10 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For the American Bee JouroaL 



The Langstroth Bee-Spaces. 



DR. G. L. TINKER. 



The fact has been many times al- 

 luded to, and the experience ot every 

 bee-keeper will conhrm it, that the 

 bee-space so generally provided be- 

 tween the brood-frames and the sec- 

 tions, by the producers of comb honey, 

 has many objectionable features. 

 Very often it is filled up completely, 

 save a few passage-ways for the bees, 

 with a net- work of wax and honey. 

 To take out the brood-frames of such 

 a hive is almost as bad as the taking 

 out of combs from a box -hive. Ital- 

 ian bees are very likely to fill up the 

 space, and even black bees regard 

 with disfavor tlie labyrinthine bee- 

 spaces of such a hive by tlie effort to 

 build continuous combs from the top 

 of the brood to the top of the hive. 

 That they cannot do it, is no fault of 

 their instinct. 



If the bee-space be made only M of 

 an inch in width, there will not be as 

 much comb built in, but often enough 

 to be an annoyance in taking out the 

 brood-frames. Where the space is 

 made % or ^ of an inch wide, as is 

 usual on account of the changes liable 

 to take place in the material of the 

 hive, more comb will be built in, and 

 hence, more time will be required to 

 take out and return the brood-frames 

 without the killing of many bees. The 

 coml) must be cut away, and so much 

 time is taken as to make it a serious 

 item in a large apiary it many hives 

 are to be opened. Leaving out the 

 question of time, the cutting away of 

 the comb is no great trouble when 

 nectar is coming in freely, but if not, 

 there is no work about an apiary so 

 aggravating to the bees, and so per- 

 plexing to the bee-keeper as the clear- 

 ing away of these bits of comb and 

 honey that the brood-frames may be 

 handled without a slaughter of the 

 bees. A good smoker will be needed, 

 and often on quite gentle colonies. 



Again, in tiering-up the section- 

 cases, many bits of comb have to be 

 cut away, time is taken, and work is 

 set back. AVhen it is said, therefore, 

 that the bee-space of Langstroth is an 

 annoyance, I dare say tliat not one 

 will protest. 



A hive properly constructed witli 

 continuous passage-ways effectually 

 prevents the building of all brace- 

 combs between the movable parts of 

 a hive, and in a way that the practical 

 management of a movable-frame 

 hive is facilitated, 

 comb built into 

 enough white wax 

 t<) fill one or more 

 the work of the 

 viding direct 



Now we get all 

 the sections, and 

 and honey saved 

 ; and in addition, 

 bees is aided by pro- 

 passage-ways, and. 



hence, a real gain in the total product 

 of a colony is the result. 



After alluding to the "trouble "so 

 often caused in hives " where more 

 than one story is used," from the bees 

 " building small combs between the 

 upper and lower sets of frames," 

 Fattier Langstroth says (see page 638, 

 Vol. XIX) in the last article he wrote 

 for tlie Hee Journal, " Before giving 

 up my apiary, I found that small 



boxes were mucti more readily filled 

 by Italian bees when put directly on 

 top of the frames ; and tliat, however 

 admirably the shallow chamber an- 

 swered for black bees, the Italians 

 plainly wanted notliing to do with it." 

 The only escape that any one can 

 have in opposing so eminent an au- 

 thority on the points herein set forth, 

 is to champion the black bee ; for the 

 Italians do hesitate to go through the 

 "shallow chamber" into sections, 

 and will rather store in the brood- 

 chamber to the exclusion of brood, 

 and when all is full below, they often 

 still hesitate or swarm. What is true 

 of the noble Italians is as certainly 

 true of black bees, only perhaps iu a 

 lesser degree. 



Some ask why " the bees will not 

 glue the sections together if no bee- 

 spaces are provided i*" I place the 

 sections on slats in the same manner 

 as the sections are placed upon the 

 Simplicity case, and I have had no 

 trouble of this nature, and have won- 

 dered much at the obstinacy with 

 which this point has been held for the 

 last two years. I say with Father 

 Langstroth, that "bees glue up all 

 spaces too small for them to pass 

 through;" but the spaces where the 

 sections rest on the slats are not large 

 enough for a bee to get its head under, 

 and what little propolis is placed on 

 the outside, is not half as much as is 

 placed on the sections of any case. 

 xVs " gluing of the sections " has been 

 the greatest objection urged against 

 the use of continuous passage-ways, 

 I trust this may be accepted as a con- 

 clusive answer. 



Again, it is inquired "how it is 

 managed to dispatch work while plac- 

 ing cases on top of each other and 

 not crush the bees." In tiering-up 

 the cases of sections, I proceed as 

 follows: A wedge or chisel is in-' 

 serted under the rear end of the sec- 

 tion-case, to loosen it, when it may be 

 lifted off at once and the empty case 

 inserted ; when near the front end of 

 the hive the few bees that may be in 

 the way are brushed off (I use a little, 

 short hand-broom), but often not a 

 bee will come up for a minute or two, 

 so that the empty case could be set 

 flat down. The partly-filled case is 

 then carried over the empty one to 

 its place, the whole operation requir- 

 ing, perhaps, two minutes. The only 

 skill required in the proceeding, is in 

 the handling of the partly-filled case. 

 As soon as it is lifted off. many bees 

 will run out on the bottom. By a 

 slight rocking motion of the case, as 

 it is carried forward, not a bee will be 

 killed or harmed in any way. The 

 only care necessary being to look be- 

 neath the case just before the pas- 

 sage-ways are closed up to see that no 

 bees are cut in two. As no bees can 

 get in front, none will be killed there, 

 and few would be killed if no great 

 care was taken. Ko bees are ever 

 " crushed," but if any are killed, they 

 are cut in two, the same as by the 

 edges of any case, only the chances 

 for thus killing are very limited. 



In all operations about a colony of 

 bees a skill is required that can only 

 be obtained by actual practice. To 

 see an expert bee-keeper take the 



combs out of a hive appears to the 

 novice a very easy thing ; but let him 

 step up to the hive and try his hand, 

 and the chances are that he does not 

 get a frame out at all on the first 

 trial. And so in handling section- 

 cases, some practice is required to 

 handle them rapidly without killing 

 many bees. One may tell just how it 

 is done, but practice only can make 

 an expert. 

 New Philadelphia,o Ohio. 



Convention Notices. 



1^ The sixteenth annual conven- 

 tion of the Northeastern Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will be held in the 

 City Hall at Syracuse, N. Y., on the 

 21, 22 and 23 of January, 188.5. The 

 executive committee are determined 

 to maintain the high standing and 

 enviable reputation which the Asso- 

 ciation has justly gained in the past, 

 and at the coming convention they 

 propose to outdo all former efforts. 

 The meeting will surely be the largest 

 and most interesting ever held in 

 America. No bee-keeper can afford 

 to stay at home. All are invited. All 

 implements of the apiary sent to the 

 Secretary, will be properly arrayed to 

 compare favorably with others on ex- 

 hibition, and will be disposed of or 

 returned, as the owner directs. Re- 

 duced rates for board at hotels. 



Geo. W. House, Sec. 



L. C. Boot, Pres. 



1^ The regular annual meeting of 

 the Indiana State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation will be held on Thursday 

 and Friday, Jan. 22 and 23, 188.5. The 

 meetings will be conducted iu the 

 rooms of the State Board of Agricul- 

 ture, on the corner of Tennessee and 

 Market Streets, in Indianapolis, Ind. 

 It is proposed to make this the most 

 important and interesting meeting of 

 bee-keepers ever held in the vState. 

 Frank L. Dougherty, Sec. 



1^ The eighth annual meeting of 

 the Northwestern Illinois and South- 

 western Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation will be held in Temperance 

 Hall, at Freeport, 111., on Jan. 20 and 

 21 , 188.5. Jonathan Stewart, /Sec. 



1^ The Central Illinois Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will hold its next 

 annual meeting in Bloomington, 111., 

 on the second Wednesday in January, 

 188.5, at 9 a. m. 



W. B. Lawrence, Sec. 



^- The Willamette Valley Bee- 

 Keepers' Association will hold its 

 second meeting at La Fayette, Ore- 

 gon, on the third Tuesday in June, 

 188.5. All who are interested are in- 

 vited to attend. E. J. Hadley, Sec. 



1^" The seventh annual meeting of 

 the Nebraska State Bee- Keepers' As-, 

 sociation will be held at Tecumseh, 

 Neb., on Wednesday, Thursday and 

 Friday, Jan. 14, 15 and 16, 1885; the 

 first session beginning at 3 p. m. on 

 the 14th. Notices will be posted in 

 the Tecumseh depots, stating the hall 

 in which the meeting will be held. 

 M. L. Trester, Sec. 



