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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



ror the American Bee Journal. 



Small Hives vs. Large Hives. 



S— W. Z. HUTCHINSON, (70 — JO). 



I notice that I have not been suf- 

 ficiently explicit in my statements. 

 In my first paragiapli, on page 631, I 

 intended to carry along, to its end, 

 the meaning, or influence, of its cen- 

 tral idea, viz : Success depends upon 

 producing tlie largest amount of honey 

 with the least expenditure of capital 

 and labor. My meaninsr was that this 

 idea should be kept in view, and if 

 we did secure the greatest amount of 

 honey with the least expenditure of 

 capital and labor, it was of no impor- 

 tance whether the honey was stored 

 in 10 or in 100 hives, ily meaning is, 

 that we should not strive to see how 

 much honey we can secure per hive, 

 unless by so doing we are securing 

 the greatest amount of honey with 

 the least labor and capital. To illus- 

 trate : One man with a few hives 

 and many manipulations (labor) may 

 secure 1,000 pounds of honey ; anotlier 

 man with twice as many hives, and 

 with less labor, may secure only the 

 same amount of honey, and yet make 

 the most profit. I hope I may be 

 excused for dwelling upon this point, 

 for it is the one grand principle un- 

 derlying success, not only in bee-keep- 

 ing, but in all industries. 



Mr. Dadant's computations, on 

 page 662, in regard to tlie number of 

 bees per comb in large and small hives, 

 before swarming and after, etc., are 

 interesting, but lie lias evidently over- 

 looked ttie fact that. when bees swarm, 

 tliey are not conlitied to the 8 or VI 

 combs (the brood-nest), but there is 

 a surplus department, of equal or 

 greater capacity than the brood-nest, 

 which is crowded wilh bees. After a 

 swarm has issued, this surplus apart- 

 ment is almost abandoned. According 

 to Mr. Uadant's ligures, an 8-frame 

 hive may contain .50,000 bees, and a 

 12-frame hive 75,000 bees. He divides 

 these numbers by the number of 

 combs per hive, and says there must 

 be about (i.oOO bees per comb. He 

 certainly must have made these calcu- 

 lations to apply before the giving of 

 surplus room. I can think of no other 

 explanation. 



With me, and I believe it is a gen- 

 eral rule, bees do not usually swarm 

 until tliey have stored considerable 

 honey in the surplus apartments. 

 When the 8 combs are crowded with 

 bees, and lioney is to be gathered, I 

 put on one case of sections. The bees 

 take possession. Bees are hatching 

 in excess of the mortality, and soon 

 not only the brood-nest, but the case 

 of sections, is crowded ; now I put on 

 another case of sections, and the bees 

 overflow into this. .Soon this case 

 becomes crowded, and anotlier case is 

 added. About the time tliat the 

 sections in the case first given are 

 finished, and theseclions thatwere last 

 given are one third finished, the bees 

 swarm. Now, this muchltiiojo; A 

 swarm of bees that comes from an 8- 

 frame Langstroth hive, and from 

 three crowded cases of sections above 

 it, cannot be hived upon only o combs 



and not crowd more than 166 bees per 

 comb into the sections. I think that 

 even Mr. Dadant will admit this. If 

 the bees swarm earlier in the season, 

 before commencing work in the sur- 

 plus apartment, the swarms will, of 

 course, be smaller, and there will be 

 all the more need for contraction in 

 order that we may secure all the white 

 honey in the surplus apartment instead 

 of the brood-nest. 



It is true that when our bees swarm 

 we hive them upon the combs, 

 and then reduce the old hive to the 

 same capacity, which enlarges our 

 hive-capacity two combs ; hence Mr. 

 Dadant says it should be called the 

 " enlarging method." It is contracted, 

 is it not, so far as the eag-producing 

 power is concerned V We now have 

 hoo queens. 



It is true that we can house our bees 

 at less expense in large than in small 

 hives, and it is equally true that 

 implements and fixtures that cost the 

 most are often the most profitable. 

 But let us see how much greater our 

 outlay for hives really is. Mr. C. P. 

 Dadant estimates the cost of a Ileddon 

 hive at $2.50, and the hive wliich he 

 uses, at 50 cents more. (His estimates 

 in regard to foundation have no bear- 

 ing upon the subject under discussion, 

 as the cost for foundation is the same 

 whether used in a large or a small 

 hive.) He uses 8 hives where we 

 use 12, ours costing $2.50 and his $3.00 

 each, with interest at 10 per cent., and 

 the hives are replaced by new ones 

 every 15 years, and 12 hives cost us 

 each year $1.00 more than his 8 cost 

 him— an expense of 8\)' cents per hive, 

 each year. Now, to save thistrifiing 

 expense, we must incur the risk of 

 having from 5 to 20 pounds of the 

 choicest honey stored in the brood- 

 nest. My comb honey, this year, 

 netted me 16 cents per pound. Had 

 I used hives so large that the queen 

 did not occupy the two outside combs, 

 my surplus crop would have been 

 reduced at least 14 pounds per hive. 

 Had this 14 pounds been needed for 

 winter stores, it could have been 

 replaced with sugar at a profit of 

 $1.26. 



If I understand this subject aright, 

 it is sometliing like this : Mr. Dadant 

 considers it of more importance that 

 the queen shall have an abundance of 

 room in which to lay eggs, than that 

 all of the combs be filled with brood ; 

 while I wish every comb to be tilled 

 solid with brood, even if the queen 

 does have to occasionally indulge in a 

 '• play spell." 



Mr. C P. Dadant places great stress 

 upon the advantages to be gained by 

 allowing eacli queen to lay to her 

 utmost capacity, intimating that the 

 number of bees will be increased 

 thereby. It will increase the number 

 per hive, but not per apian/. Ninety- 

 six combs filled with eggs by 8 queens 

 will produce no more bees than will 96 

 combs tilled by 12 queens, and the 

 chances that they will be filled are 

 reduced to a certainty when 12 queens 

 are employed. 



I think that the yield of honey 

 depends upon the area of the field 

 (and its character), and the number of 

 bees employed ; not upon the " number 



of colonies," as Mr. Dadant puts it. 

 That is just where we differ. He 

 wishes a large number of bees per 

 colony, while I am not so particular 

 about that as I am about a large 

 number per comb. 

 Rogersville, 6 Mich. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Wabash Co., Ind., Convention. 



The fourth semi-annual meeting of 

 the Wabash County Bee-Keepers' 

 Association was held in the G. A. R. 

 Hall at North Manchester. Ind., on 

 Oct. 10, 1885, at 10 a.m., with Presi- 

 dent Hess in the chair. The minutes 

 of tlie previous meeting were read 

 and approved. 



An essay was read by Aaron Singer, 

 on " How to keep bees for profit." 



GENERAL DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Miller uses glass in section- 

 cases, but he will discard it hereafter. 



Mr. Cripe uses glass, but would use 

 it no more. 



Mr. Maurer: I am using glass, but I 

 have to keep it darkened to get the 

 bees to work in the sections. 



Mr. Gerlack said that he had very 

 little success in dividing colonies, and 

 prefers natural swarming. 



Mr. Zimmerman said that the pro- 

 duction of extracted honey pays better 

 than comb honey. 



Mr. Miller prefers comb honey be- 

 cause it is nicer to handle, and is 

 more marketable. 



Mr. Singer asked : " Does comb 

 honey at 20 cents a pound pay V or, 

 taking that for a basis, at what price 

 can extracted honey be produced to 

 be as profitable V" 



Mr. Cook said that more honey can 

 be produced by extracting, and if a 

 market could be found for it at 15 

 cents per pound, it would pay as well 

 as comb honey at 20 cents. 



Mr. Miller : Extracted honey gran- 

 ulates in cold weather, and that 

 injures the sale of it. 



Mr. Singer : I sell comb honey at 20 

 cents and extracted at 123.^ cents per 

 pound. I peddle it and sell more of 

 the extracted. 



Mr. Comstock said that there is 

 very little difference in the profit of 

 comb honev at 20 cents per pound and 

 extracted at 12'2 cents. 



President Hess said in regard to 

 keeping up tlie price of honey, that 

 some farmers and a few bee-keepers 

 make a great mistake by selling comb 

 honey at a less price than can be 

 atlorded, and that bee-keepers should 

 stand unitedly on tlie price, and work 

 for each others' interest. 



In several townships represented, 

 70 per cent, of all the bees died last 

 winter. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. ■ 



An essay was read by Henry Cripe, 

 on "Preparing bees for winter," which 

 was discussed as follows : 



ilr. Singer asked : " How do bees 

 get air in the winter ?" 



All the air they get is through the 

 space in front of the hive. 



Mr. Comstock packed his bees in 

 chatf and lost none. 



