ntmrn SME£Ricsr« bbes joi^RNftiu. 



47:3 



HIVES. 



Has the Ideal Hire Yet Made its 

 Appearance i 



Written for the American BceJoximal 



BY J. W. TEFFT. 



I hare been called upon to explain 

 more fully the frame that I eniploj- in 

 " The Ideal" hive, and take pleasure 

 in doing so. I will also mention a 

 few additional important points con- 

 nected with the internal arrangements 

 of the hive, and to correct an error 

 which appeared inadvertently on page 

 347. 



The description will at once show 

 the applicability of the term '■ univer- 

 sal frame,"' by which I also designate 

 it. The frames are composed entirely 

 of wood ; the top, bottom, and end- 

 bars are at each corner, IJ inches 

 wide, the body of the bars being re- 

 cessed to allow the bees a passage- 

 way. 



One of the longer bars i.-- slit from 

 end to end. to permit the easy and 

 speed}- adjustment of foundation for 

 brootl-combs. Each frame spaces itself 

 when placed in the brood-nest. The 

 frame is reversible and interchangable 

 from the brood-nest to the surplus 

 chamber, and vice versa in every hive 

 in the apiary. 



When empty, the same frame an- 

 swers for a section frame, and thus is, 

 par excellence, a universal frame, and 

 preferable to any other heretofore in 

 use. 



I can, and do, use these frames in 

 the same manner as a hanging or sus- 

 pended frame, and am not compelled 

 to I'everse, but the advantage of being 

 able to reverse those brood-combs 

 which become clogged with honey, is 

 simply immense. 



I uncap the honey in one frame on 

 one day, and in another the next daj', 

 reversing, jjlacingthe honej- part down 

 and the brood part up. The honey 

 will then be at once carried by the 

 bees to the sections in the surplus 

 chamber, thereby freeing the brood- 

 comb of hone}' more quickly, ,^nd bet- 

 ter than can be accomplished by means 

 of the extractor. 



This gives the queen the room in 

 which she desires to deposit her eggs, 

 with a less number of brood-combs, 

 and secures a gain of 50 per cent., at 

 least, in this connection ; the result 

 being solid frames of brood and full 

 combs of honey in the sections above. 

 This procedure also completely upsets 

 the swarming fever right away, and 

 also keeps the bees all together in one 

 large, powerful colony under perfect 

 control. 



When the comb at the outer sides 

 of the brood proper is two-thirds filled 



with honey, I reverse the frames (do 

 not uncap the cell,<*), and the now up- 

 per portion of the comb will be en- 

 tirely filled with honey in a very short 

 time. As soon as this is accomplished, 

 I remove them and lay them by for 

 winter feeding. (Hipe honey is the 

 only proper footl for wintering bees 

 upon. This fact cannot be too strongly 

 insisted upon !) 



The result just described cannot be 

 accomplished witli hanging frames. 

 The apiarist who makes a specialty of 

 extracted honey, will appreciate the 

 advantages of having combs attached 

 to all parts of the inside of the frames. 



In early spring I find the inter- 

 changeable frame indispensable. My 

 iiiethod is to fill two frames with sec- 

 tions of last year's combs, and place 

 one on each side of the brood-nest as 

 soon as there is an}- sign of a honey- 

 flow. In this way I can determine 

 whether the bees are bringing in 

 honey, without disturbing the brood- 

 nest. 



When the honey in these combs is 

 partly capped, is the right time to put 

 the surplus chamber on, and I then 

 lift these side-storing sections, bees 

 and all, less the queen, into that cham- 

 ber, and fill it with frames of sections 

 and separators, replacing the two 

 frames removed from the outside of 

 the brood-nest with two of the sections 

 containing foundation. 



As the honey is being sealed in the 

 surplus chamber, I reverfee those 

 frames, the combs in which are not 

 filled to the bottom, and when at last 

 completed, I remove one frame at a 

 time, and replace it with one of the 

 side-storing frames of sections, repeat- 

 ing this operation over and over again. 



Another advantage of the inter- 

 changeable frame is that in wintering, 

 should the four frames of stores in the 

 surplus chamber not be quite tilled 

 with honey down to the bottom-bar, 

 the frames are reversed, and the honey 

 part placed in juxtaposition with the 

 honey in the frames below, thus put- 

 ting the feed in its natural and most 

 convenient position. 



My universal reversible frame is 

 adapted to all known methods and 

 systems, does not vary in size, and its 

 dimensions are designed on the metri- 

 cal system for sections, so that one 

 frame may contain sections of difter- 

 ent sizes. The frame is 15x10 inches, 

 and will hold four sections of 7ix5, 

 six of 5x5, eight 5x3!!, twelve 5x2J, or 

 twenty-four 2ix2i ; these latter for 

 one-fourth pound Iioney-sections, or 

 used as a queen-nursery cage. All the 

 above sizes of sections can be contained 

 in one frame at the same time. 



The Ideal hive can be run for ex- 

 tracted and comb honey simultaneous- 

 ly, and indeed for all purposes. 



On page 347, fourth paragraph, sec- 

 ond column, I am reported as saying, 

 "These surjilus chambers have inter- 

 mediate honey-boards or zinc ([ucen- 

 excluders between the honey-boards" 

 — a very oljvions error of expression, 

 doubtless due to hurry and indistinct- 

 ness of copy. I should have written, 

 " No iuteruKMliate honey-boards or 

 zinc quei;n-excluders between the 

 brood-nest and the surplus chamber." 

 My universal, reversible frames, with 

 the separators between tliem when in 

 position in the surplus chamber, form 

 "The Ideal" honey-boards and (jueen- 

 excluder, no extra furniture is re- 

 quired, and nothing whatever is inter- 

 vened between the brood-nest aiul the 

 surplus chamber to interfere with the 

 worker bees' passing freely, easily and 

 safely from the hive entrance to the 

 very topmost sections. There is no 

 fear of their scraping oft' the wax 

 scales or paring off their wings or 

 legs, such as undoubtedly exists under 

 otlicr circumstances. 



I would suggest to those using zinc 

 honey-boards and excluders, that they 

 examine the edges of the apertures 

 and bottom-board therein, witli a lense. 

 Perhaps they will discover something 

 that they had not previously expected. 

 "The Ideal" hive contains no such 

 clumsy inconvenience as an interme- 

 diate honey-board or queen-excluder, 

 and is not trouljlcd with brace-combs ! 



" The Ideal " surplus chamber is 

 composed of end and side boards, like 

 a box with no top or bottom ; but it is 

 provided with a cross-strip at the bot- 

 tom for the foot-corner of the frames 

 to rest upon. The sides of the cham- 

 ber are preferably supplied with mov- 

 able portions, held in place by a simple 

 contrivance. If desired, the movable 

 parts may be of glass, for convenience 

 iu observing the bees at work on the 

 sections. When these parts are re- 

 moved, room is given to move the 

 frames laterally, into or out of the 

 chamber. This is of itself a very great 

 convenience and advantage. The 

 chamber will hold five frames exclu- 

 sive of separators, and may be con- 

 veniently used as a temporary hive for 

 summer or for a nucleus. 



In winter, when placed above the 

 brood-nest and surrounded by forest 

 leaves, i)eet, moss, or other suitable 

 material, and with a proper cushion 

 over the top, it cannot be excelled as 

 a means of warmth, at the same time 

 seciH'ino- absorption of moisture and 

 efficient ventilation. The bees thus 

 cared for on the summer stands will 

 be comfortable iu the severest weather, 

 and the combs dry, pure and clean. 



"The Ideal " separators are entirely 

 of wood, and of (lie size of the frame. 

 The separator is edged all around by a 

 band, like unto the frame of a school- 



