488 



Tmm SMBKICftIf WMM JO'^PRIfMlU. 



bladed knife, proceed to the hive 

 and blow a few puffs of smoke in at 

 the entrance to alarm the bees, when 

 the box-hive or log-gum is to be turned 

 bottomsido up, and the frame hive 

 placed on the stand that the other 

 occupied. Blow a little smoke over 

 the bottoms of the exposed combs, and 

 place the cap of the liive, or anj- box, 

 over the bottom of the hive, or a little 

 to one side, for the bees to crawl up 

 into. 



It is said that the box must iit so 

 tightly that no bee can escape, and 

 that the bees must be " drummed " up 

 into it ; but I find that the tight joint 

 is unnecessary, and that all the 

 "drumming" required is done by 

 splitting tlie old hive apart, prepara- 

 torj' to getting the combs out. 



Select the side of the hive to which 

 the combs run parallel. If possible, and 

 proceed to pry off the side, or split the 

 old log open, using a cold-chisel to 

 cut the nails, where such is necessary. 

 If there are cross-sticks through the 

 centre of the hive, these must be cut 

 oflf in some way, otherwise each comb 

 is liable to be injured to a more or less 

 extent. 



By this time the bees will all be off 

 the combs next to you, when the first 

 one is to be cut out of the hive and 

 laid on the prepared board. Now lay 

 the frame on the comb, and mark the 

 comb by the inside of the frame. Take 

 off the frame and cut the comb a hair 

 larger than the marks, so that it will 

 fit closely. Next, press the frame over 

 the comb until it nicely fills the frame, 

 when the pegs or nails are to be 

 pushed through the holes into the 

 combs, so as to hold it in place in the 

 frame when hung in the hive. 



To take the frame from the board, 

 raise the board and all until the frame 

 stands in the position that it does when 

 it hangs in the hive, when there will 

 be no danger of the comb falling out 

 in lifting. Place in the hive, when the 

 bees which have returned from the 

 field will take possession of it, licking 

 up the drip, etc. 



Proceed to cut out the rest of the 

 combs, and fit them into the frames in 

 the same way, until all are used, and 

 then place them in the new hive, in 

 the same relative position as nearly as 

 possible, whicli they occupied before. 

 By this I mean, place the. brood in the 

 centre of tlie hive and near together, 

 instead of scattering it about among 

 the honey or empty combs, for if so 

 scattered, some of the brood will be 

 liable to perish, if there should come a 

 cold spell soon after the transferring is 

 done. 



If some of the combs with brood in 

 will fit the frames better if turned bot- 

 tomside up, from what it occupied in 

 the old hive, I see nothing in the way 



of placing it in the frame as it will fit 

 best, for with our reversible frames it 

 has been proven that it makes no dif- 

 ference which side up the brood goes. 



If drone-comb to any amount is 

 found, it is well to leave the most of it 

 out, if not the whole, for only a few 

 drones in each apiary are needed for 

 all practical purposes. Many pieces 

 of nice Avorker-comb are made by the 

 combs cutting to disadvantage ; they 

 can be fitted into the frames and a 

 little melted wax dropped between 

 each joint, so as to hold them in the 

 position you wish. 



As soon as all the combs are in, 

 close the new hive, and hive the bees 

 which are in the cap or box, into it, 

 doing this in the same way that you 

 would hive any swarm. If a scarcity 

 of honey exists at the time you wish to 

 transfer, so that robbing is liable to 

 occur, it is then best to "drum " the 

 bees out into the box, after which the 

 old hive can be carried into a room 

 while the combs are being fitted into 

 the frames. Something still better 

 than this, would be to use a bee-tent 

 over both the hive and the operator. 

 In this way the work can be done at 

 any time right in the apiary where the 

 hives stand. 



In a few days, or as soon as the bees 

 get the combs fastened to the frames, 

 the nails or pegs can be drawn, when 

 you have something nearly as good as 

 if the combs were built in frames 

 originally. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



HIVES. 



Impartiality and Veracity — the 



Lai'sc vs. Small Brood. 



Chambers. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY CHAS. DADANT. 



After reading the article of Mr. 

 Hutchinson's, on page 425, I had i-e- 

 solved not to write again on the same 

 subject, for I do not like to overthrow 

 my opponent ; but another fact, of 

 which I may write hereafter, changed 

 my mind, and incited me to show the 

 means used by some writers to support 

 a bad cause. 



In answer to my argument, that the 

 bee-keepers who oppose large hives 

 have never tried them, Mr. Hutchin- 

 son answers : "My ideas in regard to 

 the size of hives are not wholly tlieo- 

 retical. I have used hives ranging in 

 size from a two-frame American to 

 one holding 33 American frames." 



While he wrote this, Mr. Hutchinson 

 forgot a Latin proverb : Verba volant, 

 scripta mancnt — "The words Bj', the 

 writings remain ;" for I have under my 



eyes two letters from him ; the first 

 says : " I must say, though, that I 

 used large hives, 11 American frames 

 for several years, and gradually 

 changed them for smaller, so that I 

 am not wholly without experience." 



After receiving my answer, that 11 

 American frames were not larger than 

 10 Langstroth, Mr. Hutchinson wrote 

 the second letter, in which I read : 

 "When I wrote you how large hives I 

 had used, I, of course, knew that you 

 had used larger ones." 



Then the 33 American frame hives 

 were invented bj- Mr. Hutchinson just 

 for the need of his cause. 



He adds that "Mr. Heddon has used 

 many different sizes of hives ; among 

 others he had 30 'long idea' hives, 

 that held 30 frames each, and he used 

 them two years before throwing them 

 away." 



In the book, " Success in Bee-Cul- 

 ture," by Mr. Heddon, on page 85, we 

 read : " Some advise us to have ex- 

 tra-prolific queens ; put each one in a 

 hive containing 30 combs, then shift 

 the combs every few days, and make 

 her keep them full of brood. I tried 

 it — to my satisfaction. I found that 

 this method demanded am extra 

 amount of labor — a labor that would 

 pay the interest at 20 per cent, on 

 every dollar of the capital invested. 

 So I just cut up these large, long 

 hives, making five out of each one, 

 and divided those 30 combs among 

 these hives, and reared four more 

 queens." 



Then, according to Mr. Hutchinson, 

 Mr. Heddon made 150 6-frame hives, 

 since he had 30 to divide. I would be 

 glad to know the number which was 

 added by Mr. Hutchinson to the true 

 quantity of " long-idea " hives used by 

 Mr. Heddon. Perhaps he added but a 

 cipher after the number 3. 



Be it as it may, an experience with 

 such an extravagant hive and system 

 has no more to do with our large hives 

 than the names of Messrs. Doolittle 

 and Grimm, cited by Mr. Hutchinson, 

 since they have never used them. 



Mr. Hutchinson continues : " In his 

 first article, Mr. Dadant asserts that a 

 large colony requires no more labor 

 than a small one, and I asked him if 

 he could extract the honey from a large 

 colony as soon as from a small one. 

 This he evades by telling with how few 

 days' work he and Mr. Stachelhausea 

 have produced large cro])s of honey — 

 all of which no one doubts ; but the 

 question is, 'Can you extract the honey 

 from a large hive as soon as from a 

 small one.'" 



Scripta nianeni. If the reader will 

 take the trouble of looking at the bot- 

 tom of page 342, in the first col- 

 umn, he will read in the article of Mr. 

 Hutchinson: "Can he (my oppon- 



