69S 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. L 



honey, the hiood-iicst sliould contain oiglit S. 

 franics; and for cxtracti'd honey, ton. I l)elieve 

 tliis verdict is concuri'ed witli at the Home of 

 tiie Honey-bees. 



Upon tlie subject of outdoor \\'intei'iiifr. there 

 may be some divei'sity of opinion as to tlie su- 

 jjeriority of the chaff hive; but tliere lias been 

 )io uncertain sound in regard to tlie mattei- in 

 tlie editorial tcacliing of (!i,KA>'iN(is. as we liave 

 l)een re|)eatedl\' a(i\ised not to winter liees out 

 of flooi's in Simiilicities. l)ut to lift frames and 

 all into chaff liives. 



Jjittle has been said in regard to tlie wintei- 

 ing (jualities of the Dovetailed iiive. even by 

 Ernest, wiio has been so enthusiastic over it in 

 othei' I'esjM'cts. Th<' senior editoi' lias stated 

 quite unreservedly, that he regards th(>m infeiior 

 to Simplicities as a pi'otection against cold, 

 wind, and rain. 



Now. the re(|uii'ements are met for those that 

 jjioduce comb honey and wintei' indoors, by the 

 eight-frame Dovetailed hive; foi' those that 

 produce extracted h()ne\'. and w intei' indoors, 

 by the ten-frame Dovetailed hiv(>, and foi- those 

 that extract and wintei' out of doors, by either 

 the one or two stoiw chaff hive; but according 

 to your own teachings you make no liive that is 

 adajtted both to the production of comb honey 

 and for outdoor wintering. I think I am safe 

 in estimating that fonr-tifthsof the ten thousand 

 bee-keepers that subsci'ibe for (Ji.kanings b(^- 

 long to this nii|)rovided-for class, and that they 

 keej) a larger numlier of colonies of bees, and 

 produce moi'e tons of honey, than any of the 

 other classes — I was about to say. more than <dl 

 the other classes. 



If (me of this class were to send yon an order 

 foi' hives suited to his needs, he would be charg- 

 ed extra for being " irregular:" and if during 

 the busy season, he would be unable to get them 

 at all. 



All the preceding remarks have been onlv 

 preliminary to the following suggestion: That 

 the committee which designed the Dovetailed 

 hive be re-assembled, and ixMpiested to give us 

 an eight-frame one-story chaff hive that \\ ill 

 take the eight-frame Dovetailed furniture 

 above. 



H' this suggestion meets with favor. 1 should 

 like to say something additional to the com- 

 mittee before this Mew(?) hive takes its final 

 i^hape. W. A. KiXG. 



Marysville. ().. Aug. Ki. 



Your classitication of bee-keepers is veiy 

 good; and while we have not yet hit the fourth 

 class, as you suggest, directly, we have had it in 

 mind; and the "committee,'" as you are pleased 

 to call it, lias been talking and arguing on an 

 eight-frame chaff hive— that is. something that 

 will be cheapei' than our regnlai- ten-frame, and 

 yet answer the purpose fully as well. We liave 

 been experimenting along this line, but as yet 

 have not said anything in print, because it is 

 better to test new things at the H(mie of the 

 Honey-bees than to have beginners all over the 

 land try something that we thinh may be all 

 I'iglit, and yet which may ultimately prove after 

 all a failure to them. Well, perhaps it will do 

 no harm totc^ll what the eight-frame chaff hive 

 is that we have in mind. Hundreds of bee- 

 keeiiers have the eight-frame Dovetailed hive, 

 and they may take a notion to winter outdoors 

 either a half or all of their colonies, because the 

 cellai'. if they have one. is too damp, or because 

 some other condition is not i-iglit. Tliev have 



the hives on hantl. and desire to winter outdoors. 

 Now. how shall we fix them up? If it is practi- 

 cable, and snbs<'quent experiments justify it^ 

 we pi'opose |)utting on the market a winter case 

 made of ''h lumber, dovetailed at the corners. 

 This case will be % inches deeper and larger all 

 round than the eight-frame Dovetailed hive, 

 and it is to have a tin-roof cover. By dovetail- 

 ing th(^ corners we Hnd we can make it of much 

 lighter lumber, and we are also able at the same 

 time to dis])ense with corner- i)osts. Well, this 

 winter case, or cap. is to be set directly over the 

 regular eight-frame Dovetailed hive, and is 

 deep enough so that the edges can be puslied 

 down into the sand or sawdust around the hive. 

 We then virtually have a double-walled hive, 

 with a d(>ad-air space, so called. This air-space 

 w ill be suftieient for moderate climates; but for 

 colder regions, possibly even for the locality of 

 the Hom(> of the Honey-bees, we shall be obliged 

 to use additional packing. To accomplish this, 

 we make a cushion in the form of a ring, just 

 large enough to put around the eight-frame 

 Dovetailed hive, and another cushion on the 

 cover. The case would be then just large 

 enough to slip over the whole snugly, and 

 crow d dow 11 into the sand oi' sawdust, as before 

 mentioued. The expense of the case, when put 

 on the market in lots of 100. would be about 3.5 

 cents each in the flat. As the chaft', or some 

 absorbent, can be obtained cheaply in most lo- 

 calities, each bee-keeper can make for himself 

 the cushions he would need. Now. i)lea.se b<»ai- 

 in mind that we have tested a similar arrange- 

 ment only one season, and on a rathei' limited 

 scale. AVhile it was successful last winter, the 

 weather was too warm to pi'ove any thing. 

 This will make the cheapest double-walled ar- 

 i-angement ever before offered in the market; 

 and if successful, I do not see any reason why it- 

 should not sujjersede all other more expensive^ 

 double-walled hives, because it can be so readi- 

 ly adapted to eight-frame hives already in use. 

 that have no projecting porticoes. 



You say. friend K.. that <'ven GLEANiX(is will 

 admit that a ten-frame hive is better for ex- 

 tracted honey. While W(> did so, the junioi- 

 editor wishes to argue now for eight-frame 

 hiv(>s exclusively, both foi' comb and for extract- 

 I'd honey. Perforated zinc, when placed over a 

 brood-nest of eight frames, promises to work a 

 revolution. Read what L. E. Mercer said on 

 page ()74, last issue, in regard to the proper size 

 of a brood-nest in connection with perfoi-ated 

 zinc. If we can force a queen to fill eight 

 frames of brood below, by the us(> of the zinc, 

 let us have tin- use of the upper story for ex- 

 tracting combs. Mr. Meicer says, and our own 

 experience, and the experience as well of thou- 

 sands of b(>e-k<'epers. goes to show that, as soon 

 as the queen has tilled .seven or eight frames, 

 she will, unless restrained, go above and lay. 

 I believe that intelligent bec^-keeping of the 

 future, w ith eight frames. Laiigstroth size, will 



