250 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



cesses, with a disposition to be a little 

 tjetter pleased to fail than to succeed, so 

 that they can demonstrate their foiesitjht, 

 and have the satisfaction of saying, ' I told 

 you so,' ' all a fraud," 'another humbug!' " 



Why not change the programme for 

 awhile and not tell of so many instances 

 where bees winter well witli pollen in the 

 liive, but let us have tlie cases where they 

 do not winter well with no pollen and 

 with plenty of good honey or sugar syrup? 

 If any one is anxious to prove that tjie 

 " theory " is not true, give us the evidence 

 of tluHe tliat have tried it and failed. 

 When a writer says he does not believe in 

 the theory, let him add that it is not scien- 

 titic, andso attempt, and if possible over- 

 throw the statements of such scientists as 

 Mr. Chesliire and Prof. Cook, and that be 

 has thoroughly and honestly tried it and 

 failed. 



Wagon Worlcs, Ohio. 



ror tiie American Bee Journal. 



Hive Door- Yards— Sections. 



1!. F. LITTLE, (80—12.5). 



ISIr. J. A. Pearce, on page 160, re- 

 •quests an expression as to hive door- 

 yards. I began by using sawdust and 

 chips ; I also tried sand, but I do not 

 like either. My yard now is run strictly 

 -on the lawn plan, with which I am 

 delighted. No doubt the question 

 will be asked, "How can a lawn 

 mower be run so as to mow close to 

 and under the hives ? I use a hive 

 with a tight bottom, and resting on 

 legs about 2 inches long, and the 

 hives stand in rows. In the summer 

 season I mow the yard about tliree 

 times in two weeks. I have from }4 

 to ?8 of an acre which I mow by be- 

 ginning on one side of the yard, mow 

 up to the row of hives, front or rear, 

 as the case may be ; stretch a line, 

 and have a two-wheeled truck, similar 

 to a depot or mill truck, with two 

 iron arms run out in front, and so 

 arranged as to slip under the rear of 

 the hives, and move it backward or 

 forward, as the case may be, to the 

 line. 



If the grass shows signs of dying 

 where the hives have been standing, 

 move them to one side a little also. 

 By moving the whole row, the bees 

 are not inconvenienced in the least. 

 Keep the yard mowed so close that in 

 swarming time a queen can be seen 

 anywhere. No bugs, toads or vermin 

 will find a place in which to hide. I 

 can mow my yard and move 100 colo- 

 nies in 3 hours. 



I would like to ask Dr. C. C. Miller, 

 in reference to his essay, read at the 

 International Congress, about experi- 

 ments in different widths of sections. 

 He says : "Scant 2 inches in width, 

 used with separators, averaged," etc. 

 He used four other different widths 

 without separators with different re- 

 sults. The Doctor did not say 

 whether he used a Ileddon case or 

 wide flames. The point I wish to 

 know is, will the narrow sections in 

 wide frames, say 2 inches, produce 

 the effect which he spoke of, or will 

 the frames have to be narrow in pro- 

 portion to the sections? 



Some of the leading apiarists rec- 

 ommend the " tieringup "' plan for 

 •extracted honey for <iuality, etc., tak- 

 ing off the honey at the end of the 



season. Do they not experience dif- 

 ficulty with robber bees, when they 

 do take off the honey V 



I wintered my bees in a cellar. The 

 winter was terribly cold, and conse- 

 quently some frost got in around the 

 cellar wall. The lowest that I saw 

 the mercury in the middle of the cel- 

 lar, was 323 above zero ; ^ jg not higher 

 now than 39°. My bees have been in 

 the cellar for 4 months today (April 

 1), and I will not be likely to get them 

 out for a week or ten days yet. They 

 seem to be in fair condition. 



Brush Creek, (^ Iowa. 



For tlie American nee Journal. 



Shipping-Cases, Fronting Hives, etc. 



DR. W. G. PHELPS. 



The length of my previous article 

 on page 119, precluded the possibility 

 of elaborating the plan proposed (if it 

 needed such) of utilizing the surplus 

 receptacle as a shipping-case. It may 

 seem to some that in siiipping honey 

 in such a case they might be parting 

 with a fixture of the apiary. I have 

 experienced no such trouble. With 

 the exception of one case, mine were 

 all returned to me by the linn pur- 

 chasing my honey, as previously 

 agreed upon, Peradventure, they 

 may be retained, even with our name 

 and address stenciled upon them, 

 what of it y Do they cost any more 

 than the cases generally used to ship 

 comb honey in ? Like the berry and 

 peach chest used so much in this 

 fruit-growing country, the larger per 

 cent, will be returned if so stipulated 

 when sales are made. 



To secure comb honey with the 

 least possible amount of propolis at- 

 tached to the sections, I have found a 

 slat surplus-case indispensable in this 

 State ; viz : A flat to protect the bot- 

 tom of the sections. In using a sec- 

 tion 1)^ inches wide, I use a slat of 

 the same width let in at the bottom 

 of the case. Some bee-keepers may 

 differ from me, but "as for me and 

 my house," I must say that we do not 

 enjoy scraping propolis from the edges 

 of the sections at the risk of breaking 

 the delicate combs. I prefer to let 

 my commission man, or the retailer 

 do that, and I believe that at the 

 present price of comb honey, they can 

 afford to do it better than I ; henc^ 

 my idea in shipping it pretty much as 

 our tiny employes put it up. 



I want to inquire why the broad 

 staple used in construction of barbed 

 wire-fence, or one similar in shape, 

 cannot be utilized to make our brood- 

 frames reversible? By simply boring 

 two holes in the ends of the top and 

 bottom bars, for the insertion of the 

 same, and lightly tapping the staple 

 to its place, what better support do 

 we need '? When reversing, place the 

 two staples in what was previously 

 the bottom-bar. Instead of entrance- 

 blocks to regulate the admission to 

 the hive (and also ofttimes to be get- 

 ting misplaced). 1 liiul strips of folded 

 tin iiassing behind narrow retainers 

 of the same metal properly tacked to 

 the hive, the best possible entrance 

 regulators. 



Permit me to close this article by- 

 recording a hearty endorsement of 

 Rev. M. Mahin"s remarks on page 26. 

 I have been j list perverse enough to 

 place the entrance of each hive due 

 north for the last three years, and I 

 highly recommend the plan for both 

 summer and winter— in the summer 

 for just the reason which Dr. Mahin 

 gives ; in the winter, for the most ex- 

 cellent reason that the bees are not 

 tempted abroad by every strong ray 

 of sunshine, and "thus often to perish 

 in vain attempts to regain the hive. 

 With the proper tilt forward that 

 every hive should have in winter, I 

 never realize the slightest trouble with 

 ice forming at the entrance. 



Galena, ^ Md. 



For tlie American Bee JoumaL 



The Reversible Frame- 



HOWARD U. ACKBRMAN. 



That the reversible frame is an im- 

 provement upon the old style of hang- 

 ing or Langstroth frame, there can no 

 longer be a shadow of doubt. That 

 it has come to stay, is, I think, an ac- 

 complished fact. As to which style 

 is the best, each bee-keeper will, as in 

 all other cases of hives, smokers, ex- 

 tractors, and other apiarian Kxtures, 

 decide for himself. For myself I 

 must say that I am better pleased 

 with the frame described by Mr. 

 Ileddon, on page S, than with any 

 others yet brought to my notice. It 

 seems to be simplicity itself, and, 

 taken altogether, it is a very valuable 

 arrangement. 



It has been suggested that a stand- 

 ing frame is the'simplest plan for re- 

 versible frames, but somehow I could 

 never look upon it as such. It seems 

 too much like retrogression. This 

 may only be a prejudice upon my 

 part, however, for I understand' that 

 several of our most prominent bee- 

 keepers are very successful with a 

 standing frame. Perhaps the revers- 

 ing facilities afforded by the standing 

 frame are the mitigating circum- 

 stances connected with its use. If 

 this is the case, how much more val- 

 uable should the reversible hanging 

 frame prove to the average bee- 

 keeper. A whole season or two might 

 pass by and the bee-keeper never need 

 to reverse his frames, and, indeed, at 

 certain times it might be a detriment 

 to his colonies and his honey crop to 

 do so ; in such a case, or such a sea- 

 son, he must exercise his judgment as 

 he does in all other things. The 

 simplest fact that the frames can be 

 reversed need not necessarily prove 

 they must be reversed ; and because 

 the bee-keeper goes to a little extra 

 expense to place reversible frames in 

 all his hives, and tinds at the end of 

 the season that they have not been of 

 any particular advantage to him for 

 that season, he need not bemoan his 

 stupidity ; for, like the person who 

 visited "a mining camp upon the 

 frohtier and asked a characteristic 

 individual of the locality, " if there 

 really was any necessity of a man 

 making a walking arsenal of himself 

 in that camp," the reply was. 



