1874 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



39 



As we have had our " say," we will now try 

 and tell what hive we would advise, were a 

 beginner to tell us as many have done, " Nov- 

 ice, I am just commencing and wish to com- 

 mence right. What shall I use for a Bee Hive ; 

 all things taken into consideration up to the 

 present time, what wou'vl you advise?" 



Now it is with very much hesitation we an- 

 swer in favor of the Adair frame in place of 

 our time honored Langstroth standard, and 

 one great reason we have for so doing, is that 

 the hive for it can all be made of boards of a 

 single and moderate width, also considering 

 that the hive will never be used two story. 



In practice 'tis found that we do not need 

 quite, l l e inches to the frame but that 20 

 frames work very conveniently in a hive 28^ 

 inches long inside, or 30 inches outside meas- 

 ure, as described on pages 23, 28 and 35, pres- 

 ent Vol. "With a permanent bottom board, we 

 believe we would prefer the Langstroth blocks 

 for closing the entrance, to any thing we have 

 yet used ; and one principal reason is, that 

 they always guide the bees quickly and surely 

 home; whether they are laden with pollen or 

 honey and in eager haste to unload and get 

 more, whether they are tumbling in pell-mell 

 at the approach of a thunder shower, or wheth- 

 er 'tis only the juvenile Italians wanting to 

 get home after having tried and approved their 

 wings for the first time. 



Really, how slowly we get along to-night ; 

 if we don't come down to business we shall 

 not get our Standard hive done at all. Well, 

 we would prolong the bottom board in front 

 about 3 inches, and would have the outer end 

 beveled off on an inclined plain, that bees 

 might crawl up readily from the ground when 

 heavily laden. We make the front end-board 

 nairow enough to leave a space the width of 

 the hive, % inch wide for entrance. This en- 

 trance when open full width, will afford all the 

 ventilation ever needed, for in our opinion the 

 wire cloth arrangements for ventilation are 

 next in uselessness to patent moth traps. The 

 entrance blocks we would make triangular, 

 2},£ x 1%~S- 8; they are pushed into the entrance. 



Before the hive is used we would have the 

 bottom board thoroughly painted, and then 

 would keep it from the ground only by J 8 strips 

 clear around underneath ; bottom is ''let in" the 

 sides to exclude wet. We do this because 'tis 

 warmer near the earth, and less manure will 

 be needed to cover them in winter. 



Now in regard to hinging on the cover; 

 with a length of 30 inches, three hinges are 

 really needed, one in the middle and one near 

 each end, and as Simplicity hinges can only be 

 used at the ends we fear we had better drop 

 them entirely for the long hives, as there is no 

 occasion for removing the covers at all. To 

 those who would remonstrate at so many 

 changes in our teachings, we have only to say 

 that all real progress must be a series of tear- 

 ing down and building up again, and if we 

 give you on these pages, real life, it must come 

 combined with inperfections, and error. Those 

 who have L. frames or in fact any other, can 

 make a hive on this plan to try it, and use the 

 combs they have. Where the width of the 

 frame necessitates using a cover greater in 

 width than 16 inches, we would make it of two 

 boards, and to make the joint water tight, 



sure, we simply saw in to the edge of both 

 boards to the depth of about % of an inch, 

 thus leaving, when the boards are placed close 

 together, a groove in which we may slide a 

 tongue, made by folding a strip of tin one inch 

 wide, thus: <-—•• — > if water gets in as far 

 as the tin, it can go no farther and if the crack 

 is filled with paint, it — well, it's very good. 

 A similar tongue made of wood is apt to check 

 in time by shrinkage of the b >arls, which the 

 tin cannot do. We have just made an L. hive 

 to hold 30 frames with two joints in the cover 

 and bottom made in this way ; use the thinnest 

 tin unless your saw cuts a very wide groove. 



So many questions are asked about the met- 

 al rabbet, a place for it, bevel etc., that we 

 give the following rude cut, explanatory. The 

 rabbet A, is printed from a section of the tin 

 rabbet itself, and in fact the whole diagram is 

 printed from strips of tin bent up hastily. [We 

 respectfully tender the idea to the craft free of 

 charge.] 



! C 



B, is the supporting arm of the frame lesting 

 on the edge of thin metal of A. For nailed 

 frames, this arm should be di'essed out very 

 exact, for unless it is, the frame cannot hang 

 true. We would also have the end sawed off 

 to a sharp V shaped point where it strikes the 

 back part of A, that the bees may have as lit- 

 tle chance as possible to wax it fast. For this 

 latter idea we are indebted to W. H. Shane, of 

 Chatham Center, this Co. Our reason in fact 

 for having a back part to the rabbet, is to get 

 a smooth surface for the frame to strike on, 

 and to avoid gumming; they are much less 

 liable to attach it to tin than to wood. 



The space under the arm at A, we have en- 

 deavored to have just lai'ge enough for a bee 

 to " promenade" easily through ; if they can't, 

 they fill it with propolis. The tin is cut in 

 strips 1% inches wide for the rabbats, the 

 places where bent, and angles, can be taken 

 from the drawing. C, represents a section of 

 the J<8 board with the place cut for the rabbet, 

 j?8 x 1 }g ; we prefer this extra depth to give 

 plenty of room to tuck down the quilt; the 

 wood remaining, being just bj inch in thick- 

 ness. The bevel on which the cover shuts is 

 just about what we prefer ; for directions for 

 cutting it exact, see March No. of Vol. 1. 



It will be seen that we cut rabbet in C, 

 square in, both ways, but the back of A, is 

 slanted; this is to be sure to have the top edge 

 of A, come tight against the wood, that noth- 

 ing may get behind it, and to have the frames 

 glide smoothly into their places when handled 

 rapidly. We would give each frame about l-l(i 

 end shake, having space D, between hive and 

 frame, never less than }± nor more than }4 inch. 



