Vol. XVII. 



JUNE 15, 1889. 



No. 12. 



TERMS: 81.00 Per Annum, in Advance;") TPv+nT^ln ah n rl n in 7 J? 'Y % f Clubs to different postoffiees, not less 

 2 Copies l.iiSl.Wl; :Uor$2.75; sforBtOO; HdbvCbOiib rVVCb lit ± O I O . \ than 90 cts. each. Sent postpaid in the 

 10 or more, 75 cts. each. Single mini- I ,,,,„. W „ FI> „„,„ MO vtiii v hy j U. S. and Canadas. To all other eoun- 



ber.Set.s. Additions to clubs may be f i ublishkd semi-monthi.i m tH(?s o£ thl , universal Postal Union. IS 



... flub rates. Above are all to 



be sent to ONE POSTOKFICE. 



A. I. ROOT, MEDINA, OHIO. l^af5^ p P^e£ , pSV5?SS2 



OUT-APIARIES. -NO. IX. 



WHAT KIND OF A HIVE IS BEST FOR HAUMNG? 



TEa FEW words about hives. Don't be frightened. 

 9fjK, I haven't invented a new hive. I only want 

 ^JK to say a little about some features of hives 

 "*^*" that make them objectionable when it comes 

 to hauling' to out-apiaries. The nearer a 

 hive can come to being- a square box, with no pro- 

 jections of any kind, the more compactly a load of 

 them can be put on a wagon. I like outside cleats, 

 for easy handling. 1 have always been used to 

 them, am prejudiced in their favor in spite of the 

 fact that they add weight and expense to a hive, 

 and I can hardly imagine how it can be so easy to 

 pick up a hive of bees with no cleats, only hand- 

 holes. In spite of all that, if I were starting anew 

 I think I should have hives without cleats on the 

 sides and ends. When it comes to loading them on 

 a wagon, these cleats add nearly two inches to the 

 width of a hive, which makes quite a difference in the 

 number of hives that can be got into a given space. 

 For getting as many hives as possible into a given 

 space, nothing is better than a hive that has no 

 cleat, no projection of any kind. Suppose a frame 

 17'a inches long is used, then a hive about 20 inches 

 long is needed; and if ten frames are used, about 

 16 inches in width. Now, with hives 20x1(5, solidly 

 fastened together, no projections anywhere, they 

 can be packed close together instead of being 

 blocked apart as mine now are; and instead of 11 I 

 could have at least 15 on the same wagon. 



Of course, if you winter your bees on their sum- 

 mer stands, you will have comparatively little haul- 

 ing to do. If you happen to be in that border land 

 where it is a question whether it is best to use 

 chaff hives, and winter on summer stands, or to 

 use single-walled hives and cellar them, then out- 



apiaries will turn the scales in favor of the chaff 

 hives, for it will save so much hauling. In that 

 case it might be desirable to have a few single- 

 walled hives, as a matter of convenience, to haul 

 occasional colonies or frames of brood from one 

 apiary to another, transferring them when hauled 

 into chaff hives. 



PREPARING HIVES FOR HAULING. 



If I knew just what kind of hives you have T 

 could perhaps tell you exactly how to prepare them 

 for hauling. As it is, 1 can give only some general 

 directions. If your hives have fixed frames, at 

 least so far fixed that they can not get out of place, 

 then nothing is to be done with them. Indeed, if 

 you have the ordinary hanging frame, all wood, 

 resting on wood rabbets, then no fastening is need- 

 ed if the frames are just as the bees left them the 

 previous fall. If you expect to haul such hives 

 without fastening the frames, you must not over- 

 haul them in the spring before hauling, for then 

 you will break loose the bee-glue and bridge-combs 

 by which the bees have fastened them. If you 

 have metal-cornered frames, or if for any reason 

 your frames are loose, then they must be fastened. 

 Perhaps you have spacing-boards, or some special 

 means of fastening them. If you have nothing of 

 the kind, then you might try a plan I have used. 

 Generally I haul without doing any thing to the 

 frames, trusting to bee-glue and bridge-combs. 

 Sometimes, however, I fill a hive with combs from 

 a number of other hives, in which case the frames 

 must be fastened in their places. I simply thrust 

 down a stick between the ends of each two frames, 

 and between the outside frames and the side of the 

 hive. These sticks— 22 for a 10-frame hive— are 

 from 3 i of an inch to an inch wide, somewhere in 

 the neighborhood of half an inch thick— just thick 

 enough so they will tit in pretty tight—and long 



