thlb^ MiviBRicjti^ Mmm j^urnail. 



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trivaiice cannot be imagined tlian tliis 

 space. For winter, this space is splen- 

 did for packing with chaff, peat, moss, 

 or forest leaves, or anj' absorbent 

 material. Then one can ship bees the 

 world over. Such a frame of comb 

 full of honey the extractor cannot in- 

 jure in the least. 



Then again, they should be con- 

 structed so that they can be used the 

 same as the Langstroth frame at all 

 times. This frame must be reversible, 

 so that it can be used for all known 

 methods — an all-purpose frame, if you 

 like. The same frame, when empty 

 of brood-combs, is to be used to hold 

 two tiers of sections. The inside 

 dimensions of the frame should be con- 

 structed on the metrical measurement, 

 in order that the frame will take sec- 

 tions, say 4 two-pound, 6 one-pound, 

 8 J-pound, 12 half-pound, 24 ijuarter- 

 pound ; and be able to run all sizes of 

 sections at once, or separate size, and 

 extracted, just as one wishes. Thus 

 we have a frame that is universal in 

 its application, as well as interchang- 

 able — side-storing, tieiing-up, etc. 



The frame should be cheap,, simple, 

 and effective, universal for all pur- 

 poses, and in harmony with the in- 

 stincts of the bees ; so that they can 

 turn out finished honey remarkably 

 fast. These frames require no brac- 

 ing, wedging, or thumb-screws ; a 

 single one will stand alone, and can be 

 put down anywhere, and not crush 

 bees or combs. Bees can be brushed 

 or shaken oft' readily, and no fear of 

 smashing things. 



The bees cannot glue these frames 

 fast to the hive, and it requires no 

 machine to loosen them. There is 

 much more about the frames, but I will 

 now speak of separators, which should 

 be thin, and the full size of the outside 

 brood-frame, and reversible. 



The surplus chambers should be con- 

 structed with the view to use them for 

 other purposes, than merely to store 

 comb in ; then if the swarm should 

 come out unexpectedly, one can put 

 frames of foundation in, and hive his 

 bees into it ; and so that they can be 

 used two or six stories high, if desired ; 

 or to ship nuclei in them. A hive thus 

 constructed and adjusted is storm- 

 proof, winter-proof, summer-proof, as 

 well as at all times ventilated and 

 shaded. 



The frames of a hive must be made 

 of wood, and all frames alike. They 

 must answer for brood-combs, and for 

 holding sections ; one inch and a half 

 ■wide at the ends, for the purpose of 

 spacing themselves ; recessed from the 

 four corners on both sides, so that the 

 top-bars, bottom-bars, and end-bars 

 will be IJ inches wide, for passage- 

 ways for the bees, and the natural 

 thickness of comb. 



The top-bar is to be slit from end to 

 end, through the centre, fo)' the pur- 

 pose of inserting foundation quickh' ; 

 to thus avoid wired frames, wired 

 foundation, melted wax, and other 

 time - provoking experiences. Then 

 when a frame full of foundation is 

 placed in the brood-nest, the combs 

 will become of an even thickness, no 

 varying, crooked, warping, or sagging, 

 broken combs ; and no break-down, if 

 the foundation is all wax, and not 

 adulterated. 



The top and bottom bars must be 

 the same, so that the combs will be at- 

 tached to all parts of the inside of the 

 frame, and to be impossible to tell 

 which is the right side up. Then 

 when placed in the hive, 8 or 12 of 

 them, and the division-board in place, 

 one can move or ship a colony of bees, 

 and the frames will not swing in at 

 the bottom like a pendulum, and crush 

 the bees or combs. They will be as 

 tirni as the hive itself, when a wedge 

 is inserted between the division-boards 

 and the shell. 



As a surplus chamber they excel. and 

 the manner of construction is too sim- 

 ple to speak of. They have no bottom 

 or top, both sides are movable, which 

 allows the frames to be taken out 

 laterallj'. They can be made to hold 

 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 or 14 frames, but the 

 6 frame is the best, that holds 36 one- 

 pound sections, or 144 quarters. Then 

 one frame of finished honey can be re- 

 moved at will, and an empty one in- 

 serted, or one side-storing frame of 

 sections can be lifted, bees and all, to 

 fill a surplus case, and not disturb the 

 working, but rather increase the honey 

 and retard swarming by the inter- 

 change, etc. 



These surplus chambers have no in- 

 termediate hone}--board or zinc queen- 

 excluder between the honey-boards, 

 therefore there is an unbroken passage- 

 way for the bees from the entrance of 

 the hive to the top of the sections. The 

 section-frames and brood-frames are 

 just bee-space apart. There are no 

 brace-combs ; tlie surplus chamber can 

 be lifted at any time without removing 

 a frame, which makes it very easj' to 

 get at the brood. I have no T tins or 

 other hinderances ; it is so simple that 

 any one can manage it. 



My sections have four open sides, 

 and I use 6 one-pound sections in each 

 frame, two tiers high, and so arranged 

 that one frame at a time, as the honey 

 is nearing comph'tion, can be reversed 

 if needed in order to have plump full 

 sections, and the comb attached to all 

 parts. 



The 4 open-side sections have a 

 charm for me, as the bees are not 

 divided off, but they are all together 

 in a mass, and tliey seem to work bet- 

 ter. Why it is so I do not know, but 



they do, all the same. I like this style 

 of section very much, as it avoids the 

 bad corners and accomplishes the same 

 results. I wonder if anj' one has tested 

 this section : if so, I would like to learn 

 how they can be made in one piece, or 

 4-piece dovetailed. They pack in a 

 shipping-case better than tlie other 4- 

 open-side sections with paste-board 

 between the rows. 



Should we want the bees early to 

 work in the supers, by these inter- 

 changing frames and parts, we can put 

 them up by raising the side-storing 

 sections, bees and all ; also at times a 

 frame of ripe brood, bees and all, to 

 start them uj) ; and thus we will con- 

 trol swarming, and get the bees up at 

 work in the sections long before one 

 can possibly do it by the old method of 

 waiting for the spirit to move the bees 

 up in the sections. 



I want to and do take away finished 

 sections before my neighbor h.as his 

 bees in the sections. We want bees 

 to work all the time gathering during 

 the season ; and to be able to say to 

 those men — who, after trying all phms 

 for non-swarming hives given, with no 

 success, have settled down in the old 

 rut, and have come to the conclusion 

 that such a thing does not exist when 

 working for comb hone)', and even if 

 it did, they doubt if as large a yield of 

 honey could be obtained as by the use 

 of non-swarniing hives — that swarming 

 can be controlled at will ; and that one 

 colony of bees will produce surplus 

 honey as much as they possibly can by 

 the use of three small single-walled 

 swarming hives, and that at less ex- 

 pense, time, and labor, and more 

 simply. 



Wintering bees should be done on 

 the summer stands ; the brood-combs 

 should be reduced to four frames, the 

 surplus chamber be placed above, hold- 

 ing four solid frames of honey. Bees 

 do not look or go sidewise for their 

 stores, when clustered, but only up, 

 there the honey being above the un- 

 broken continuous passage-ways. 



When thus adjusted, and the peet, 

 moss, or forest leaves are packed solid 

 into the space formed by the inside 

 hive and outside shell, bees live, they 

 " hold the fort," if pro))erly attended 

 to in time ; and the time to commence 

 is as soon as they are unpacked in the 

 spring. 



The space between the division- 

 board and the outer walls can be filled 

 with packing and absorbents of mois- 

 ture, which keeps the combs clean and 

 free from mililew. 



With such a constructed hive, we 

 accomplish all that has been done, or 

 is bein" done. The bees are at all 

 times L°)rafortable, and are ready for 

 business a month sooner than my 

 nei"-hbor"s bees in the spring. I never. 



