Iftl 



GLEANINGS IN bEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



ihc swaiuiiiifr impulse, and in about a week they 

 l)!i\ e so ri'uaim-d tlu-ir loss tliat they are ready for 

 ilic l)o.\<'s ajiuiii. Ill tills way I make only one eolo- 

 iiy li-oiii tw<» old ones, hut have all in the best possi- 

 1 Ic eonditioii to lalo' ad\antaK-e of the honey har- 

 vest. U. M. D(JULITTI-K. 

 Borodino, N. Y.. Feb. 13, IbS"!. 



WIDE VS. riARROW TOP-BARS. 



@F late tiiere has been a g-ood deal said in the 

 .journals about the bees building comb be- 

 tween the top-bars, honey-board, or the caps. 

 If the hive is properl.v constructed, there need 

 be no complaint on this account. I have read 

 something about "nuisances in the apiary;" but 

 in all my experience in bee-keeping-, the big-g-est and 

 worst nuisance is the narniw top-bar to the mova- 

 ble-frame hive. Mr. Langstroth saw this defect in 

 the tlrst frames he devised, and soon discarded the 

 narrow bar for a wide one, and at the same time 

 gave his space between the top-bar and the houey- 

 board above. 



Now, is it really necessary to have a " sink " hon- 

 o.v-board where the hives and frames are made as 

 above? I have never used a narrow top-bar in my 

 apiary, but had occasion to work on hives for other 

 people, where the top-bar was but ^i of an inch 

 wide. The first move would be to pry off the honey- 

 board, and with it several pounds of honey and wa.x. 

 Before proceeding further, the bees must have time 

 to clean up the loose honey: and then what a line 

 job it is to get out such frames! It is almost vexing 

 enough to " make a minister swear." 



Last year I bought 20 three - frame nucleus hives, 

 all having- nroToR' top-bars. If the bees and I live 

 until spring, there will not be one of them on my 

 premises after May 10. What possible ob.iection can 

 there be to a Hs-inch-wide top-bar? The apiarist 

 who has never used them knows hut little about 

 how nicely they work, and with what ease and com- 

 fort he can open and examine a colony of bees, 

 compared with the hive having narrow bars. Bee- 

 keepers abotit here have used the former for over 

 twenty years, also thin honey-hoards, slatted honey- 

 boards, and. in fact, all kinds, except those made of 

 perforated zinc; the result, so far as a crop of hon- 

 ey was concerned, was all the same. 



The frames having- wide top-bars should be spaced 

 so that there will be not quite 'i inch between them 

 at the top, and there should be the same room be- 

 tween the top of the frame and the honey-board, or 

 whatever is used over the frames, and no comb of 

 any account will be put in between. The L. frames 

 with a top-bar I'li inches wide will just about fill the 

 space of the L. hives; that is, where the hive is Wi 

 inches wide. The dimensions for a standard Lang- 

 stroth hive, as Mr. L. has griven in his book, are U'^ 

 inches wide, IS's inches lon{f, and 10 inches deep. 



All the frames in the tweiity nuclei I received last 

 year were made lor hives that should be 'i inch 

 longer than the above. All these frames had tin 

 corners to keep them from getting- out of squai-e, 

 but every one of them was ^i of an inch lengthwise 

 out of «(yi/«)-f, and for that reason I shall cut the 

 combs out of every frame, and ])ut them in others 

 that have no tin corners. I never have any thing to 

 keep my frames equare, except the nulls, and none 

 t)f them nrc out of true. 



I have received several frames lately (samples of 

 the reversible arrangement), and all had the narrow 

 top-bars. To me, this is an objectionable feature; 

 but I did not see how a wide one could be used 

 where the reversing arrangement was aflixed to 

 them. Well, I set my wits at work, and soon de- 

 vised one that the wide top could be used on. A 

 sample will be sent you soon, also cuts, to show 

 them in Gleanings. You will see that this ar- 

 rangement is very simple, practical, and easily ap- 

 plied. The top-bar is held firmly in place, and the 

 frames are as firm as need be. All the work, but 

 nailing, can be done with the circular saw. 



Wenham, Mass., Feb. 6, 1885. H. Ai.t,kv. 



Friend A.. I know tliere are some wiio pre- 

 fer top-bars more than one inch wide; but 

 before gettini^ out onr metal corners J exper- 

 imented preity thorouuhly, and used hives 

 with loi)-bars of difterent widths for several 

 years. Those having a top-bar li inches 

 wide troubled us more in the apiary than 

 any thing we ever used. The bees were con- 

 tinually bridging from one to the other, so 

 as to make the whole top look like a solid 

 chunk of combs and sticks. Somebody (and 

 I am inclined to think it was J. II. Townley, 

 the father of the chaff-packing arrangement) 

 suggested frames H inches wide, with the 

 top-bars beveled off so as to present only a 

 sharp knife edge along the top edges. I 

 think likely these would work better; but 

 the way we handle combs for (jueen-rearing, 

 it seems to me no width is so convenient as 

 the orthodox 1-inch. I should be glad to 

 have the experience of many of the friends 

 in this matter. 



HOW TO TELL WHEN SECTIONS ARE 

 FILLED, ETC. 



IS IT ONLY THE VERY YOUNG BEES THAT SE- 

 CRETE WAX? f 



T SEE by Feb. 1 number, Mr. Robbins has been 

 1^ writing for my benefit; and as I have had over 

 W twenty letters from other friends, telling: me 

 ^■*- how to find out when the Ileddon case is full 

 and capped over, it is about time I should know 

 how to use them to advantage; but, friends, I am 

 as bad off as ever; and although I am thankful for 

 the advice, none have yet told me how to tell when 

 they are full, without disturbing the bees, which 

 you must do when you take otf the cover; and be- 

 fore it can be put down, the smoker has often to be 

 used to drive the bees down. With the case I use 

 you have onl.y to lift off the top story, and look 

 through the glass. I use the wide frames the same 

 way, by putting two strips of glass on each side, 

 and cut off the arms so you can set a Simplicity top 

 over them. They can be held together bj'^ a small 

 wire or string. 



I believe I said once before, that after a bee got 

 old enough to be a worker ho could make no more 

 wax. The editor seems to differ. Now, to prove 

 that a worker could secrete no wax, which I claim 

 is a product of the bee which it yields before it is 

 old enough to be a worker, I built me a hive with a 

 wire division-board separating two frames from 

 the others. I put all the workers on one side, and 

 the young bees and queens on the other, with the 

 entrances to each apartment at opposite ends of the 

 hive. To keep this colony of workers strong, I got 



