1909 



GLEANINGS IN BtE CULTURE. 



211 



hives in general, although reversible frames are 

 used quite extensively. We do not like to throw 

 cold water on a correspondent's idea; but if his- 

 tory repeats itself, and it generally does, he will 

 find that the slight advantage he will gain in a 

 reversible hive will be more than offset by the 

 expense of the equipment. There is so little real 

 advantage in the reversible feature that it hardly 

 pays to construct a whole hive with that end in 

 view. — Ed.] 



PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR 

 BEGINNERS. 



The Selection of the Necessary Equip- 

 ment. 



BY E. D. TOWNSEND. 



I would recommend that the beginner com- 

 mence his bee-keeping career with the production 

 of comb honey, and that all increase be made by 

 natural swarms. Gradually the production of 

 extracted honey can be taken up. I know it is 

 generally considered that extracted-honey pro- 

 duction is more easily learned than comb-honey 

 production; and I admit that, if the beginner 

 were to commence the season with half of his 

 colonies worked for comb honey and half for ex- 

 tracted, the half worked for extracted honey 

 would probably be the more profitable that sea- 

 son; but there are many pitfalls in the production 

 of extracted honey not found in the production 

 of comb, and the beginner might be the loser in 

 the end if he produced extracted honey from the 

 start. A part of the danger lies in the fact that, 

 in producing extracted honey, much of the in- 

 crease has to be made artificially. Besides this, 

 one not entirely familiar with the business might 

 allow more extracted-honey colonies to starve 

 than he would comb-honey colonies, for the lat- 

 ter will have a good stock of the early or better 

 quality of honey for winter stores. In the case 

 of colonies run for extracted honey, on the other 

 hand, the early and better honey is more likely 

 to be placed in the upper story, which usually 

 contains an abundance of comb room. It is true 

 that sugar syrup could be fed to make up this 

 deficit; but this would only add another burden, 

 which the beginner had better avoid at the start. 



All artificial-swarming methods should be 

 avoided for the first few years until the beginner 

 has more experience, and until some of the known 

 principles are learned. After this, these other 

 principles of bee-keeping can be taken up. 



WHAT HIVE TO ADOIT. 



If more comb honey than extracted is to be 

 produced the first season, it will be necessary to 

 buy rather more supplies. I assume that either 

 the eight or ten frame hive will be adopted, con- 

 taining frames of Langstroth dimensions. 1 

 again urge the adoption of the ten-frame hive, 

 knowing that it has every advantage of the eight- 

 frame and some additional good points besides. 

 The hive that we would order is the regular 

 Dovetailed hive for comb-honey production, hav- 

 ing a reversible bottom board made of %-inch 

 material. These botiom-boards are much supe- 

 rior to some that have been on the market in for- 



mer years. We have used very similar ones for 

 the past twelve years, and know that they are 

 good. The super of this hive should contain 

 4>( X4XXl>4-inch plain sections and fence-sep- 

 arators. In my opinion, there is no better sec- 

 tion on the market to-day than the 4X-inch 

 square plain section. 



If four good colonies of bees are bought the 

 first season, and these colonies and the increase 

 are to be put into new hives, about ten hives will 

 be needed. There should be ten hive-bodies, 

 ten covers^ ten bottom-boards, and twenty supers; 

 and all the inside furnishings should be included. 

 The frames should be pierced, and the wire 

 should be sent for wiring them. 



If the supers are used as we use ours, extract- 

 ing-frames will replace the outside section-hold- 

 ers in each super. These frames are made the 

 same size as the section-holders, but they have a 

 top bar. Both top and bottom-bars are }i inch 

 wide, the top-bar being y% inch thick, and pro- 

 vided with a beveled groove and wedge for fas- 

 tening the foundation. These extracting-frames 

 should be pierced for two wires, and full sheets 

 of thin super foundation should be used in them. 



As the supers, as ordered, do not include sec- 

 tions, 1000 4XX4XXl>^-inch plain sections 

 should be ordered. One would probably not 

 use a thousand the first year; but during a good 

 year more than 500 would be necessary, and it 

 is well to order sections in full packages. 



For supplying these sections with full sheets 

 of foundation, about eight pounds of the extra- 

 thin super foundation will be needed. 



Brood-frames should all be pierced for wiring. 

 The p'ercing and the wire for wiring the frames 

 costs about ten cents extra per hundred frames. 

 Full sheets of medium brood foundation should 

 be used, and it will take thirteen or fourteen 

 pounds to fill one hundred frames. The use of 

 starters in brood-frames is very poor economy. 

 I have tried both starters and full sheets. 



There is no better uncapping-knife than the 

 Improved Bingham. We order them made one 

 inch longer than the regular size, but very good 

 work can be done with the knives of ordinary 

 length. A Coggshall brush is very essential for 

 freeing the combs of bees when extracting or at 

 any other time. 



It might be well to have two or three extra 

 stories the same as the hive-bodies, for there are 

 sometimes combs that are undesirable for use in 

 the brood-nest, but which would be all right for 

 extracting-frames. In this way, even if no par- 

 ticular pains are taken for producing extracted 

 honey, some may be secured the first season. 

 The second season, all extra combs from dead or 

 queenless colonies could be used for extracting- 

 combs. Then if shallow extracting-combs are 

 used in the comb-honey supers, as I have recom- 

 mended, by the second year, at least, quite an 

 amount of extracted honey may be produced. In 

 this way the beginner may be gradually drawn 

 into the production of both comb and extracted 

 honey until, before long, half of the yard may 

 be worked for each. The amount of extracted 

 honey can be regulated, however, for if more 

 empty combs accumulate than are needed for ex- 

 tracted honey the swarms could be hived on 

 them. 



Remus, Michigan. 



