1875 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



53 



To-ilav mailoil moiiol I'ross or tVaim- lor making 

 straw nial.s, ovio-lourth workliif; hi/t; which will talk 

 lor itself. To make the mat in tills i)rt'.sH you simply 

 iiU in tlic straw uji as hiuh as stakes loosely, and lonj; 

 oiunigh to trim oil" nieely. Tut on your center rail 

 lirst, luess them on, then jnit in yoiir keys. If you 

 want to make solid mats (whicli 1 think hcsd while 

 luttiiiK in keys, use a wooden mallet, and liammer 

 liuhtlv on Die rails and also on straw between rails; 

 it' will c><inali/.e and sfaighten the straw. We now 

 lasten in saddler's liorse horizontally,— any vice 

 will do— and get a strai;^'ht sacking needle 4 or 5 inches 

 3ong and sack or broom twine. !^ew as per sample, 

 broom stitch. Put twine round slack, slant needle 

 length ot stitch and merely <lniw sliich u)), and you 

 -will have a smooth lace, fsiddlcr's stitch leaves it 

 very limber one way. To trim olV, takt' out keys, slin 

 . anat back until oiit-side seam comes inside rail and 

 •cut oil' close to rail. Saddler's round knil'e comes the 

 handiest to use as it is an implement of my prol'ession 

 iind a working tool of that department. 



This mat makes a gooil division board and side 

 boards to l^'uinbv hive it made soliil. .Straw set hori- 

 zontally. T.J. l)()i)i>s, J>e CMairc, Scott Co., Iowa. 



want combs that really are ?HOi'^Ze at pleasure. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



STS HAVE six stands of black bees and five arc in 

 j5|| movable frame hives (or meant to be such) and 

 4sfi they have not built more than one or two combs 

 strait in the frame, in each hive. What am I to do ? 

 1 can not take out frames and jjlace them in other 

 hives the same lUstance apart without paring the 

 <'omb down and that would damage them would it 

 not ? Mv frames are placed in the gum 1 7-16 inches 

 I'rom center to center of each frame, is that the jiroper 

 <listance;'' Now if you will give me a short lesson on 

 these first principles, or tell me where lean get the 

 jiroper instructions I shall be very thankful. 



Alfred Cox, White Lick, lud. March 22nd, '75. 



Bless j'our lieart friend C, your task is com- 

 jjaratively an easy one if you have but 6 colo- 

 nics. If one comb is straight in each hive, you 

 are fortunate. Now, while but little honey is 

 in the way, is your best time; get out one 

 comb first, the one that will come easiest, and 

 inalve that just as good as it can be; with a 

 thin knife and some splints, put every coiub 

 just as it should l)eaud keep it there until the 

 bees fasten it. Never mind the trouble, for 

 wlien you once get a set of good combs thej^ 

 will last a life-time. Paring the combs down 

 will do no especial harm, but we think it a 

 great mistake to attempt to have the combs 

 Jixed at exact distances apart. The average 

 distance should be, it is true, l)o inches or a 

 little less, but it will do no hurt at all, to give 

 very thick combs 1,?4 or even 2 inclics, in 

 some cases, until the bees have cut them down, 

 as they will do when they use them for brood 

 j'earing. The use of the Extractor enables us 

 to bring all combs into nice shape very easily, 

 it lid above all it enables us to take the honey 

 <nit of their way instead of allowing them to 

 bulge out the combs and fill every little cranny 

 in a way that is very poor economy for both 

 them and their keeper, besides the bother of 

 liaving combs like yours friend C., that are 

 not removal)le. When combs are built across, 

 cut them out, and fasten them in frames as in 

 transferring; every time you open a hive, bend 

 tlie combs into place, and see if you cannot 

 make them a little better. You will soon have 

 tliem so that you would laugh at a patent right 

 man v>ho should tell you you needed a mova- 

 ble side, or board, or something to take out to 

 (•liable you to get the lirst comb out. If you 

 have closed top bars or sides, to keep the combs 

 at fixed distances, uv even nails or any kind of 

 j.'i'ojectlons, we should advise clearing all these 

 out of the way at once, that is if you 



iiAieiiiKON'.s iiivi:. 



BKAIl N'OVK'K: — I enclose you a cut ol .Ino. S. 

 Harbison's "California 15ee Hive,"' patented .Jan. 

 , 4th, ItiJit. The hive has been used in the Kasl- 



ern States to some extent. Last Dec. while iit New 

 Castle, Ta.. we met Mr. Harbison and gained some 

 very valuable information from him regarding the 

 honey resources ol Cal.. and his experiences In .\pi- 

 culture there. Mr. Harbison is very pK■a^■ant and gen- 

 tlemanly in his manner and his uniiriii;,' jierseverancc 

 in Apislic pursuits in the face of all dilUcullies lias 

 well earned for him the title of King of liee-Keepers. 

 He has been at heavy expense the past season, netirly 

 S20,000 was used in his business this year, a lar^e por- 

 tion of which went to the construction of roads 

 through the rugged mountain country to his Apiaries. 

 He has over Sf)0,()OU invested in his business, and this 

 large capital backed by kuowledRc of bee keeping 

 rarely attained, and an indomitable energy is the se- 

 cret of Harbison's Buc(;ess. He has combined many 

 good points in his hive and uses the same hive with 

 no changes except making the hives tall enough to 

 hold three tiers of sectional honey boxes and lor his 

 own Apiaries dispenses with the glass and places 

 these boxes on, so the combs built on the sections are 

 parallel with the Inuncs of the brood apartment be- 

 neath them, and when the first set is partly fiUe.l he 

 raises them and puts empty ones under them. There 

 is space enough to allow bees to pass up between the 

 open ends of the sectional boxes and the sides of the 

 hive. This being the only means of access, the iiueen 

 scarcely ever ascends to deposit eggs in ihe supers. 

 The Harbison hive is made of 1 inch lumber, is lo'u 

 inches square (outside raeasin-e) at the base, anil stands 

 29 inches high. The back of the hive is a door, liing- 

 ed at one side. The top is also hinged and swings 

 lorward. When top and back are opened, and sur|)lus 

 boxes removed, the frames can be removed by turning 

 them backward, allowing them to turn on the back 

 lower corner, which is a tenon fitting a mortice in a 

 sill, or cross stick. The upper front projection, or 

 resting point of the frame, is a nail which projects h 

 of an inch, and fits in groove in front board p^ of an 

 inch. Lower down, near the bottom of the frame an- 

 other nail projects o-S of an inch and these three, are 

 the only bearings of the frame. The hive takes nine 

 of these frames and contains about 2200 cubic inches 

 frame capacity. The frame has no bottom bar, but 

 one about half way up takes its place. Thus the bees 

 reach the combs on entering the hive without having 

 to come in contact with a bottom bar. Mr. llarlnsou 

 has not only had the dillicullies of establishing his 

 Apiaries to contend with, but the Eastern markets 

 were considerably spoiled bv untrue statements and 

 false ideas regarding the extent of the Calilornia 

 honey crop for the past season. The crop was un- 

 doubtedly a large one, but numerous articles lar over- 

 stated Mr. Harbison's own crop, while Commission 

 houses were writing Last giving quotations for 

 car loads, expecting to purchase Horn him to fill or- 

 ders. Mr. Harbison protests against this banking on 

 his capital. jl>. Lyons BiiowNK, 



March 24, '75. Indianapolis, Ind. 



As the Harbison Hive embodies nothing that 

 would, in our opinion, render it particularly 

 superior to many other hives, we have decided 

 not to give cuts of it. Very likely Mr. II. 

 having been long accustomed to it, finds it 

 easier to use than any other, but our friends 

 who have been accustomed to the simple Lang- 

 stroth hives, would prol)ably think his compli- 

 cated. One of the IIai'))isou hives has been 

 used by a neighbor of ours for many years, but 

 he, although a successful honey raiser, much 

 prefers the L. That the hive makes really but 

 little diflereuce, may be gathered from the fact 

 that our three great Apiarists, who handle 

 over 1000 colonies each, all use a diflerent hive ; 

 Harbison, his own, Hetherington an 8 frame 

 modified Quin])y hive, and Grimm, an 8 frame 

 Langstroth hive. As we have said before, if 

 you have many hives of one particular kind, 

 and they are movable comb, very likely, you had 

 better continue to use them, unless they are 

 too badly "patented." 



