JUNE 1, 1912 



347 



little modified; consequently they retain 

 their primitive hues. In the common field 

 daisy the disc florets number about 500; but 

 in the goldenrod each head consists of from^ 

 6 to 15 florets, and conspicuousness is gain- 

 ed by massing immense numbers of them 

 into dense panicles. The goldenrods form a 

 genus of beautiful and stately plants which 

 bloom from midsummer to late fall. Sev- 

 eral kinds secrete nectar freely, and are great 

 favorites with the honey-bee. On the Ca- 

 nadian goldenrod 146 different kinds of in- 

 sects have been observed in search of pollen 

 or nectar. The bright-yellow color of the 

 flowers renders them conspicuous, both by 

 day and evening; and as the temperature of 

 the inflorescence at night is several degrees- 

 above the surrounding air, they sometimes 

 serve as a refuge for insects. 



And In the evening, everywhere. 

 Along the roadside, up and down, 



I see the golden torches flare, 

 Like lighted street-lamps in the town. 



I think the butterfly and bee. 

 From distant meadows coming back. 



Are quite contented when they see 

 These lamps along the homeward track. 



Among the plants with yellow flowers 

 which are of most value to the beekeeper 

 are the willows, dandelion, basswood (green- 

 ish-yellow), barberry, cucumbers, squashes, 

 cotton, mustard, wild sunflowers, and gold- 

 enrods. The sensitive pea {Cassia Cham- 

 cecrista) , or partridge pea, Mr. Baldwin says, 

 is abundant in the high pine lands of north- 

 ern Florida. "In summer the woods are 

 yellow for miles with it, as far as the eye 

 can see." 



Waldoboro, Me. 



IS THE LANGSTROTH FRAME TOO SHALLOW 

 FOR SUCCESSFUL WINTERING ? 



BY SAMUEIi SIMMINS 



Mr. F. P. Clare appears to lay more stress 

 upon the size than the depth of this brood- 

 frame, March 15, p. 179. • If it can be proved 

 that the I^angstroth is too shallow, then it 

 will be considered that it is too small for 

 the most profitable work. Many frames 

 may contain the same equivalent in square 

 inches, and yet all are not suitable for the 

 best methods of management 



The depth of the puny British standard 

 frame was largely a matter of working with 

 nine-inch lumber. A similar consideration 

 (apart from encouraging bers into badly 

 furnished supers) appears to have ruled the 

 construction and large adoption of the 

 Ijangstroth frame. 



Editor Root seems to have tried for some- 

 thing deeper than the Langstroth; but he 

 states that he was nonplussed by a difficul- 

 ty in procuring lumber of a suitable width. 

 Thus, again, greater permanent efficiency 

 was sacrificed to mere initial convenience 

 in construction. Mr. Clare also falls back 

 upon this same lumber difficulty. 



Why did Dadant discard the I>angstroth 

 frame ? Think of it ! The very man who 



extolled and revised Langstroth's book saw 

 that he was losing dollars daily because the 

 Langstroth frame was too shallow. He used 

 them for twenty years, side by side with 

 deeper, larger frames, and finally discarded 

 the Langstroth for the sufficient reason that 

 he wanted to lose no more dollars. 



To use Mr. Clare's own expression, 

 "laughable, is it not?" One can imagine 

 Mr. Dadant smiling all over his face when 

 he had finally destroyed those shallow 

 brood-frames, and realized at last that he 

 was going to lose no more dollars over those 

 shallow frames. 



Why did another very able beekeeper, 

 Mr. EddoM'es, of Jamaica, prefer to use the 

 16x10 frame rather than the Langstroth? 

 Here are his own words: " My son tried the 

 British standard in the Argentine and the 

 Langstroth in Jamaica, alongside the Con- 

 queror with 16X10 frames, and found them 

 (standard and Langstroth) iwwhcre.'" The 

 16X10 frames gave him 330 lbs. per colony, 

 while the shallow frames yielded 150 lbs., 

 and, as he says, "with more trouble to look 

 after the latter." "Laughable, is it not?" 

 that a man should prefer not to lose 100 per 

 cent by working with a frame too shallow. 



Mr. Clare appears to have got a bit mixed 

 as regards the population of a double 16x10 

 brood-chamber, resulting in the production 

 of many useless bees too late to be any 

 good. He is right ofT the track when he 

 reasons that way. Certainly the double 

 chambers should be filled with brood in the 

 early part of the season. 



Thereafter, the workers from such queens 

 will see that there is never a surplus of use- 

 less consumers at the finish; and if they 

 are worked for comb honey it will be the 

 owner's fault if more than one brood-cham- 

 ber is left when supering. The method he 

 employs in utilizing the second chamber 

 for plumping the working stock will gauge 

 his own ingenuity. 



Do I know of queens that will fill two 

 16X10 brood-chambers at the fore part of 

 the season? Yes, friend Clare. I produce 

 no others. Of course no i)ractical beekeep- 

 er denies that one of the first essentials for 

 ensuring successful wintering is an abun- 

 dance of good food. But surely Mr. Clare 

 knows that there are some half-dozen other 

 very necessary conditions equally, if not 

 more, essential. 



Editor Hoot thinks if the writer ^\ere 

 more acquainted with general conditions he 

 would not consider the Langstroth frame 

 out of date. Was Mr. Dadant unacquaint- 

 ed with general conditions of apiculture in 

 the United States when he discarded the 

 Langstroth frame, because he was losing 

 hard cash by it daily ? Was Mr. Eddowes 

 acquainted with general conditions, with 

 experience in the Argentine and Jamaica, 

 when he found the Langstroth frame could 

 be beaten hollow by another of scarcely 

 more square inches, but so constructed as 

 to give decidedly better results ? 



Was our mutual friend Editor Root ac- 

 quainted with general conditions when he 



