112 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



to the great superiority of the Hoftmaii. 

 While talking of end - bars, I would 

 like to suggest that they be made at 

 least % of an inch in thickness, so as to 

 hold very firmly when nailed. Other- 

 wise the frames sometimes become 

 diamond-shaped, so that one of the 

 lower corners approaches the side of the 

 hive, and of course is fastened then with 

 propolis ; or, one of the lower corners 

 warps out towards the adjoining frame, 

 and is there stuck. The extra thick- 

 ness, necessary to secure firmness, has 

 no material effect upon the comb-sur- 

 face, and would, I am sure, help in 

 correcting these faults. 



Next, the material of which the frame 

 is made, is of some importance. I have 

 seen frames made of whitewood, bass- 

 wood, poplar, and pine, and I like the 

 pine best, because it is not as much 

 affected by moisture ; but there is a 

 difference in pine. 



When manufacturing my own frames, 

 as I have always done, I have selected 

 the best material procurable for the 

 purpose. Some pine lumber (depending 

 upon variety, and whether old or young 

 trees, or grown upon upland or swamp), 

 is brittle, and will warp. Care and skill 

 should be exhibited by the manufacturer 

 upon this point. 



Very great wisdom, or that modern 

 goddess of " Good Luck " must have been 

 with Father Langstroth in his selection 

 of 9^^x17% as the proper size for a 

 brood-frame. Like the section-box, it 

 should be of some standard size, so far 

 as practicable. The person who, with- 

 out the most weighty reasons, would 

 invent a bee-hive using any other size of 

 frame than the standard now in use 

 (viz. : the Langstroth), should be told 

 as the boys at the college are fond of 

 saying, "That he had a wheel in his 

 head," which, perhaps, might be turned 

 with a crank. 



There are many things In which a 

 common standard is observed by com- 

 mon acceptance, and for common con- 

 venience, like the standard gauge for 

 width of wagons or railroad cars, the 

 standard size of lamp-chimney, the 

 standard dollar, and even the standard 

 time. 



Much' very much more than we know, 

 would be gained by the adoption of a 

 standard frame, and (jvery bee-keeper 

 should hesitate to adopt a hive holding 

 an odd-sized frame. So very few object 

 to the size or proportions of the Lang- 

 stroth size of frame, that I believe this 

 could be readily called the standard. 



It should be borne in mind, when dis- 

 cussing frames, that because a certain 



style has not heretofore been used much, 

 is no argument against its good points, 

 and that because the old-style frames 

 have been so generally used is no reason 

 why better ones do not exist. 



In conclusion let me say that I believe 

 in the ability of the American bee- 

 keepers to know a good thing when they 

 see it. Therefore, with the view of de- 

 termining, as far as possible, the extent 

 to which this new-fangled thick, wide, 

 top-bar frame was being used, I wrote 

 to many of the prominent supply dealers 

 whose advertisements I found in a cur- 

 rent number of Oleanings and the Bee 

 JouKNAL. 1 received answers from ten 

 of them, and I make pertinent quota- 

 tions from each with names, that you 

 may be your own judges as to relative 

 weight : 



We have no doubt but that the thick 

 top-bar frames are an improvement in 

 several ways; 50 per cent, of our sales 

 this season were for this style — Jno. 

 Nebel & Son. 



We have always used the thick top- 

 bars. We tried the broad ones, years 

 ago, with no beneficial results so far as 

 I could see. — D. A. Jones. 



We have sold a few hives with thick 

 top-bar frames. — G. B. Lewis Co. 



The dovetailed hive with thick wide 

 top-bar is rapidly coming into favor. 

 Our sale of hives with thick top-bar 

 frames is about 50 per cent, on all hives 

 we handle, and we believe will event- 

 ually crowd out the other frames almost 

 entirely.— W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co. 



Old style frame, 50 per cent. ; thick 

 top, 30 per cent. ; and Hoffman, 12 per 

 cent. Many who ordered old style early 

 would now order thick-t,op only — E. 

 Kretchmer. 



They are only a passing, harmless de- 

 lusion. Our sales of these have been 

 about 10 per cent; — Thomas G. Newman 

 & Son. 



Two-thirds of our entire sales have 

 been of the thick top. — Leahy Manu- 

 facturing Co. 



It is unnecessary to quote from the 

 reply of friend Hilton, as he is here, and 

 we all know Mr. Root's position. In Mr. 

 Root's reply he mentioned that they had 

 sold petween 15,000 and 20,000 hives 

 fitted with the thick-top frames. 



In a multitude of counsel there is 

 wisdom. Let us talk this over freely, 

 respect the opinions of all, and go slow 

 in adopting new things ; nor yet be the 

 last to discard the old. 



J. H. Larrabee. 



C E. R. Root remarked that he had said 

 so much upon the subject of frames that 



