ISSo 



Gi.l'JANiMGS L\ iH<:i<: cULTuUE. 



71 



A REVERSIBLE HIVE AND HONEY- 

 BOARD. 



UEVEKSIXG THE HIVES INSTEAD OF REVERSING 

 THE FRAMES. 



SAVING read with interest the article in Sept. 

 1.5th number of Gleanings, entitled " Fiiend 

 Shuck's Reversible Iloney-noard," and be 

 cause it is very similar to ours, we write to 

 describe our reversible honey-board devised 

 last January, and which we have been using- this 

 season with good results. 



It is made entirely of wood, composed of alter- 

 nate slats of pine and basswood, V4 in. thick— sec 

 cut. The pine slats are 'b inches wide, and are 

 straight; the basswood are I'/i inches wide, and 

 have .5 insets cut in each edge (scant 3 10 in. deep), 

 like those in section bo.\es, by means of a cutter- 

 head, so that, when each alternate slat is placed to- 

 gether, first the straight, then the notched, as 

 shown in cut, to form the honey-board, it makes 

 the proper openings through which the bees may 

 pass to the sections, or frames above, but excludes 

 the queens and drones. 



These insets in the basswood slats do away with 

 the necessity of spacing and nailing each slat sepa- 

 rately. You will notice, by examining- the above 

 cut, that the slats are held together by endiiieces, 

 having a ?4-iRch groove cut in the center of each, 

 and the honey-boaid is put together as follows: 

 Put in first a straight slat, and nail to eaeli end- 

 piece, then drop in the groove eaeli alteinate one. 

 until full, nailing the last one, and you have it. 

 The honey-board is reversible, therefore it makes 

 no diflerence which side is placed up, when putting- 

 it on the hive. 



BLE HIVE. 



The cut illustrates our modification of the Sim- 

 plicity; we call it the "Ideal" reversible bee-hive, 

 because the bcdy is made of pieces, so rabbeted on 

 the inside as to be, when nailed together, just alike 

 at top and bottom. Now, by fastening down the 

 frames, by means of a strip, i>aXlxi,") inches, laid 

 across tliem near their ends, and screwed fast to 

 the ofl'set in the sides of hive, 10 suspended frames 

 may te reversed at once by simply turning- the 

 body bottom side up. When so i-evcrsed, the honey- 

 board and case, or the honey-board and another 

 body, will go on just the same as if it had not been 

 turned over. This makes it possible and practical 

 to reverse our suspended frames already in use, 

 without the trouble and expense of adding reversi- 

 ble attachments to them. Of course, reversible 



frames can be used in this hive as well. The case 

 illustrated above holds three rows of ten each, Hi- 

 inch sections (making 30), witli nine wooden separa- 

 tors, or 83 1=4 - inch, without separators, and is 

 made on the same principle as the body, and 

 therefore reversible. The two strips running 

 lengthwise at the bottom have a projection of tin to 

 support the sections, while two similar strips at top 

 are movable, being held in by a loose wire nail put 

 through the ends of the case. The bodies, with a 

 honey-board between, can be tiered one above an- 

 other, as also the cases; or a case can go next to 

 the bottom; and a hive with a honey-board between 

 can be placed on top, just as one sees fit. This, we 

 think, makes a practical working reversible hive, 

 meeting the most of the advancing modern require- 

 ments; viz., reversible body and frames, reversible 

 honey -board; reversible case and sections; reversi- 

 ble top. Are these points of any value? We have 

 others in the above hive not mentioned. If you 

 wish to examine a complete hive, we will send you 

 one. Hemphill & Goodman. 



Elsberry, Mo., Sept. 21, 188.5. 



P. S.— The cut is not accurate in all Its details, 

 but fairly represents matters: for instance, the 

 entrance is shown as if notched in the body of the 

 hive, when in reality it is made just like the Sim- 

 plicity, by pushing the body back and forth, the 

 alighting-board being oflfset % inch lower than the 

 bottom-board. The hon3y-board, as shown in posi- 

 tion between the hive and ease, is not well repre- 

 sented, besides showing a notch in the end piece 

 (projecting upward), as if it were in two pieces, 

 when it is not. 



Since writing the article we have improved upon 

 the method of holding down the frames while the 

 hive is reversed, so as to obviate the 

 necessity of nailing or screwing the 

 strips down, as spoken of in said arti- 

 cle. The improvement consists in hav- 

 ing- a wabble saw cut nuide in each 

 side-piece of hive on the inside. The 

 wabble cut is made on the same plan 

 as the handholes in the body and case, 

 onlj- not so wide, being but }-4 inch. 

 Tliis permits the strips used to hold 

 the frames down, to be '4 or ii inch 

 longer, and thej' are simply pushed 

 into these slots, which securely holds 

 them, without the necessity of nailing- 

 or screwing— a very great improve- 

 ment. H. & G. 



Friends IT. & G., it seefas to 

 me there are some very important 

 features in the liive you mention ; but if I 

 were you I would go a little further and 

 1 have frames made without any projections 

 at all to the top - bar. May be, liowever, 

 you are doing that, but you don't say so. 

 Then you can lift the frames out when the 

 hive is one side up as well as when it is the 

 other side up. There are grave difficulties 

 in the way, however. The frames must be 

 at fixed distances, for all I can see, unless 

 we have a good many complications, and 

 they must also be held in place the right 

 distance from the end-board, and at the same 

 time we want them easily removable. I do 

 believe, that reversing the hive is going to 

 be the readiest method of reversing the 

 frames ; but to do this we Avant to dispense 

 with the projecting-end top-bar, as 1 have 



