64 



THF BEE-KEEPERS' REV in. W. 



ed hive. Therein plenty of room, of course, 

 for this bulk iu most apiaries, but when 

 transportation by wagons or cars becomes 

 necessary, one half or two thirds of the 

 apace it requires will be greatly begrudged. 

 After that, but first in importance, is the 

 item of cost of construction. It will be 

 said that the cost is not great and this in a 

 certain sense is no doubt true, for one mak- 

 ing large numbers with special machinery 

 adapted to the purpose, and buying mate- 

 rial at wholesale rates, could turn them out 

 surprisingly cheaply, but when he came to 

 sell them each one helps pay for his special 

 machinery and his special market advan- 

 tages, so I 3:^y that, ia a comparative sense, 

 they are costly. I think my estimate is 

 quite within bounds that the bolts, screws, 

 castings and other metal of this hive would 

 equal an entire plain L. hive in cost: that 

 the lumber would cost twice as much, and 

 the labor of making more than twice as 

 much, so that the cost would be at least one 

 hundred and fifty percent in excess of the 

 L. hive, or two and one half times as much, 

 and all this without considering the device 

 for prevention of swarming which is the 

 chief and important distinguishing feature 

 of the hive. These present times of low 

 prices, short crops, slow sales and small pro- 

 fits speak too eloquently in the ears of the 

 producer, of the necessity for curtailing ex- 

 penses to the last possible mill, to require 

 dissertation hereon the virtue or necessity 

 of economy. Then comes the nicety of the 

 work required in reproduci g some of the 

 fine points of the hive, as for instance, the 

 somewhat eccentric character of the ends 

 of the brood frames, without any 

 compensating advantage. As a rule, bee- 

 keepers cannot afford to purchase hives, 

 they must make them, hence the necessity 

 of simplicity of construction. 



Fortunately, none of the points to which 

 exception is taken, are, in my view, neces- 

 sary to the employment of the crowning 

 device of the invention with any dimminish- 

 ed effectiveness. By this device, viz., that 

 for the prevention of swarming,- a large per 

 centage is added to the roominess of the 

 brood chamber, without increasing the 

 space which can be occupied by comb. 

 This is accomplished, roughly sjjeakine, by 

 alternating, at the approach of the swarm- 

 ing season, the combs of the brood chamber 

 with frames of wooden comb, which has no 

 septum, and in which, conseque tly, noth- 



ing can be stored. This comb appears as if 

 it had been made in this way : sections one 

 half inch in thickness taken from the end 

 of a basswood plank, which has first been 

 perforated lengthwise with a set of one-fiftli 

 inch bits set as closely together as could 

 safely be done without endangering the 

 stability of the walls between the perfora- 

 tions, are treated with some substance to 

 make them proof against the bees and the 

 weather and then fitted into appropriate 

 frames. It will at once be seen that this 

 arrangement must give the bees the feeling 

 that they have an abundance of room, since, 

 if the ordinary combs are filled with brood 

 and honey, in addition to the cells of the 

 wooden combs which must remain continu- 

 ally empty, and which yet probably give the 

 bees the impression that thev are to be fill- 

 ed, the vacant space in the brood chamber 

 is nearly or quite doubled. It is claimed 

 that this not only prevents swarming but 

 contrary to what might be expected, there 

 is a decidely less inclination to store honey 

 in the brood combs and consequently much 

 more is secured in the supers. 



As already said, in the two season's use, I 

 have had no swarms from these hives but, 

 during the first season, swarms from ordin- 

 ary hives were exceedingly few, and during 

 the last season one of the colonies had a 

 queen of the current year's production and 

 the other was not strong enough, owing to 

 the scant flow of nectar, to secure any sur- 

 plus. In consideration of these circum- 

 stances the coming season is looked to for 

 more satisfactory results. 



Lapeeb, Mich. March, 18, 18i)7. 



How to get Drawn Combs Bight in the Sec- 

 tions and Secure Comb-Honey at 

 the Same Time. 



ISAAC LUNDY. 



/S'OMB honey-producers have long been 

 vj looking for some means of inducing 

 the bees to take possesion of the the sections 

 at once, as soon as put on at the beginning of 

 the honey flow. Of course, it has long been 

 the fashion to use " bait sections " of partly 

 drawn comb to entice the bees above. Many- 

 are the times the apiarist has anxiously 

 looked in the supers, fitted as above, and 

 found the bees working only on the " bait 

 sections. " Now, if we could only supply 



