1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



183 



he watched with evident interest while I pried off 

 the top pieces, and, with the aid of the hot kitchen 

 stove, fastened two starters to each piece, and then 

 pressed it carefully bacif into its former position. 

 But this was all that I could do; and wirh the bright 

 anticipations of the morning: vanished, 1 went my 

 way. 



Should you ever meet him, this brother bee-keep- 

 er of the East, and should you chance tt) question 

 him, I fear— in fact I am almost sure— he wovild tell 

 you that what little 1 know about bees is, in his 

 opinion, hardly worth the telling-. 



NELL,IE LlNSWlK. 



Very good, friend Nellie. We are glad to 

 hear about our opinionated brotlier down 

 East. But quite a lot of us are just hungry 

 to know about how that home apiary " pan- 

 ned out "' during 188(5; and what has" become 

 of your sister Cyula V Did she manage that 

 great apiary all" alone while you were down 

 East visiting, and the men-folks were busy 

 with the farm workV— In regard to being 

 set in our own ways, I believe you have giv- 

 en us quite a lesson. I can thi"nk of quite a 

 number just now who, I am sure, are wrong, 

 but they are so obstinate it does not seem 

 to be of any use to remonstrate any further ; 

 and while I am about it, I have been 

 wondering if there are not some things in 

 myself a good deal that way; that is, are 

 we not all of us in danger of becoming too 

 conceited to be taughtV 



THE BINGHAM HIVE. 



SHALLOW BROOD-CHAMBERS VS. SHALLOW HIVES. 



T NOTE your talk about "shallow hives," on 

 1^ pages 44 and 45. I see you have not a correct 

 ^i conception of the difference between Mr. 

 "*• Bingham's hive and mj- own. As I have visit- 

 ed Mr. Bingham on various occasions, besides 

 enjoying visits from him, meeting him at conven- 

 tions and eagerly reading his well-written litera- 

 ture (including his book, for Mr. Bingham is the 

 author of a book), and, at his suggestion, used one 

 of his hives seven or eight years, I wish to set you 

 right regarding the difference in our hives. I will 

 also say, that Mr. W. H. Shirley is one of Mr. Bing- 

 ham's students, and used his hive several years be- 

 fore he bought my Glen wood apiary, thus neigh- 

 boring with me, and working for me winters, and 

 many an hour have we discussed the Bingham 

 hive and system. Allow me to present it, and com- 

 pare with my own. nearly all of which I believe 

 will be sanctioned bj- Mr. Bingham, and be in per- 

 fect harmony with all be has written upon the sub- 

 ject. 



To friend Bingham belongs the credit of demon- 

 strating to hundreds of bee-keepers, that a brood- 

 chamber of a bee-hive has very many advantages 

 when made as shallow as five inches, comb depth, 

 and that such a depth is par excellence for early 

 breeding, wintering, or any other purpose that de- 

 mands the conservation of heat. I wintered a col- 

 ony of bees in one of his hives for seven or eight 

 winters, always outdoors, with about half as much 

 packing a.s my other colonies had, and with perfect 

 success, except once. During that most dreadful 

 winter of two years ago they came through, the 

 strongest in my yard. Mr. Bingham's special 

 claims in this direction are true to my experience. 



You speak of it as a " shallow hive." The word 

 hive, 1 think, is out of place here; let us say, 

 " Brood-chamber of a hive," and understand each 

 other. All "hives," nowadays, ai-e as deep as you 

 wish to tier them. Now for the difference. 



Many times has Mr. Bingham uttered to me and 

 others his detestation of a bottom-bar to a frame. 

 Without such, I consider tiering them impractical. 

 Even if a break-joint honey-board is used between 

 each tier, combs will be fastened to it. I saw Mr. 

 B. cutting them loose when he had his brood- 

 chambers tiered above each other for purposes of 

 extracting. We talked it over at the time. Mr. B.'s 

 brood-chamber is composed of a single tier of 

 frames, extended in length, to give sufficient 

 chamber room at all times. 



One of the new and novel functions of my hive 

 is, that its brood chamber is in two horizontal sec- 

 tions, only one of which is used during contraction, 

 both of which are considered and sold with every 

 complete hive. Mr. Binghatn's hive can be invert- 

 ed, and so can your Simplicity, as you have told us. 

 I claim that neither are made for the i)urpose, nor 

 are thej- practically reversible, nor is any other 

 hive without a bottom-bar to its frames. No per- 

 son interested in reversible hives or frames need 

 fear competition from frames without bottom-bars. 



1 agree with Mr. Bingham when he says that his 

 shallow brood-chamber needs no inverting. The 

 shallower our combs are, the less liability of honey 

 being stored in their tops; and whatever honey 

 may be found stored in the ends of Mr. Bingham's 

 long frames will not be taken out by the bees by 

 inverting. If combs of the same capacity of his,, 

 but in shape of 10 x 10 instead of 5 x 20, were one- 

 third full of honey and two-thirds full of brood, 

 that honey would be removed by inverting that 

 frame, at the proper time. 



You speak of handling /iii'es instead of frames, 

 and the shake-out function. Nearl3^ all hives have 

 some little of these functions, even when never 

 dreamed of by the maker. You know that Mr. 

 Hutchinson and myself have often dwelt upon the 

 subject of " readily movable hives," or handling 

 hives, rather than frames, when referring to my 

 modified Langstroth, and to a great extent we 

 so use it. You also know, that when transferring 

 from box hives we often pick them up and shake 

 out what bees we can, especially when we see 

 them clustered near the bottom. Mr. B.'s hives are 

 not supplied with handles for shaking, and his 

 manner of constructing it makes it very heavy; 

 and although I presume, right here, I shall differ 

 with friend B. when I say that I never would de- 

 pend upon his loop-wire clamp for holding the hive 

 together when being shaken. 



It is by virtue of one inversion making the combs 

 completely fill the frames, and that the frames 

 completely fill the case, that the greatest per- 

 fection of the shake-out function is secured. The 

 reason Mr. B.'s end-bars do not get " out of whack," 

 even though no bottom-bar is used, is not only be- 

 cause they are short, but' the top-bar is % square; 

 and, I think, in most of Mr. B.'s hives he nails this 

 bar corners up and corners down; thus: O This 

 gives him a cheap V guide, and a good one too, 

 but no bee-space above. 



T am astonished that you should mention his al- 

 ternating the sections of hives. His brood-chamher 

 is not in sections, and the possible alternating of 

 several brood-chambers is just as true of any of 



