844 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mae. 15 



a foot away from the boiler, but nearly above 

 it, where the heat was greater. Then, again, 

 I have often set small vessels of honey quite 

 close to the stove to have the contents melt- 

 ed, but it has been only lately that I have 

 given it much thought. 



While out at one of my neighbor bee-keep- 

 er's, Wald. C. Conrads, he spoke of an idea 

 that seems good to me, but it will have to 

 be put into practice before we can be certain 

 whether it will work. 



The idea is to have an apparatus very 

 much like an incubator, but built on a larger 

 scale. This "incubator" could be made 

 large enough to hold six or eight 60-lb. cans 

 of honey. The lamp arrangement would be 

 the same as on egg- incubators, only large 

 enough to give the required amount of heat. 

 After putting the cans in the box the heat 

 would be regulated to the proper tempera- 

 ture, and the register would keep it there. 

 It would be necessary to leave the honey 

 only long enough to be thoroughly heated to 

 the required point, after which it could be 

 replaced by a new lot of cans as quickly as 

 possible, so the machine could go on with 

 the same heat for days at a time. It would 

 have to be ascertained at what point the 

 temperature must be kept in the box to give 

 the required results. It might have to be 

 more than 100° Fahrenheit. The contents 

 of the cans, if these are left in the heat long 

 enough, would have the same temperature 

 throughout; but for rapid work it might be 

 best to put on more heat. In some instances 

 a larger machine would be needed. 



DIVISIBLE-BROOD-CHAMBEK HIVES. 



Among dozens of inquiries, one of interest 

 to many who may contemplate giving this 

 kind of hive a trial will be given herewith. 

 It is as follows: 



' ' I write to ask some questions about your 

 shallow hives. I asked one editor why it 

 would not do to use shallow supers with or- 

 dinary shallow frames— the advantage in this 

 being that, if one did not like the divisible- 

 brood- chamber system, he could go back to 

 the deep brood-chamber without disposing 

 of his shallow hives. The answer was, ' They 

 would do in a way; but one objection would 

 be that the top- bars of the frames would be 

 too wide, and interfere with the operations.' 

 I do not see the force of this objection. Js 

 not the comb wider than the top-bar? and 

 could one not order frames with narrower 

 top- bars? Do you use the system that J. E. 

 Hand outlined in Gleanings?" 



My first divisible hives were nothing but 

 the regular ten-frame shallow extracting-su- 

 perswith5|-in. Hoffman self-spacing frames. 

 These were used throughout from the bottom 

 up. My idea was exactly the same as the 

 questioner's. If these shallow hives should 

 prove unsatisfactory they were to be used as 

 supers on the deep- brooa- chamber hives, but 

 this was never done. More were put in use 

 as divisible-brood-chamber hives instead, un- 

 til now I have hundreds of them in my api- 

 aries. Having these side by side with both 



eight and ten frame deep hives I can more 

 readily notice their advantages. 



And this is the very way I would urge 

 others to give this kind of hive a trial before 

 plunging into an expense that may be regret- 

 ted later. There is nothing to lose in this 

 way, as the bottoms and covers are the same 

 as for ten-frame L. hives. 



It is true that the top- bars of the regular 

 frames are too wide for ready examination, 

 and sometimes it is a hindrance in that it 

 does not allow sufficient communication be- 

 tween stories in some colonies, keeping the 

 queen from passing freely from one story to 

 another. Nevertheless I have thousands of 

 these frames in use with good results. My 

 ideal frames have top-bars only | inch wide 

 the entire length, and ^ inch deep, the other 

 parts of the frames being the same. I have 

 used them for ten years, and there was no 

 trouble with burr-combs or sagging; besides, 

 these frames allow freer communication, bet- 

 ter observation, and are stronger. There is 

 no comb-guide or groove to weaken the top- 

 bar, the foundation being fastened with hot 

 wax. 



My system of management is different 

 from Mr. J. E Hand's, in that it is not so 

 complicated. It will be written up later. 



SPRING MANAGEMENT. 



Protecting Hives with Paper; Prevention 



of Mixing when Colonies are Set out 



of the Cellar ; Feeding in the 



Spring : does it Pay? 



BY E. D. TOWNSEND. 



If I were wintering colonies in small hives 

 with sealed covers, and had a well-protected 

 location, I do not think it would pay me to 



f)aper the hives; but if I were using a hive 

 arger than the ten-frame Langstroth I would 

 paper in all cases, for I do not think that 

 the large hive has as many bees in compari- 

 son to the size of the hive as the eight and 

 ten frame hives have. If this is the case, the 

 extra room to warm during the breeding 

 season of spring would, in my estimation, 

 justify the papering. If a yard of bees is 

 located in a windy place (and I think the 

 majority are) then it will also pay to paper. 



COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF BLACK AND 

 M HITE PAPER. 



It is with a good deal of satisfaction that 

 I find Gleanings showing white paper for 

 protecting colonies during winter and spring. 

 Although I do not winter bees in papered 

 hives I have been almost alone in the use of 



