AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 307 



BRACK-COmBS AX» "BEE-HIVES." 



BY H. E. HILL. 



Editorially, the June Review says: "Those using flat hive-covers placed bee- 

 space above the frames and resting upon the upper edge of the hive, know how 

 such covers are stuck fast with propolis, and how, unless honey-boards are used, 

 brace-combs are built againt the covers ;" and proceeds to explain a method for 

 removing said covers without lifting the brood-frames. Now, nothing is more cer- 

 tain than if " those using flat covers " do encounter this difficulty, they are also 

 " using " faulty top-bars In connection therewith. 



I know a man who has used flat covers for 15 years, and who does not recollect 

 having seen a brace-comb between the top-bars and the cover. Instead of devising 

 to tear a flat lid, which has been tied down with brace-combs, without crushing 

 bees and disarranging the frames, just try top-bars 1 1/16 or l>^x%, planed on top 

 and sides, and spaced IJ^ Inches from center to center, with a 5-16 space above, 

 and if a brace-comb is ever found attached to the cover or to the honey-board, 

 kindly advise the writer, that he " may note it in his journal." 



AN EXPERIENCE WITH SO-CALLED "HIVES." 



It is indeed questionable whether the designers of some of the so-called "bee- 

 hives" which are imposed upon the inexperienced by some of our extensive manu- 

 facturers, ever manipulated a hive containing bees, as their wares are incontrover- 

 tible evidence of total ignorance of the requirements of a hive that conforms to the 

 nature of the bee, and consequent ease of manipulation. Consistency demands of 

 such concerns that they add to their stock, and catalogue, as accessories, crowbars, 

 jackscrews andtorpedos. 



On one occasion, most memorable, I was detailed by my employer, to take off 

 800 or 900 comb honey supers from such " hives" — the product of a Western manu- 

 factory. The sections were supported by fragile slats of wood running lengthwise 

 of the super. The brood-frames had top-bars %x%, interspersed with those of the 

 V variety, apparently as an extra inducement to brace-comb building, in addition to 

 the warping and sagging of slats and % top-bars. 



About 1,000 of these hives were then doing service for their second season, but 

 the supers clung to the top-bars with a "deathlike grip," so that a small crowbar 

 was necessary to start them, and each one dragged with it from one to ten brood- 

 frames. The supers were then inverted upon the ground, and the frames pried oflE 

 separately and replaced in the hive. Bees were killed by the thousands by forcing 

 uneven and bulged combs up with the supers. Everything was drabbled with honey, 

 even the wheelbarrow, and bushels of brace-combs were scraped from the frames 

 and super slats. 



The time occupied in removing 50 of these supers would have been ample to 

 take off the whole lot, to say nothing of the mortification and disgust incurred by 

 attempting to work with such "traps." Narrow, thin, and V-shaped top-bars are 

 still in use in some of the large apiaries, for some unaccountable reason, though I 

 know of no one of experience who is making additions to his grief by extending the 

 number already in use. 



Uniform frames having top-bars as above described, nailed squarely together, 

 resting upon a metal bearing, having accurate bee-spaces above, below, between, 

 and at the ends, with full sheets of foundation supported by wires, and a level stand 

 for the hive, positively puts an end to all brace-comb annoyance for all time, 



Titusville, Pa., Aug. 9. 



