TMm AMEE-RICJSirf MMM JC^lO'ItlCSlL. 



775 



Fixed Versus Hang-ing--Frames. 



About tlio time that Mr. Heddoirs 

 divisible brood-chamber was made pub- 

 lic, and its merits and demerits were 

 discussed through the papers, we ordered 

 of the inventor one of his hives. Bees 

 were gotten into it as soon as possible ; 

 and almost every time I Iiad occasion to 

 go into the apiary I would manipulate 

 that hive, try the "shake-out function," 

 handle the separate frames, etc. While 

 I was not particularly strucli with the 

 advantages of the divisible brood-nest, 

 or the sliake-out function, I was greatly 

 surprised at the rapidity and ease with 

 which these little closed end-frames 

 could be handled. 



I liave, through Oleanings, related 

 some of my experiences in raising bees. 

 Whenever it came time to move an 

 apiary I always dreaded it. Frames had 

 to be fi.Kcd up so that they could not be 

 shaken about, or else, without fixing, 

 such careful driving had to be resorted 

 to, that it usually took three or four 

 hours to make the trip back, when it 

 ought not to have taken over two hours. 

 And then there was all tlie time spent 

 in fixing the frames. Indeed, our Presi- 

 dent, Hon. R. L. Taylor, in convention 

 at Columbus, Ohio, before this associa- 

 tion, said something to this effect: "I 

 do not see liow any sane man ( speaking 

 of the hanging-frame hive), can tolerate 

 such a rattle-box." The remark struck 

 me at the time as being somewhat 

 caustic ; but the more I thought of it, 

 the more I became impressed witli the 

 truth of the comparison. A hanging- 

 frame hive is, to a certain extent, a 

 rattle-box. 



Another thing : I had trouble in get- 

 ting the boys in our yards to space the 

 frames properly. Beginners would inva- 

 riably space them too near together, or 

 too far apart. The result would be, 

 combs bulged, and others thinned down 

 or scooped out, as it were, on one side ; 

 and, worse than all, was the nuisance of 

 interchanging them. Then, too, in buy- 

 ing up bees, a great many colonies had 

 to be rejected because the farmer bee- 

 keepers would not take the trouble to 

 space their combs rightly. You may 

 give them printed instructions, written 

 books, and when you visit them, tell 

 them how far to space, and yet, as a 

 general thing, they will make poor work 

 of it. 



When I contrasted the smooth and 

 even appearance of the little Heddon 

 combs, and the often irregular ones of 

 the average hanging-frames, and the 

 inconvenience of the latter in moving, I 

 hardly rested easy. I was well aware that 

 a great majority of the bee-keepers — at 

 least of the West — were using and advo- 

 cating the hanging style ; and it seemed 

 to me that I should be wasting time in 

 experimenting, or even investigating 

 into the subject. I knew that Elwood, 

 Hetherington, and those other mammoth 

 bee-keepers, used closed-end frames, 

 similar to the Heddon ; that Elwood 

 said he could handle the Quinby as rap- 

 idly as any one could the suspended 

 Langstroth. Although I had great 

 respect for anything coming from the 

 pen of Mr. Elwood, the statement 



seemed to me utterly preposterous ; and 

 yet, when I came to handle the Heddon 

 frames out in the yard, it did not seem 

 so impossible after all. 



I reasoned in this way : If what Mr. 

 Elwood says is true — yes, and I might 

 say almost all others who have used 

 closed-end frames — is it not possible that 

 those who are using frames not fixed are 

 losing many advantages that might 

 accrue immensely to their benefit by the 

 use of fixed frames ? The hanging style 

 without fastening will not bear moving, 

 except with careful driving, good roads, 

 and steady horses. There are a few who 

 have all these conditions under perfect 

 control. What we want, then, is frames 

 at fixed distances that will give us true 

 combs — no burr-combs — and, perhaps, 

 most important of all, ease of manipu- 

 lation. 



Without any disposition to repeat 

 what I have already said through the 

 journals, I will simply state, in order to 

 bring the matter more clearly before the 

 reader, that I personally saw Mr. Elwood, 

 Mr. TuuicliflF, Mr. Hoffman, and several 

 other bee-keepers using fixed frames, 

 handle them just as rapidly, and perhaps 

 more so, than you or I can the old style 

 suspended ; and along with that they 

 have all the other advantages that come 

 with their use. 



I believe that the bee-keepers of the 

 West have generally thought that 

 Elwood and Hetherington, and all their 

 colleagues, using fixed distances, were 

 either greatly behind the times, or else so 

 conservative that they would not change 

 their frame even if facts and figures 

 were against them. 



But right here just take note of this : 

 These men witli their fixed distances 

 somehow manage to handle large apia- 

 ries with less help than ourselves. If 

 they had a cumbersome, awlcward 

 system, they could hardly do this. On 

 the other hand, as their method of rais- 

 ing honey differs only in the fact that 

 they use fixed distances, while we do 

 not, does not tlmt fact point pretty 

 strongly that in this lies the secret ? 

 Elwood manages over 1000 colonies 

 with only two assistants, in the height 

 of the honey season. Mr. Hoffman man- 

 ages 600 colonies almost alone, though 

 I believe he has some one to help him in 

 the height of the season. I may be 

 mistaken, but I do not believe tliey could 

 do this were they using the hanging 

 frames. 



Were I to attempt to show just liow to 

 economize in labor, I would fail ; but 

 with the reader's indulgence, perhaps I 

 can give an inkling. Mr. Elwood and 

 other gentlemen have propolis like all 

 the rest of us, and the bees stick it to the 

 uprights or closed ends, as one may call 

 it, coming in contact together. But to 

 reduce this to the lowest possible 

 amount, some, like Mr. Heddon, use 

 some form of compression. Mr. Elwood 

 uses the looped cord drawn up in sucli a 

 way as to squeeze the frames tightly 

 together. Others use a sort of wedge in 

 connection with a follower. To separate 

 the frames they use a small screw-driver, 

 or one of A. I. Root's small ten-cent 

 knives ; and the way they handle those 

 implements is a marvel. Scarcely before 



you are awan; of it, they have the frames 

 all lose and possibly out of the brood- 

 nest, and b(!fore you can recover from 

 your surprise they will probably show 

 you the queen. 



Well, how do they do it ? Mr. Elwood 

 and Mr. Hoffman both did it, when cir- 

 cumstances called for it, picking out four 

 or live frames at a time — that Is, at one 

 operation — setting them by the side of 

 the hive, and they might then return 

 them severally or collectively at one 

 operation. The great point where they 

 seemed to gain over us is, that they will 

 handle their frames collectively ; 

 whereas we are obliged, as a rule, to 

 handle them one by one. We, after 

 putting the frames in the hives, are 

 obliged, as a rule, to finger each one 

 separately ; and if we do not happen to 

 space them right, we are obliged to space 

 then again, to get in the last frame. 

 With fixed distances you can set them in 

 the hives promiscuously, push on the 

 outside one, and crowd them all up 

 together ; and of course there is plenty 

 of room to get the last frame in, and 

 finally the follower. 



Mr. Elwood uses no brood-nest proper. 

 He has two panels, each covering the 

 two outside frames. He simply removes 

 one of the panels, and then pulls the 

 frames which he does not wisli to exam- 

 ine, toward himself, and then very 

 quickly lifts out the frame he wants, 

 with a space of two or three inches in 

 which to pull it out. 



Perhaps some one will say, "Oh, well, 

 if we were in New York state we would 

 show them that we could get along with 

 hanging frames." In reply to this I 

 would say that, were you to draw a load 

 of bees on hanging frames over the New 

 York state hills, and over rough and 

 stony roads, a few miles, it would be a 

 miracle if you had anything else on 

 arriving at your destination than a mass 

 of mangled and dead bees, and the 

 combs all pushed up close against each 

 other. Remember, that locality, in the 

 matter of frames, does make a big 

 difference as to the Icind used. 



The question then arises, whether 

 bee-keepers in prairie sections of the 

 country would gain anything by adopting 

 fixed frames. I think they would. The 

 recent discussion of the matter of burr- 

 combs shows that exact spacing is an 

 important factor ; and I know from 

 hundreds of combs that I saw in apiaries 

 wliere fixed frames were used, that truer 

 and better combs are the result. 



I am aware now that what I have said 

 argues pretty strongly for fixed frames. 

 But we must not lose sight of the fact 

 that what one bee-keeper — yes, what 

 hundreds of them like — we might, on 

 careful trial, repudiate ; and, taking 

 things, all in all, it would be a very fool- 

 ish thing to advise that all bee-keepers 

 at once abandon the old suspended 

 frame, without its fixed distance, and 

 adopt fixed frames. The probabilities 

 are, that there will always be used as 

 many of the one as of the otlier. Per- 

 sonal tests by bee-keepers will decide the 

 matter. Many bee-keepers are of many 

 minds. Many Christians are of different 

 beliefs as to technical points. We can- 

 not, very well, at least for the present. 



