APRIL 15, 1915 



335 



previous to applying this spray. Several 

 advantages are to be gained in this. He 

 saves the bees, stops the loss of moisture 

 that is being pumped out of the soil by the 

 plover, and provides a muleli over the or- 



chard that is needed at the right time. This 

 mown clover can later be disked into the 

 soil, which is a better method than turning 

 it under green, preventing acidity of the 

 soil. 



Washington, Tnd. 



THE EIGHT AND TEN FMAME HIVES, AND HOW TO USE THEM 



BY .J. W. SOUTHWOOD 



A few yeare ago it was thought that the 

 eight-frame hive for comb honey and the 

 ten-frame for extracted honey were the 

 jn-oper sizes for best results. But at pres- 

 ent the minds of some, at least, are for a 

 larger hive, especiall\- for the production of 

 comb honey. The claim is that a ten-frame 

 hive will give better results than an eight- 

 frame. While this is true with some colo- 

 nies, and may be true with all colonies in 

 some localities, the fact that many have the 

 eight-frame hive, and, considering the ex- 

 pense of disposing of them and getting the 

 ten-frame, it may deter some from making 

 the change. 



To obviate this some have advised placing 

 another hive-body on top, that thereby the 

 colony can build up by the use of the eight- 

 frame hive. It is undeniably true that there 

 are queens which, for best results, require 

 more comb space for egg-laying and brood- 

 production than is contained in the eight- 

 frame hive. It may be the proper thing to 

 do witli some colonies, and it may be with 

 all colonies in some localities, to give the 

 added hive-body in the spring, at the proper 

 time when the colony is building up; but in 

 far too man}' cases this added room of 

 eight frames for the production of comb 

 honey may be too mfuch. It would be quite 

 likeh' that, befoi'e the added hive is filled, 

 the honey-flow is on and the first super 

 of sections is given, and, instead of the 

 honey being all stored in the sections where 

 it is desired, a part of it is deposited in 

 this unfilled hive-body. 



As a compromise, last season I prepared 

 some ten-frame hive-bodies, and when a 

 colony built up until it was strong I made 

 an examination; and when I found that the 

 queen was needing more comb space for 

 egg-laying I lifted out the frames and plac- 

 ed them in a ten-frame hive in the same 

 position they held in the hive from which 

 they were taken; and on each side I placed 

 another comb. It so happened that I had 

 two colonies that were queenless and con- 

 tained laying workers with but few old bees 

 and but little honey, and so T used these 

 combs. When the last two combs were 



taken out, what few bees were on them were 

 shaken in front of the colony to wloich I 

 gave the combs. I had intended to use 

 frames with full sheets of comb foundation ; 

 but as it 90 happened that I had the combs, 

 I used them instead. 



When the flow came I i^ut the eight-frame 

 supers of sections on these ten-frame hives, 

 placing a strip of lath at each side of the 

 super to cover the space left open by the 

 super being narrower than the hive. When 

 tliese colonies swarmed they were hived in 

 eight-frame hives on the old stand, and the 

 super, or supers of sections, were taken 

 from these ten-frame hives and placed at 

 once on the new colony with a queen-ex- 

 cluder beneath. 



This method gave the queen the necessaiy 

 room, and thus gave more populous colo- 

 nies than there would have been if left in 

 the eight-frame hives. It retarded swarm- 

 ing; so when they did swarm, the swarms 

 were larger than they would have been if 

 they had been left in the eight-frame hives. 

 Some colonies that were left in the eight- 

 frame hives gave more section honey, per- 

 ha]">s, than they would have given if they 

 had been moved into ten-frame hives, as the 

 queen had all the space that she needed for 

 brood-rearing, and what honey would have 

 been placed in the two side combs went into 

 the sections. The method gave such satisfac- 

 tory results that I am intending to try it 

 again the coming season. Whether these 

 two combs should always be placed at the 

 sides, or whether one should be placed at 

 the side where the comb containing more 

 brood and eggs than the other is located, 

 and the other somewhere in between some 

 of the other combs, may be a question. Not 

 only In've conditions but weather conditions 

 should be considered. It might be safer for 

 the beginner to put the combs at the sides. 



With tliis method the eight-frame hives 

 need not be discarded, and yet get the bene- 

 fit derived by the use of the ten-frame hive. 

 Yes, and even better, as the eight-frame hive 

 in some instances will give better results 

 than the ten-frame, as I have already stated. 



Huntington, Tnd. 



