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BEE-HIVES. 



Their Const ruction for Siiiiplic- 

 it}*, Utility and Cheapness. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY SMITH & SMITH. 



It Tvas said by a correspoiuleut in 

 the American Bee Journal, a sliort 

 time ago, that the "coming hive" was 

 one that wouUl take a standard Lang- 

 stroth frame in size, with a wide, stiti' 

 top-bar ; and a hive that would give 

 the best results, and cost the least 

 money — or words to that eifect. We 

 agree with this correspondent, and as 

 there has been much said both ^jj'o and 

 C071 about wide top-bars, we wish to 

 give our views of the subject. 



After using a top-bar 1 7-16 inches 

 wide, for 19 years, we know that, if 

 properly made, they will almost in- 

 variabl}- prevent brace-combs. 



We will describe the hive and top- 

 bars, as we think they should be made, 



and to aid in making it plain, we here 

 present an illustration of the hive and 

 super. 



We call this " The Poor Man's Lang- 

 stroth Hive " on account of its cheap- 

 ness, which is obtained by its simple 

 construction, and doing away with 

 everything not absolutely necessary. 



The engraving represents a li-story, 

 8-frame, Langstroth hive for comb 

 honey ; the top raised above the hive 

 being a sujjer, the same as the one at 

 the left, and has a plain board top or 

 cover. The size of the brood-chamber 

 is 20j^xl3fx9j inches, outside measure, 

 with scant f-inch bee-space above the 

 brood-frames. 



The super is the same size as the 

 brood-chamber, but is only 4J inches 

 deep, and it also has a bee-space 

 above the sections. The edges of the 

 hive and super are all square, and rest 

 squarely upon each other, to do away 

 ■with all dummies, false ends, section- 

 holders, etc. We use a combined 

 wood-and-tin T, and as the supers are 

 rabbeted at the top, the same as the 

 hive, and the T being A inch wide, 

 there is good finger room to handle the 

 sections. A T is also used between 

 the rows of sections at the top. to pre- 

 vent the sections from racking or get- 

 ting out of shape. When the sections 

 are tilled, they are perfectly square. 



The frame is the standard Lang- 

 stroth, except the top-bar is 1 7-lG 

 inches wide, and ^ of an inch thick 

 down to the square. By looking closely 

 at the end-bar. standing at the left of 

 the super, it will lie seen that it is V- 

 shaped, but the V is not as wide as the 

 bar. Right here is one of the advan- 

 tages of it — the bar proper being 1 7- 

 16 inches wide, and the V only 9-16 of 

 an inch wide, we have a tiat square on 

 either side of the V, of ]- inch. When 

 the comb is built out, it is not as wide 

 as the top-bai', and the bees are not in- 

 clined to draw it out and over the 

 square edge of the bar, as they do 

 where the V is the full width of the 

 bar, giving a slanting edge to run 

 over. Do all see the point ? With 

 the use of this top-bar, there will be 

 no brace-combs, hence there is no 

 need of a honey-board. 



As we stated at the beginning, we 

 have used this width of top-bar for 19 

 years, and we have had no use for a 

 honey-board in our apiary, nor have 

 we been troubled with brace-combs, 

 and in all of these hives use by others, 

 not one word of complaint have we 

 heard about brace-combs ; and a honey- 

 board has never been used on one of 

 the hives, to our knowledge. 



The points of cheapness are these : 

 There are no honey-boards, no extra 

 supers, crates andsection-liolders ; and 

 no outside covers, or bands for tiering 

 up, etc. There is nothing to get but 

 the brood-chamber, an 8-frame super, 

 and the sections, when you have a 

 complete hive, and one that will give 

 the best of results for either comb or 

 extracted honey. 



Two supers will make a brood-cham- 

 ber, and can be used for extracting 

 from, or one brood-chamber may be 

 jjlaced one on the other. 



We do not wish to be understood 

 that we think this is the "coming hive," 

 but we do say that it is a very near 

 relative to it, on account of its cheap- 

 ness, simple construction, and good 

 qualities. 



HONEY. 



Its Oreat Talue as Food and 

 medicine. 



Written for theAmeHcan Bee Journal 



BY REV. STEPHEN ROESE. 



In early days, honey was of more 

 value as food and medicine, than at 

 pi-esent ; during the Old Testament dis- 

 pensation, honey is spoken of with 

 great praise. Palestine — the land 

 promised to the descendants of Abra- 

 ham — was said to be the land where 

 milk and honey floweth ; David, the 

 sweet singer, knew of no better illus- 

 tration than to compare the; precimis- 



ness of the word of Jehovah, to honey 

 and the honey-comb ; and as a proof 

 that ancient Israel made use of honey 

 as food, we read that Samson, Jona- 

 than, and John the Baptist ate it, the 

 latter subsisting wholly on locusts and 

 wild honey. 



With ancient Greece, honey as food 

 and medicine was highly thought of, 

 for they considered it as the food of 

 their gods (Ambross), and even Zeus, 

 who was trained and instructed bj' the 

 honey-nymph, Melissa (according to 

 their saj'ing), understood the art of 

 mixing honey-drinks, to put his father 

 Chronos to sleep, before he would at^ 

 tempt to attack him ; and the ancient 

 Greeks claimed that honey originated 

 in Heaven, and that it came from 

 thence in the form of dew — that it was 

 too precious to be produced by bees. 



According to Diodas, of Sicily. honey 

 constituted a staple article of food in 

 Italy ; they claimed, even, that it pro- 

 longed life, and prevented disease. 

 Enormous quantities of honey were 

 used in that country, and all sorts of 

 fruits were by it preserved, and eata- 

 bles and drinks sweetened. 



Even the powerful ancient Teutons 

 (Germans), who did not know how to 

 make their eatables palatable (like the 

 ancient Greeks and Romans) with 

 honey, yet they understood, and knew 

 how to value honey in the preparation 

 of their national drinks (Met) ; and on 

 all occasions, at their festivals, they 

 drank freely, and felt themselves 

 translated into Wallhalla (the region 

 of perfect bliss), and great quantities 

 they must have prepared and always 

 had on hand, for when, in the year 

 1015, at Meisen, the enemy had set fire 

 to the city, and water being scarce in 

 the city, they extinguished the flames 

 with Met. According to Rheinish 

 legends, the Schceffen (Justice of the 

 Peace), had at every day of each court 

 sessions, a pail of honey-wine placed 

 in his office, so full that a fly sitting 

 on the edge of the bucket, could drink 

 out of it. But enough of this. 



Honey during the past ages, con- 

 stituted a staple article as food and 

 medicine, and much more so than in 

 our days, and what is the cause ? The 

 lirst cause is the immense manufactur- 

 ing of cane-sugar, which has found its 

 w.ay to every family of the land ; and 

 although honey is on a level with it in 

 price, yet the latter is crowded out. 



Second, the immense manufacturing 

 of vegetable sugar, from the sugar- 

 beet, to the finest apple jelly, and 

 their manufactured sweets combined, 

 have nearly banished honey from every 

 hearth ; and as medicine, honey has 

 been substituted by glycerine, etc. 



The ancient Romans knew that 

 honey was a great preventive of dis- 

 ease, and an inqiortant medicine for 



