen, of the brood surface we examined. 

 I w as simjjly astound<Hl. I feel pretty sure that 

 I could not have examined the same amount of 

 biood surface in the hanging frame in so short 

 a space of time. Did he kill any bees'? Not 

 one that I saw. Did th<> fi'ames stick together? 

 Scarcely at all: and yet tlu' hees were hybrids. 

 Here was a large yard of. say. over a hiindi-ed 

 colonies. I do not remember to have asked 

 how long itrwould take him to examine each 

 one: but at the rate he handled those before 

 me he would have gone through the whole api- 

 ary in four or five hours, and hunte(l ;ill the 

 queens besides. He did not move very rapidly; 

 on the contrary, his movements were deliberate, 

 but they counted. 



I am well aware that this is a heavy testi- 

 monial for the closed-end frames on the Quinby 

 plan: but I deem it but just to give it. b<'caus'e 

 I know the bee-keepers of the West, and those 

 who have been using the lianging frames, have 

 somehow got the idea into their Jieads that the 

 closed-end frames were simply intolerable, and 

 that the bee - keepers who were using them 

 were either very much behind the tim(>s, or so 

 stubborn as not to be ojx'n to conviction that 

 there might be something better. Indeed, 

 when we consider the fact that nine-tenths of 

 the bee-keepers of that section of New York 

 where I visited are using fixed frames, and are 

 intelligent and progressive men: and when we 

 consider the other fact, that they make bees 

 pity, we must admit that their system is not so 

 clumsy and awkward, after all. Capt. Hether- 

 ington. years ago. used hanging frames faith- 

 fully, and finally discarded them foi- tlu- closed- 

 end (Quinby. Hetherington. with his three or 

 four thousand colonies; Elwood. with his 13(X). 

 and a great many others owning from 3(M) to 4(X1 

 colonies in this pail of New York, use only fixed 

 frames, some Quinby and some Hoffman. 



NO BUlili-COMBS. 



While Mr. Elwood was examining the hives I 

 was pleased to note that there were no burr- 

 cembs on the tops of the frames. N\). I do not 

 believe I saw a single small spur. When I 

 came to inciuire into the matter I found he used 

 top-bars fully an inch wide and %^ of an inch 

 thick— perhaps in some cases 14 inch thick with 

 fixed distdxccs. I emphasize this piu'posely. 

 because I believe that this is one of the secrets. 

 I could not discovei' that any of the b<'e-keepers 

 who had used fixed distances with top-bars^ 

 of an inch thick and an inch wide, in that sec- 

 tion of country, had used honey-boards. No, a 

 honey-board was a thing that none of them 

 had evei- tried. With no burr-combs, what 

 need had they of them? Now. if I am able to 

 judge coiTcctly. with fixed distances we can 

 have tliinncr top-bars; but with hanging 

 frames and no aiTangement for automatic 

 sjjacing, in order to do away with burr-combs 

 there must be thicker toi)-bars. I examined 

 into this nuitter very cai'efully all through this 

 trip: and since myretui'u home I feel confii'med 

 in what I have said above in regard to the 

 presence oi' absence of buri'-combs, theii' cause 

 and prevention. 



I am veiy well aware that I have given some 

 flattering testimonials for the Quinby system. 

 I am not sui'e. howevei'. that bee-keejx'i-s geiKM'- 

 ally woukl not like the open or movable sides. 

 The hive looked a little to|)-heavy also, and a 

 good many bee-keepers incline ' toward the 



shaix'ly ai^pearance of a thing as well as its 

 piactical utility with the two combined. I 

 took some \iews of the apiary, and of the hives 

 in particular, with the Kodak; and when the 

 same are repi'oduced for Gleanings I will then 

 explain in detail how and why Mr. Elwood can 

 handle those frann^s so lapidly, which I can 

 iu>t flo now without the aid of engravings. 



After leaving this yard we visited two or 

 three others. All that I saw were located in 

 spots that were pecvdiarly picturesque. The 

 scenery — perhaps a big hill on one side, a valley 

 beneath, mountains over in the distance, all 

 combine to mak(» many of the locations grand 

 in their outlook. .\s our time was limited we 

 did not visit all of the yards, for one yard is 

 largely a repetition of the others. 



ELWOOD'S mammoth BKE-CEI,LA1!. 



The next morning, as we expected to visit 

 other bee-keepers, I took a walk around the 

 premises. '-Oh, yes!" I said, •' there is that 

 enormous bee-cellar that I w ant to see.'" 'Slv. 

 Elwood conducted me to his Tiuunmoth reposi- 

 tory under his lai'ge bank bai'u. If I remember 

 correctly it was divided equally into two com- 

 partments, each one capable of holding p(»rhaps 

 .5(X) colonies. Just think of it— 1()(X) colonies, 

 l)ractically. in one cellarl We l)ee-keei>ers who 

 talk aliout wintering 50 or (50 colonies in a cellar 

 successfully might find it another thing to 

 bring through alive 1000 stocks in a single re- 

 pository: and yet, if I understand correctly, 

 our friend is generally successful. In this part 

 of York State they have very severe winters: 

 and, as a general rul(\ I found that bees art- 

 wintered indot)i's. I iKjticed that Mr. Elwood 

 uses a sub-earth ventilator, and he believes it 

 to be a good thing at times. He does not,, how- 

 ever, use it with its mouth outdoors open full 

 width most of the time, but only on occasions. 



" What do you do." I said, "when it becomes 

 too warm, and the bees get to roaring — that is. 

 luieasy?" 



He t(xjk me out to the mouth of his sub-earth 

 ventilator, and show<>d me how he could, by 

 enlarging the opening, let in enough cold air to 

 I'educe the tempeiature (uunigh to accomplish 

 the desired end. The winters being so cold, he 

 generally has no trouble from a too high tem- 

 perature in the cellar. 



"Then you cart all your bees home." I said, 

 "and finally put most of them into that cellar?" 



He assured me that they did. At the risk of 

 letting the readei's of (Jleanixgs think (if they 

 do not already think so) that I have gone pret- 

 ty nearly crazy on fixed distances, I will remark 

 again, that, were Mr. Elwood using hanging 

 frames, or, as he calls them, "swingiiig" 

 frames, the n(-cessary pi'ejjaration for getting a 

 colony ready for moving — that is. so many of 

 them, would reiuler moving impracticable. I 

 do not wonder that, with their I'ough and un- 

 even roads, and their terrible big hills, they 

 all us(^ frames at fixed distances, even if there 

 were no other reason whv they should do so. I 

 should like to be on hand when th(> 1(K)0 or 1300 

 coloniesaiedeposite<l in the front and back yai'd, 

 just pi-e|)arat()i-y to putting them into the cellar. 

 It must be a sight to behold, and I hope oiu' 

 friend Elwood will some day call upon his 

 nearest photograi)her to give us a view of the 

 scene. 



liefore I forget it. perhaps I had better ex- 

 plain that, instead of removing the bottom- 

 board after putting the bees into the cellar, the 

 boards have a hole six oi' eight inches square, 

 in the center, and this hole is opened or closed 

 l)y means of a convenient slide. AVhen con- 

 tracted it acts as an entrance during the sum- 

 mer season; and when ojx'ned wide it gives am- 

 ple bottom ventilation while in the cellar. 

 While we were discussing these things, we 



