448 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



Your little story about the way you kept 

 your promise given to each of your patrons 

 is a good point ; and if you have done that 

 right straight tlirough life, 1 wonder that 

 you have not built up a big business. It is | 

 true, my frielid. that a big business can be 

 built up in almost any thing by letting the 

 world know that you are prompt and relia- 

 ble; yes, you can get more tlum the market ! 

 price for every thing you want to sell, if you j 

 make your name "gilt edge." Your illus- 

 tration about the importance of having your I 

 produce in market promptly, hits the point 

 exactly; and I wish we could make tiiis mat- 

 ter catching, like the measles and smallpox. 

 Why, it is almost a matter of life and death; 

 and promptness not only makes a man valu- | 

 able here in this world, but it fits him for a 

 better world after this one is finished. 



Now, lest any one should get a little prej- 

 udiced against friend tJates in this matter, 

 from what I have allowed you to say about 

 him, I want to say he is one of the best and 

 most reliable men that 1 know of ; and I 

 should not be very much afraid to say that 

 every transaction lie does not make satisfac- 

 tory I would; and as he works on a small 

 margin (he sells bees and queens a " good 

 bit '' cheaper than we do, you know), maybe 

 one of his business rules will be that his pa- 

 trons must stand the expense of sending tlie 

 money back, when orders come so thick he 

 can't fill them all. 



THE SIMPLICITY HIVE. 



THE STAND IT IS NOW TAKING IN BEE CULTURE. 



THINK I am safe in saying, that there 

 are now more Simplicity hives in use 

 than any other one kind in the world. I 

 do not mean to say that we have made 

 them all, by any means, but that there 

 are more hives made on this principle than 

 any other. When I started out (nearly fif- 

 teen years ago) to make them, tlie idea I had 

 in mind was something like this : It seemed 

 to me there was a great need for some sim- 

 ple foriu of hive tluit could be made of a few 

 simple pieces ; and these pieces were to be 

 so made that they could be combined so as 

 to give a hive of any capacity, from a nucle- 

 us for queen-rearing up to a hive capable of 

 containing the entire progeny of any queen. 

 The hive was to be made of only two pieces 

 —a body and a cover. When I lise the word ' 

 /tire, I mean tlie outer sliell, or covering, | 

 without reference to the inside furniture. I 

 That we might get along with these two ' 

 pieces, and no more, I decided that the cov- ! 

 er and bottom-board should be exactly alike. ! 

 and interchangeable. Now, the plan was j 

 (and is) to have these two simple pieces 

 made by such accurate gauges that they | 

 would always work togetlier, no matter 

 where or by whom the bodies and covers 

 were made. To accomplish this, the well- 

 known iron gauge-frames were devised, and i 

 are still used. When anybody sets up a bee- 

 hive shop, if he gets one of' these gauge- i 

 frames made accurately, to start with, lie | 

 can be sure that the liives he makes will 

 work interchangeably with the hives made I 



by any other supply-dealer using these sdme 

 gauge-frames. 



Well, after we began making these hives 

 by the thousands, there began to be calls for 

 a'little variation, and I set to work trying to 

 see if we could not accommodate the friends 

 with their different tastes and notions, and 

 still have the hive " Simplicity '• enough so 

 it would work interchangeably, as I have 

 told you. The hudy of tlie hive is just about 

 the same that it was when I first made it, 

 with the exception of adding a permanent 

 bottom-board. For obvious reasons, when 

 this permanent bottom-board is added, it 

 seems well to add, also, a portico, after the 

 pattern of the well-known Langstroth hive, 

 with its ixiitico. To distinguish this perma- 

 nent bottoin-lioard hive from the regular 

 Simplicity bodies, we call it the Portico 

 hive, andthe Portico hive is always used for 

 the bottom story ; in fact, it can not be used 

 for an upper story, because you can not get 

 the bottom off. Any Simplicity-hive body, 

 however, will fit on top of it so as to make a 

 two, three, or even four story hive. A good 

 many of the friends who use the Simplicity 

 hives prefer these portico bodies for the bot- 

 tom story. Those who prefer a movable 

 bottom, however, generally use a cover for 

 a bottom -board, adding what we call an 

 " alighting-board " to make it convenient for 

 the bees and their owner. So you see we 

 have only two kinds of bodies— a portico 

 body with its permanent bottom, and the or- 

 dinary Simplicity body, without any bottom 

 at all. 



Now, those who first become acquainted 

 with the Simplicity hive almost invariably 

 object because we call a single body and a 

 single cover a hive. They claim that a hive 

 needs a bottom-board. But this complicates 

 matters, as I will show you. Suppose a man 

 purchases for his first hive a body and two 

 covers; or, if you choose, suppose 1 should say 

 that every hive should have two covers, that 

 one might be used for a bottom. If the 

 hive-maker has them put up in packages in 

 this way, when you want a hive you would, 

 of course, have one body and two covers. 

 Pretty soon your swarm increases until it 

 needs' more room. Would it be convenient 

 for you to buy another body and two covers 

 to give the necessary room ? Jiy no means. 

 All you want is another body to make your 

 hive a two-story hive. Now, suppose the 

 manufacturer sells one body and one cover. 

 A swarm comes out, and you go to the shop 

 and get a Simplicity hive, consisting of one 

 body and one cover. Almost every dooryard 

 affords a piece of board that will'do tempo- 

 raiily for a bottom -board. When the swarm 

 wants an upper story, you go to the shop and 

 get another hive, consisting of otic body .and 

 (nic cover. Now you are rigged complete with 

 a two-story hive. Well, suppose the manu- 

 facturer makes a discount on a crate of ten 

 liives liouglit all at once, what shall consti- 

 tute this ten-crate V Why, 1 should say (and 

 1 have have had long experience, mind you), 

 a ten-crate should consist of ten bodies and 

 ten covers ; that is, they are ten one-story 

 hives, or, if you choose to put it so, they are 

 five two-story hives. When they are just 

 two-story you have all the room you need. 



