268 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



nicest field of grain 1 ever saw. Bees did not work 

 on it to any profit, and the seasons are far be- 

 tween that buckwheat amounts to much in this vi- 

 cinity, for honey. The frost came early, damaging 

 the crop of grain at least one-third. I harvested 

 W/% bushels, heaping 1 measure at that. 

 Norwich, N. Y. W. B. Norton. 



THE TARANTULA A GREAT JUMPER. 



In Gleanings, p. 123, is a drawing of a tarantula. 

 There are some here at least twice as large as the 

 drawing (it may have dried and shrunk before it 

 was received by Prof. Cook), but these will attack 

 any one who molests them. I have seen them jump 

 twelve or fifteen inches high, and eighteen to 

 twenty inches in a single jump; and I believe Prof. 

 Cook would think there was danger when one 

 would jump several times after him and clear 

 eighteen inches each jump. S. H. Colwick. 



Norse, Tex., Feb. 26, 1889. 



wouldn't stay in their new home. 



I bought a swarm of bees from a tree last sum- 

 mer, and brought them home and divided them aiid 

 put one part in one small hive of Italians, and the 

 other half in another stronger colony. The last 

 half contained the queen from the tree. I suppos- 

 ed the Italians would kill the black queen, but 

 they stayed in the hive until after 12 o'clock, then 

 every black bee came out and ran away with their 

 queen. H. J. Hancock. 



Siloam Springs, Ark., Feb. 22, 1889. 



Lit is never safe to presume that the bees will 

 kill one of the queens, for they quite often behave 

 just as you have described.] 



0a^ (*)aEjsJFi6N-Be& 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



All queries sent in for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip or paper 

 and marked, " For Our Question-Box." 



Question 115.— a. If you were obliged to keep the 

 same number of brood- frames in a hive the year round, 

 how many L. frames would you use in working for 

 comb honey/ b. For extracted.' 



b. 24. 



Eight. 



a. Seven; b. ten. 



Eight; sixteen. 



a. b. Eight frames. 



a. Eight; b. nine. 



I use ten for both. 



K. Wilkin. 

 H. R. Boardman. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A. J. Cook. 

 Geo. Grimm. 

 Mrs. L. Harrison. 

 P. L. Viallon. 

 a. Eight; b. ten in the lower story. 



O. O. Poppleton. 

 Seven for comb honey and sixteen for extracted. 



E. E. Hasty. 

 Not less than ten, both for extracted or comb. We 

 prefer 11 or 12. Dadant & Son. 



I believe I would use ten for either comb or ex- 

 tracted honey. A. B. Mason. 



With my present knowledge I am inclined to 

 think a. eight; b. ten. ('. C Miller. 



For comb 8, and winter in the cellar. For extract- 

 ed 24. and winter outdoors (on 16). E. France. 



If T were obliged to start anew, and to use L. 



frames, I would make all hives to hold eight frames. 

 For extracted honey alone. I would a little rather 

 use ten frames. James A. Green. 



a. If I were using the kind of hive in which I was 

 obliged to retain the same number of frames con- 

 tinually, I should like it to hold the equivalent of 

 about seven of our 10^x16 frames, b. I wouldn't 

 consent to any such arrangement for extracted 

 honey. P. H. Elwood. 



For boxing, 9. If the question means that no oth- 

 er combs are to be used for surplus in extracting, I 

 would not advise trying to secure extracted honey, 

 as more box honey could be secured than one could 

 expect of extracted. If surplus combs are to be 

 added by tiering up, I would use the same number 

 in both cases. L. C. Root. 



If I were obliged, I would keep 10 frames in the 

 brood-chamber, no difference if my object were 

 comb or extracted honey, because from a large 

 brood-chamber I expect a large colony, more hon- 

 ey, and fewer swarms; while from a small brood- 

 chamber, only a small colony can be expected, less 

 honey and more swarms. If I should keep a cer- 

 tain number of frames all the year round, my 

 standing as a bee-keeper would not be above the 

 evel of an old fogy. C. F. Muth. 



Should not your question read, " Brood-frames in 

 the brood-chamber" instead of " in the hive"? The 

 hive combines the whole arrangement, both brood 

 and surplus departments. In the brood-chamber I 

 would use just eight L. frames, no more and no 

 less. I speak assuredly on this subject, for 1 have 

 given it very extensive tests on a large scale, the 

 question being a hobby of mine for years. There 

 are advantages in having a large brood-chamber, 

 but there are also disadvantages, which amount to 

 more than the advantages, unless the brood-cham- 

 ber is horizontally divisible. I speak for both 

 comb and extracted honey, and of the brood-cham- 

 ber strictly. James Heddon. 



I suppose the above question was intend- 

 ed to call forth opinions in regard to the 

 matter of a hive made wide enough to hold 

 eight or ten frames. Father Langstroth 

 decided on ten ; but almost immediately 

 certain parties thought eight was sufficient. 

 A great many who made a business of sell- 

 ing bees at so much a colony preferred 

 eight, because they are easier to handle. Of 

 late, however, there has been so much said 

 about having a chaff division-board outside 

 for winter, and then a dummy to contract 

 the space when the bees are storing honey 

 in sections in the summer time, that a great 

 many of us have been obliged to ask wheth- 

 er a hive wide enough to hold eight frames 

 is not enough. Of course, there is danger 

 of letting bees starve where we have only 

 eight combs in the brood-chamber or lower 

 story : and a good many will prefer a hive 

 to hold ten frames on this account. An 

 eight-comb hive is easier to handle, because 

 you do not have to reach so far over. There 

 is also quite a saving in expense, because a 

 narrower board will do for covers and bot- 

 toms, and they are less trouble to handle. 

 The bees are also more likely to put all their 

 surplus honey in the sections above, for 

 there is but little room to store it below 

 when the combs are well tilled with brood. 



