,irr,Y IT), i9i; 



577 



n cuiiple oL" the slats (hat are loosely laiil 

 over the mortises in the top-bars, and one 

 can see at a glanee the general condition of 

 the colony — that is, how full of bees and 

 lioney. If apjiearanocs indicate that some- 

 thing may not be just right, with a common 

 jiocket-knife and a couple of motions one 

 can ])ush back enough frames so he can 

 look into the center of the actual brood-nest 

 to learn the real conditions. A single mo- 

 tion with both hands can then shove all 

 frames to their jjlaces; replace the slats and 

 iiive-cover, and all is done, without doing 

 any real lifting except the hive-cover. 



What I have found to be a very valuable 

 feature of this hive is that it enables one to 

 keep so iimcli closer watch of conditions in 

 the iiive. Whenever I extract or go through 

 the hive for any other purpose, I can see 

 without using either extra time or labor in 

 doing so the exact condition of the entire 

 colony — not guess at it. but know it. I tind 

 this is a very important point. 



I very strongly advise against using any 

 kind of shallow frame this way. T have 

 advised all inf[uirer8 to test the method first 

 with the Jumbo size of frames. The more 

 compact a colony can be kept, the better; 

 and frames that are only two inches shal- 

 lower than is the Jumbo size of frames have 

 to be spread out too much for best results. 

 Another thing, if one wishes at any time to 

 use the regular size of hives and frames, 

 these Jumbo frames and combs can be 

 easily changed to standard size with no 

 material loss. 



I have never been a believer in the use of 

 queen-excluders exr-ept when raising queens. 

 I have a very decided objection to confining 

 queens to a small part of any kind of hive. 

 1 don't believe any one making a specialty 

 of queen-raisin<r would be pleased Avith 

 these hives. If I were to do any more 

 queen-raising 1 think I would use one simi- 

 lar in principle to Prof. Gamallo's illustrat- 

 ed on page 147, only with three sections 

 instead of two. I have raised many queens 

 for ray own use by what is essentially the 

 Doolittle method, but not so conveniently as 

 Ihe same work could have been done by 

 using tiered-up hives. 



The kind of bees to use in these hives is 

 an imi)ortant factor in securing best results. 



Some kinds of bees will raise large quan- 

 tities of brood during a heavy honey-flow. 

 The result is much less honey during the 

 flow, and thousands jnore of bees which do 

 not reach the age for best field work until 

 after the flow is over with. Other kinds of 

 bees raise brood e(|ually well during a veiy 

 light flow of honey; but as soon as a heavy 

 flow sets in it drops excessive brood-rearing 



and devotes nearly all its energies to honey- 

 storing. In this last-named character the 

 Italians seem to excel all other races very 

 greatly. This seems to be the reason for 

 their great superiority over other kinds of 

 bees, especially in the production of ex- 

 tracted honey. This trait of the Italians 

 seems to be of more imi)orlance wlicn using 

 these large single-stoi'y hives than in the use 

 of liered-up hives. 



Contrary to the experience of a majoi'ity 

 of l)eekeepers 1 have not found the dark 

 strains of Italians to give as satisfactoi-y 

 results as do the very light strains. I don't 

 mean those bred for color mainly, but those 

 bred for both color and quality. I used to 

 select my breeding-queens from among 

 those giving the brightest-colored bees that 

 Avere also the best honey-gat herei-s. 



One of the real objections to these hives 

 was well stated by the editor; viz., the extra 

 expense of the wide boards required to 

 make them. In Iowa, some thirty or forty 

 years ago, I made my hives myself with the 

 aid of a small circular-saw outfit without 

 using any wide boards at all ; but these 

 were chaff: hives ; and, so far as I have ever 

 seen, they are by far the handiest and most 

 convenient chaff hives in existence. From 

 what I hear I judge these hives were made 

 on much the same pi'ineiple as are those 

 lately recommended and described by Mr. 

 Hand, but more convenient to manipulate. 

 My brother-in-law, Mr. Milo George, of 

 Bowling Green, Ohio, and Mr. H. S. Rouse, 

 of New Hampton, Towa, are noAv using this 

 style of hive. When I was with my children 

 in the state of \¥ashington last summer we 

 devised between us a plan of building these 

 hives from the rough timber by the aid of 

 small sawing-raachinery. If time and use 

 prove that we liave struck on anything that 

 may be valuable to others, I will gladly give 

 a description after full experience. 



A i:)erson's temperament also has much (o 

 do with his choosing the right method of 

 doing anj' kind of work. Some men can 

 and do get larger net incomes from a small 

 number of acres devoted to gardening than 

 other successful farmers do from many 

 scores or hundreds of acres. If these same 

 men would reverse their work, both would 

 be unsuccessful. These large single-stoiy 

 hives allow of much more intensive methods 

 than do tiered-up hives; and marry persons 

 would make a comparative failure with one 

 and not with the other. With others the 

 reverse would be true. 



All that is wi-i I ten al)out these hivc^ is in 

 reference to iHixlucing extracted and not 

 .><ection honev. 



Stuart. Fla. 



