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181 



A Profcclurc when ColoiiioN 

 fiiwiii'iii IValurali}'. 



Written /or the American Bee Journal 



Query 692.— How would tliis iihin work 

 wbere uolonies are allowed to swuriii iiat- 

 iiriilly y Hive tlio swarui as rocomuiendtMl by 

 Mr. Hvitchinson. namely, frames with starters 

 in the brood-chamlier, (jueen-exeludinfr honey- 

 board, and full combs in the super ; take the 

 jjureut colony and remove all combs except 

 one having: a quuen-cell (if more cells than 

 one, they can be cut out, leaving only onel ; 

 till the lii'ood-chambcr with frames having? 

 starters, put on the (iueea-excluding' honey- 

 board, and fill the super with combs — that is, 

 the combs from the brood-chamber. In place 

 of the queen-cell, a laying queen can be given 

 the parent colony. Suppose the apiar.v to be 

 run for extracted honey, liy the above plan, 

 I can get all m.v colonies to work in the supers, 

 aud have brood-combs drawn out at the same 

 time. What is your opinion of the plan ?— La. 



It looks plausible. — Mrs. L. Harbison. 



I think that the plan will work very well. 

 —J. P. H. BiiOWN. 



I never tried this, but I think that it 

 would work well — A. J. Cook. 



Having had no experience with this, I 

 cannot express an opinion. — M. Mahin. 



It may work all right, but there be ob- 

 jections not thought of until put to the test. 

 — C. C. Miller. 



Your plan will work, yet it is not the 

 plan that I would adopt in my locality 

 (Michigan). — H. D. Cutting. 



If I were at work tor extracted honey, I 

 would not bother in that way. — A.B.Mason. 



It would probably work all right, if you 

 like the combs built in that way. — R. L. 

 Taylor. 



I have never tried it. The space is too 

 limited to expand an argument in support 

 of, or against, a theory. — Eugene Secok. 



I doubt the feasibility of the plan. You 

 would get too much drone-comb. Try it, 

 and report. — J. M. Hambaugu. 



If you give the parent colony a laying 

 queen, your plan will work ; otherwise your 

 bees will build drone-combs. If you work 

 for extracted honey, you need have but 

 ve.-y few swarms. — Dadant & Son. 



It is too much "fussing." I do not favor 

 extracting honey from a brood-comb, or 

 from comb that has ever been used as 

 brood comb. — J. M. Shuck. 



I may be thick- headed, but I do not un- 

 derstand the question. Colonies will pro- 

 duce more extracted honey when they do 

 not swarm, aud swarming is unnecessary 

 when working for extracted honey. — G. M. 

 Doolittle. 



I have done with hiving swarms on 

 starters only — entirely too much drone- 

 comb is the result. There are some objec- 

 tions to putting starters only in the parent 

 colony. The last plan may work all right 

 for extracted honey. — C. H. Dibbern. 



Your plan ought to succeed and give the 

 best of satisfaction in results. I believe in 

 getting bees to work under the swarming 

 impulse, as far as possible, and this is one 

 of the plans to do it. With right manage- 

 ment, a colony that swarms will store more 

 surplus than one that does not — provided 

 the swarming is not too late in a honey- 

 flow. — G. L. Tinker. 



The plan is all right, and I think that it 

 will work well enough, but it is too compli- 

 cated, I think, for many. I should not like 

 it myself. If by the plan j/oii can get " all 



your colonies to work in .supers," etc., you 

 should stick to it. — ,1. K. PoNO. 



Whether your plan or something similar 

 will fail or succeed, depends upon climate, 

 season, etc. Such detail plans as the one 

 you speak of, belong to a series of a thou- 

 sand others will all sorts of variations. 

 Everything depends upon the bees, opera- 

 tor, location, season, and all that. — James 

 Heddon. 



Your plan will win-k, but the combs will 

 be mostly drone size, unless you have a 

 young laying queen, i\\ile to keep the newly- 

 built combs filled with eggs as fast as built. 

 Try this plan and report : When a colony 

 casts a swarm, have a super or hive-body 

 prepared with five frames filled with foun- 

 dation (or with starters), the rest of the 

 space filled out with division-boards. Put 

 on a queen-excluder, and place the parent 

 brood chamber on it, with its suj'plus cases 

 as they were before the swarm issued. Hive 

 the swarm below, aud when the brood is 

 all hatched out, extract the honey from the 

 upper combs, and fill out the brood-nest be- 

 low, and use the rest where needed. — G. 

 W. Demaree. 



The Doiible-^Valled vs. Single- 

 Walled Hives. 



Written lor the American Bee Journal 



Query 693.— 1. Do you use double-walled 

 or single-walled, hives— that is, walls without 

 packing? 2. When no packing is used, how 

 much dead-air space would you give, and what 

 thickness of lumber would you use for each 

 wall ? .3. Would you make the bottom-board 

 double-walled, the same as the sides and ends 

 of the hive? 4. When kept on the summer 

 stands the year through, has the double- 

 walled hive any points of superiority over the 

 single-walled hive ? If so. what are they ? 5. 

 What points of superiority has the single- 

 walled hive over the double-walled hive? 6. 

 Are the points of superiority of the double- 

 walled hive sufficient to pay for the extra ex- 

 pense of construction over the single-walled 

 hive ?— Ohio. 



1. No. 5. Cheapness and convenience. — 

 K. L. Taylor. 



Only single-walled hives are used in this 

 latitude (Georgia).— J. P. H. Brown. 



1. Single-walled hives. I have no experi- 

 ence with double-walled hives. — J. M. H.iM- 



BAUGH. 



1. Single-walled hives. 2, 3 and 4. I 

 never had a double-walled hive. Perhaps 

 I ought to try one. 5. They are lighter to 

 move.— C. C. Miller. 



1. Single-walled, only. 2. I do no know. 

 3. No. 4. Yes. 5. It is lighter and more 

 easily handled. 6. No. — C. H. Dibbern. 



1. I use both. 2. One inch dead-air 

 space, and J-»-inch lumber. 3. Yes. 4. 

 With me, the bees winter better, and do 

 better in summer. 6. Yes. — M. Mahin. 



1. Single-walled. I winter the bees in 

 the cellar, and pack with chafi: in the 

 spring. 3. Yes. 4. Some say yes, and 

 some no. My experience has been too lim- 

 ited to be of value. — A. B. Mason. 



1. I use both, but prefer the single-walled 

 hive. 2. About 3 inches; J^ or % lumber, 

 as preferred. 3. It is better so. 4. Cer- 

 tainly; they protect from cold and heat. 5. 

 Cheaper, lighter, and, if well packed, as 

 good in the spring. 6. I think not. — A. J. 

 Cook. 



1. Mostly double- walled. 2. I use a 5- 

 inch space filled with fine straw. 3. I do 

 not. 4. Yes. The bees are protected from 

 extreme heat and cold. 5. Not any, ex- 

 cept portability. 6. I think so, or I should 

 not use them. — G. M. Doolittle. 



1. Both. We have some hives with a %- 

 inch inner wall, %-inch dead-air space, and 



■'„ -inch outer wall, aud like them well. 3. 

 No; and yet it might pay. 4. Yes; that 

 thin outer wall acts as a i)rotectiou to the 

 hive against cold winds and very cold 

 weather. 5. Cheapness. Yes, we think 

 so.— Dadant & Sox. 



I would not use double-walled hives. 

 They have some great advantages, but the 

 balance of excellence is with the single- 

 walled, light-weight hives. My hives, com- 

 plete, with two supers and hive-stand, 

 weigh from 30 to 35 pounds each. — J. M. 

 SuucK. 



1. Both. 2. One and one-half to 2 inches; 

 % inch outside, and J^ inch inside. 3. No. 



4. I have found that it has in my locality. 



5. It is far cheaper to construct. 6. Not in 

 my locality ; with proper and the same care 

 in packing I see no difference. — J. E. Pond. 



It will take at least one column to prop- 

 erly answer this. 1. Single-walled in the 

 summer, % inch thick. 3. Four inches, 

 divided ten times by thin partitions of 

 wood or paper; % inch for the hive, % 

 inch for the outside of the packing-box. 8. 

 Single, of %-inch board. 4. Only as pro- 

 tection from cold in winter nnd spring. 5. 

 Not space enough to give detail answer. 6. 

 I do not know. — H. D. Cutting. 



1. Single-walled. 2. Seven-eighths-inch 

 thick ; we winter in the cellar one-half of 

 our bees, the balance on the summer 

 stands, with chafT cushions over the frames. 



3. I would never make a double-walled 

 hive. 4. They are warmer in winter, but 

 the same ends can be obtained more 

 cheaply in other ways. 5. It takes less 

 material, is more cheaply made, and more 

 easily moved. 6. No. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



1. My hive may be used as a double or 

 single walled hive, but I prefer to winter 

 bees in the double-walled hive. 2. If I did 

 not use packing, I would want the hive 

 made of heavy lumber; but rt.s I use pack- 

 ing, the outside of my winter case is made 

 of thin stuff— 5-32 of an inch thick. 3. No. 



4. They are better to winter bees in. 5. 

 Very few. 6. Yes, and many times over, 

 in my opinion. — G. L. Tinker. 



I have in my possession over 50 double- 

 walled hives, with one inch dead air space, 

 and though costly hives, they would go 

 cheap now, if I could dispose of them. To 

 make the story as short as possible, such 

 hives do not give satisfaction in my locality 

 (Kentucky). No doubt they would serve a 

 better purpose further north, but somehow 

 or other, my bees build up more rapidly in 

 single-walled hives, that are easily warmed 

 by the sun in the early spring, as well as at 

 intervals in the winter time. — G. W. Dem- 

 aree. 



A single-walled hive, every time. The 

 bottoms and covers are X-iDf^h thick, sides 

 ?4-inch thick, and ends X-itK^h thick. The 

 double-walled hive is interior to the single- 

 walled, if the latter be placed in another 

 box, and packed during the spring, and in 

 the winter if wintered out-doors. The sin- 

 gle-walled hive is the only one fit to use 

 upon the readily-movable hive plan — the 

 only plan which can produce honey at 

 present prices and compete. Double-walled 

 hives are too great a hindrance to success- 

 ful modern apiculture, to be worthy of 

 taking even as a gift. Their day is done. — 

 James Heddon. 



Xlie Report of the proceedings of the 

 20th annual session of the International 

 American Bee-Association contains, besides 

 the interesting report, the new songs and 

 music then used, and engravings of the 

 present oflScers as well as the retiring ones. 

 In all, it contains 36 pages. It is for sale 

 at this office. The price is 25 cts., postpaid. 



