130 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March 1, 1900. 



to the sides and back, and between them and the honey sec- 

 tion-frames, are hunj^^ division-boards, either in the form of 

 a frame with f^lass, or a light wire screen ; in either case 

 intended to make it possible to sec the sections, and being 

 equally serviceable atid desirable. 



If a very large colony is produced either by a very fine 

 queen or by uniting swarms, as 1 mention later, one sec- 





tion-frame on each side of the brood-frames can be re- 

 moved ; or both, thus making- brood-chamber of the entire 

 front of the hive ; or the section-frames can be removed 

 from the sides and back, giving still more room for brood- 

 chamber. In the first case we have eight brood-frames and 

 six section-frames ; in the second case we have 12 brood- 

 frames and four section-frames ; in the third case we have 

 16 brood-frames, and two section-frames in the back of the 

 hive ; in the fourth case we have 20 brood-frames, and a 

 colony with such a brood-chamber being naturally very 

 strong, there will be no trouble in getting the bees to rise 

 into a super constructed of section-frames, similar to those 

 already mentioned, except that they may contain four or 

 eight sections, according to the demand. Such a super 

 would contain SO or 100 sections. Both side and back walls 

 are removable for convenience in taking ofl' the surplus 

 (whether in sections or in honey-frames for extracting). 



After the removal of the section-frames or honey- 

 frames at the close of the season, the space so left in the 

 back and sides is filled with straw. The front of the hive is 

 of two pieces, with tar or oiled paper between to keep the 

 heat in. The hive usually facing the south, it is not neces- 

 sary to take quite the precaution in chaffing that side, and I 

 am confident the double wall will be sufficiently warm for 

 the front. The floor of the hive is well chaft, as is also the 

 roof or cover, which is besides fitted with a cluster space 

 and means of ventilation thru the chaffing. 



It is not designed to run a super except when more than 

 one queen is run, or when the hive proves too small for the 

 accommodation of the. brood and surplus of a colony with a 

 very strong queen. When running several queens they will 

 be excluded from each other and the surplus by queen-ex- 

 cluders, but all the bees being from the same colony will 

 intermingle. The front of the hive will have two entrances 

 to be used as explained later. 



The advocates of the 8-frame hive could run this hive 

 without changing their theories in regard to the brood- 

 chamber ; and those who advocate large brood-chambers 

 would be equally well suited, as the hive has elastic quali- 

 ties in which an expert will delight. 



I start the hive with eight frames of brood and two sec- 

 tion-frames on each side, and two at the back, for instance. 

 I then find that my queen can fill more commodious quar- 

 ters, and take out two section-frames, which still leaves 

 four section-frames containing 32 sections, and increases 

 the brood-chamber to 12 frames. If I begin expanding the 

 brood-chamber before hanging the section-frames, I of 

 course simply move out the division-board as the require- 

 ments direct, and this I can do to 20 frames in the brood, in 

 which case the strength of the colony, with perhaps two or 

 even three queens, will easily .send the bees up to the super 



as before mentioned, for it will, of course, then be neces- 

 sary to have a super. 



Normally, we will consider that the hive has six of the 

 section-frames holding 4H sections, on the sides and back, 

 and that this is the only reasonable and economical way of 

 running a moderately strong colony, or even a strong col- 

 ony under the usual conditions. 



It is well known that the lower part of the hive has to 

 be filled before the rise to the super takes place ; but how 

 often the bees loaf around and sometimes miss a crop, even 

 when there is no apparent reason, the common cry alone 

 can tell. We occasionally read in the bee-papers of some 

 one's plan of forcing the bees into the sections. Now it is 

 simply impossible to force bees to do anything, and one can 

 rever.se the order of things as much as one likes, and in the 

 end the result vrill be the same. Towards fall, for instance, 

 when there are a large number of empty cells in the brood- 

 combs, the bees will carry honey down from the super, if 

 there is no honey-flow, etc. 



I have concluded that the bees apparently do not rise 

 into the super with stores as readily as they will deposit 

 their stores in the lower part of the hive ; at least not until 

 there is a superabundance of- bees in the hive. Herein lies 

 thedifl^erence, and I believe also from observation, that bees 

 prefer to spread to the sides rather than spread upward. 

 From the experiment I find that the bees will build to the 

 sides indefinitely, and enter the sections without any hesi- 

 tancy or delay whatever, never failing in this respect if 

 there is honey flowing. Now, this is a valuable considera- 

 tion, and in connection with the clean sections, and straight, 

 full combs obtainable with the system, would be worth any 

 inconvenience, if indeed there were any. As the bees enter 

 the sections from the side, and only the edges are exposed, 

 there is no possible chance for any gluing or dirtying of 

 the sections, and one can remove section after section with 

 scarcely a speck of bee-glue to be seen, and it is conse- 

 quently not necessary to scrape them either by hand or 

 machinery. 



Another reason which makes this honey section-frame 

 desirable is its easy removal. To be considered quite dis- 

 tinctly are the following : 



1st. That when one desires to know how the sections 

 are filling it can be discovered in a moment, and without 

 disturbing the bees, by simply removing the side or back, 

 thus exposing the sections from the side, which in itself is 

 much superior to peering down between the cracks thru a 

 colony of bees rising towards one's face. 



2nd. When removing the sections one does not straight- 

 way invite every bee which feels it lias had its roof-tree 

 and stores stolen, to rise to a friendly caress ; to say noth- 

 ing of the disturbing nature of the proceeding, which is 

 undoubtedly felt in the work of the entire colony. 



3rd. Full section-frames removed are at once replaced 

 with new section-frames ready at hand ; and the vexation 

 of removing a super with sections in all stages of complete- 

 ness and incompleteness is minimized, as it is of course 

 only possible to remove about eight sections at a time, and, 

 as they are pretty well localized in the same part of the 

 hive, are apt to be in about the same condition. 



It might be added that the storing of honey is not en- 



tirely interrupted when removing sections during a honey- 

 flow, as working on one side only there are still two sides 

 in which the storing goes on uninterruptedly. 



One of the main features of the hive is whaf I will call 

 its elasticity. An 8-frame hive is the thing to have if the 

 rearing facilities are only sufficient to produce brood enough 



