818 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL^ 



have any taste for or skill in handling tools, to make their hives themselves. This 

 work is not very difiScult. "When I began to keep bees I bought, in a second-hand 

 store, all the tools I needed, saws, planes, hammer, squares, etc., and I did not find 

 the work either hard or diflBcult, but, on the contrary, rather pleasant, although I 

 had no skill in carpentering. 



A man who lives on a farm is often compelled to stay at home in idleness during 

 the bad weather of winter. Then he will find the work of building hives an agree- 

 able and profitable occupation. A small shop, and the necessary tools for hive- 

 making, will cost but little, and will be found useful in many ways outside of the 

 bee-hive interest. 



I will now explain why the Quinby frames prove more profitable when compared 

 to the other sizes. For breeding purposes, the nearer square a frame is the better 

 it suits the queen. When she begins to lay, in the first days of February, and some- 

 times earlier, to replenish the hive with bees, she places the first eggs in the cells 

 that occupy the middle of the cluster. Then she continues her laying in a circle 

 around the cells containing the first laid until she reaches the edge of the frame. la 

 very shallow frames, after she has filled a circle of the height of the frame, she has 

 to hunt at each round for more cells to lay in. When we consider that a queen in 

 the height of the breeding-season must lay from 2,000 to 3,500 eggs per day, we 

 will readily understand how precious her time is. While she is hunting for more 

 room her eggs drop off, like fruits, and are lost. It is, therefore, evident that the 

 frame must be as nearly square as possible, but with a square frame there is too 

 little room above for the surplus honey, as the hive must of necessity be nearly 

 square also. It therefore becomes necessary to furnish the bees with a hive in 

 which the frames will be of sufficient depth to give the queen a good-sized circle on 

 each, and of sufficient length to allow of a plentiful space over the brood-nest for 

 the surplus apartment. 



A very shallow frame, besides breaking the queen's breeding-circle also, has the 

 disadvantage of leaving too little room above the cluster during cold weather for 

 the supply of food. The greater part of the honey has to be put in the rear part of 

 the combs, and in extremely cold weather we have often noticed that colonies died 

 in these shallow hives, because they were unable to reach these stores that were too 

 far on the side, and consequently not warmed by the heat rising from the cluster. 



The above reasons are sufficient to show that my preference for the Quinby 

 frame is based upon rational deductions, as well as upon the experience of 30 years 

 of practice. — Prairie Farmer. Hamilton, 111. 



QUESTIONS ABOUX EAST TENNESSEE. 



BY II. F. COLEMAN. 



Mr. W. R. Ritchie, of North Middletown, Ky., desires me to answer the follow- 

 ing questions through the American Bee Journal : 



1. In the mountainous parts of East Tennessee, what per cent, of the lands are 

 in cultivation ? 2. What are the principal crops and their average yield ? 3. What 

 is price of land not improved ? 4. How is the country populated ? 5. How is the 

 fruit business? 



In answer to these questions, I would say that in the rural districts, and to 

 these I presume Mr. R. has reference, not more than 85 per cent, of the lands are 

 in cultivation. In these districts the principal crops are corn, wheat, oats and the 

 grasses. The best lands will yield from 30 to 50 bushels of corn per acre, and 

 wheat and oats in proportion. The poorer lands will not do so well. The price of 



