igoi 



THE AM ERIC Ay BEE-KEEPER 



157 



convinced of this. ^[r. E. R. Root now 

 advises in Gleanings, to use the drug- 

 out of doors only, for safety's sake, 

 for the gas formed by evaporation is 

 very explosive. 



If other bee-keepers do as I do, they 

 store honey and combs inside of their 

 buildings, shops, honey houses, etc. Do 

 I now understand that I must set all 

 this out in order to have the privilege 

 of being up to the times V That would 

 be paying dear for a quf-stionable priv- 

 ilege. It would be simpler and cheaper 

 to keep on using salphur InsiJe with- 

 out moving a full SMpc: tf honey v>r :i 

 hive body full of combs. Mr way of 

 doing is to store my honey and como; 

 in the supers lo or 12 high. 



When I deem it best, or find it nec- 

 essary to do something to stop or pre- 

 vent the work of moth larvae I place 

 an empty hive body on top of a stack 

 of combs or honev. This leaves room 

 for a four-quart pail which I partly fill 

 with ashes. A small quantity of live 

 coals are placed upon this every tim'e 

 a stack of honey is to be sulphured and 

 a handful of sulphur is burned on top 

 of each stack. Of course, all has to 

 be covered up tight and left thus for 

 half an hour. As is the case with car- 

 bon, the sulphur fumes settle and fill 

 the whole stack of combs or honey and 

 kill moth larvae. 



I do not find it necessary to sulphur 

 comb-honey more than once. The use 

 of too large a quantity of sulphur caus- 

 es comb honey to turn green in spots, 

 particularly along the edges where the 

 comb is attached to the section bojc. 

 Care is required to avoid this. 



CLOSED-END FRAMES. 



In the same journal it appears that 

 some German authorities pronounce 

 our modern hives illy adapted to the 

 needs of the honey bee- The passage 

 ways between the combs. they say,should 

 form closed chambers, and the combs 

 in the brood-nest should be continuous 

 planes uninterrupted by wooden bars 

 and bee-spaces, as in shallow sectional 

 hives. These defects have been harped 

 upon by Dzierzon for nearly half a cen- 

 tury- A few American bee-keepers have 

 also pointed out the same features as 

 being detrimental to bees. 



Perhaps it is possible to construct a 

 hive possessing the features peculiar 

 to the box hive, and still have the 

 combs readily movable. The closed-end 



frame was devised probably to accom- 

 plish this object. I myself have been 

 inclined to the German view. To test 

 the matter I built about twenty-five 

 closed-end frame hives, quite a num- 

 ber of years ago. The frames were elev- 

 en inches deep. I cannot remember 

 howf many years I had them in use but 

 I finally discarded them for the more 

 convenient loose hanging frame and 

 others of similar construction. 



In comparing the closed-end frame 

 hive with the other as to wintering, 

 breeding up in the spring, etc., I have 

 about concluded, that the difference in 

 these respects is slight. If the former 

 has any advantage. It is not to be com- 

 pared with the advantage the latter has 

 in respect to greater ease and rapidity in 

 manipulating; but supposing there was 

 a marked difference in favor of closed- 

 end frames, I have this to say: Myself 

 as well a^ the great majority of bee- 

 keepers keep bees not for the sake of 

 the bees, but principally for the profits 

 from the business; or, in other words, 

 to make a living. 



Any method or any devices which 

 give the greatest profit with the least 

 labor, we are in for; even should the 

 bees have to sufifer. Of course, the 

 bee business could not be carried on 

 successfully very long unless the hives 

 used met the requirem'ents of the bees. 

 About this there can be no doubt. But 

 I believe the bad efifect claimed result- 

 ing from the use of open-top and open- 

 end frames is nearly if not quite coun- 

 terbalanced by improved methods of 

 wintering and the improved features of 

 our modern hives. 



OLD VS. NEW COMBS. 



It is claimed by some authorities that 

 bees prefer old comb to new, other 

 things being equal. I have never seen 

 evidence of this- What I have ob- 

 served of late seems to point the other 

 way. When it became apparent that 

 the colony containing one of my breed- 

 ing queens made preparation to swarm 

 I removed the queen with two brood 

 combs and adhering bees, thus forming 

 a nucleus colony. I gave it two extra 

 combs one at each side, and after a 

 week's time an empty frame at one side. 

 One comb was promptly occupied with 

 brood, and I expected the other would 

 be also; but instead, the empty frame 

 was being built out. Evidently the 

 bees seem to think new comb, even if 



