OIlJ VOTED TO BEEH AND HONEY, AND HOME INTERESTS. 



Vol. VII. 



AUGUST 1, 1879. 



No. 8. 



A. I. ROOT, 



Publisher and Proprietor, 

 Medina, O. 



Published Monthly. (TERMS: $1.00 Per Annum in Ad- 



< vitu re; 3 Copies for $2.50; 5 for $3.7 5; 



Established in 1 873. ClO oi more, 60c. each. Single Number, lOc. 



SCRAPS AND SKETCHES. NO. 8. 



SniNOI.E HIVES. 



^fjp^EAR NOVICE:— In that flying: trip which you 

 FjNv) took a few years ago, through Michigan, I do 

 not suppose that you visited any shingle mills. 

 Perhaps you saw a few mills from your car window, 

 and, in the passing glance that you gave them, I 

 wonder if you noticed that some of the "shanties" 

 composing the "huddles" which surrounded the 

 mills were "sided up" with cull shingles. Lest you 

 did not notice it, I must tell you that these cheap, 

 temporary buildings, which would otherwise be un- 

 inhabitable in cold weather, are quite cosy and com- 

 fortable when they get on their "shingle overcoats." 

 It was the sight of buildings covered in this manner 

 that made me think, "Why can't we make our chaff 

 hives out of shingles ?" 



HUTCHINSON'S SHINGLE CHAFF TENEMENT HIVE. 



In this case, thought was soon followed by action, 

 and I not only made some ordinary, two story, chaff 

 hives, out of cull shingles and cull lumber, but I 



made a— a— well, look at the above picture of it, and 

 then call it what you please; I should call it the 

 shingle-chaff-tenement hive, if it was not such an 

 "awful" long name. I will not attempt to give a 

 detailed description of its construction, but I will 

 give a few hints, and then you must "think out" the 

 rest of it for yourself. 



It is two stories high, and is built to aocommodate 

 four swarms, each swarm occupying a "corner." 

 Light frames, something like large picture frames, 

 are used to nail the shingles to. As the shingles are 

 laid six inches "to the weather," and as the hive is 

 about two feet high, it requires five of these large 

 frames. The row of nails next to the top row is 

 covered with a strip of lath, to keep the sun from 

 drawing them out, while the topmost row is protect- 

 ed by the lower edge of the top or roof. 



The inside of the lower stories is made by nailing 

 shingles perpendicularly inside of wooden frames, 

 which are, of course, made just the right size to 

 give the lower stories the proper dimensions. But 

 two of these frames are required for each compart- 

 ment, one at the top and the other at the bottom. 

 Two sides of the frames which are at the bottom 

 are formed by long strips of wood that reach clear 

 across the whole hive, the ends resting upon the 

 lowest large frame to which the outside shingles are 

 nailed. The other two sides of these lower frames 

 are formed by nailing strips of wood between the 

 long cross pieces just mentioned. The thick ends 

 of the shingles are placed uppermost, and a rabbet 

 to hang the frames in is formed by nailing the shin- 

 gles lower than the upper edge of the surrounding 

 frame. 



The upper story is first divided into two equal 

 apartments, by a long division board made of 7b 

 lumber, which extends the whole Width of the hive; 

 then these two apartments are again divided by 

 division boards made of % lumber. The inside edges 

 of the large frames, to which the outside shingles 

 are nailed, touch the outside ends of these division 

 boards, and are fastened to them with nails. To 

 the lower edges of these division boards are nailed 

 two sides of the frames to which are attached the 

 upper ends of the shingles composing the inner 

 walls of the lower stories. The topmost large frame, 

 to which the outside shingles are nailed, is made of 

 wide strips, so that it reaches the inside walls of the 

 hive, and makes a covering for the chaff filling. 



The inner walls of the upper stories, that come 

 next to the outside of the hive, are also made of 

 shingles. The upper ends of the shingles are nailed 

 to the inside of the topmost large frame, and the 



