38 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



better for progress than investigations, tests 

 and discussions. It is those things that spur 

 us on and keep ns out of the rut of routine. 

 We need such things, for the world moves 

 on. Mr. Langstroth once said to me, after 

 visiting one of our apiaries while a crew of 

 four men was busy extracting honey from 

 Langstroth hives with Langstroth frames 

 and after the Langstroth methods : "I have 

 been practically out of the bee business for 

 twenty years and I must acknowledge that I 

 am twenty years behind the times. These 

 are my hives and my methods, but they are 

 so improved in the details that I do not 

 recognize them. The world moves indeed." 

 Hamilton, 111. Jan. 21, 189.5. 



The Part That Locality Plays in Deciding 



Upon the Best Size for the Brood 



Chamber. 



J. E. CRANE. 



TT is not often 

 1 that I "take my 

 ijk ^» pen in hand" to 



M M write to any of 



?• -^:;sflt IfilfeJK the bee journals. 



So that while I 

 miss saying many 

 things I would like 

 to say, I am at 

 least left to judge 

 more disinterest- 

 edly in regard to 

 what others write, 

 because I have not committed myself to 

 many of the views advanced. 



As I look back over the years there seems 

 to be something of fashion in bee-keeping 

 as in other things. Only a few years ago, 

 revolving hives and frames were the fashion 

 though we hear but little of them now. Far- 

 ther back, large brood chambers were strong- 

 ly advocated, and, later, smaller ones have 

 been considered best ; and, now, again, like 

 the sleeves of a fashionable dressed woman, 

 the tendency is to enlargement. Meanwhile 

 Dr. Miller sits serenely on the fence, the 

 most sensible man in the crowd. 



I do not now remember any good reason 

 for the adoption of a large brood chamber, 

 unless it has been that bees do better in 

 them. And so small hives were adopted be- 

 cause they were thought to be more profita- 



ble than large ones. It has surprised me 

 that so little proof, by actual experiment, 

 has been offered. Surely here is a nut for 

 the " Experiment Station " to crack. And 

 yet, I duubt if it were conclusively proved 

 that large hives were better than small ones 

 in a giv'/u apiary, it would follow that they 

 would be better in some other apiary five 

 miles away. Here in mv home apiary I use, 

 mostly, hives with seven or eight Lang- 

 stroth frames. Some years ago I brought 

 in six or seven hives with large brood cham- 

 bers — ten or more combs. As the combs 

 were crooked and irregular I let them re- 

 main for several years as they were unless it 

 was to remove the surplus drone comb and 

 substitute worker comb, instead. And now 

 I think I can say that I received twice the 

 profit, on an average, from my colonies in 

 small brood cliambers than I did from those 

 in large brood chambers. 



More than this, within a few years, a 

 neighbor has put out an apiary near me. He 

 worked for me two seasons and knew very 

 well how to care for bees before that, but he 

 has kept his own stock in large brood cham- 

 bers, while I have kept mine in small. I 

 told him recently that I thought that he had 

 not received one-half the profit to the hive 

 that I had ami he was quite ready to agree 

 with me. 



Now, does not all this prove quite conclu- 

 sively that a small brood chamber is better 

 than a large one ? It certainly looks so. 

 But hold on a little. I have several out api- 

 aries. One of them, six miles away, I have 

 for several years kept mostly on seven or 

 eight Laugstroth frames. Close by it my 

 brother's wife has a small apiary in large 

 brood chambers with ten or eleven Lang- 

 stroth combs to the hive. She does not be- 

 lieve in feeding. Says that if her bees can- 

 not get their own living they may die. So 

 she did not feed at all the past season while 

 I had to feed (juite heavily both spring and 

 fall, and her yard averaged more market- 

 able surplus lioiiey to the hive than mine, and 

 I think twice the profit with one-half the 

 care. Hurrah ! for the large brood chamber. 



Now here is experiment and positive proof 

 to my mind tliat both are best and that 

 neither is best. But what makes the differ- 

 ence ? What are the principles that underlie 

 the subject that makes a large or small brood 

 chamber moru valuable in a given location 

 than the other size ? All were wintered alike 

 out of doors. All were on the same size of 



