54 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Alley's New Style Langstroth Hive. 



Fig. 1. 



The above cxUs represent the New Style 

 Langstroth hive, which I have before described 

 in the Bee Journal. 



Fig. 1 shows tin; outside cover or cap, which 

 covers the surplus honey boxes and brood- 

 chamber, and is weather-proof both summer 

 and winter. 



This hive is so arranged that it has perfect 

 ventilation ; and bees, when at work in the 

 bo.xes, will not leave them during the hottest 

 weather — thus giving this hive the advantage 

 over all others in use. During the warmest 

 weather in the summer of 1868, my bees kept at 

 work in the boxes ; while the bees in all other 

 kinds of hives were clustered ou the outside, 

 leaving the boxes entirely empty. Mj"^ bees at 

 that time collected honey rapidlj^ and stored 

 quite a quantity, which they would not have 

 done had they been in boxes like those of my 

 neighbors. 



Fig. 2. 



Fig. 2 shows the brood-cliamber and arrange- 

 ment for the surplus honey boxes. 



The boxes, as I have before stated, are placed 

 on the sides, and the combs in the brood box 

 run from side to side, and not from front to 



rear, as they do in all other movable comb 

 hives; 



Thirty-six boxes can be placed in the hive at 

 one time, and each box has an entrance one and 

 three-fourths ot an inch in diameter. No boxes 

 are placed over the frames, as it would be too 

 far tor the bees to travel in order to reach them. 

 Besides, I think thirty-six three pound boxeS 

 are as many as any good colony can fill in one 

 season, unless the seasons are much better than 

 we have had them in my experience, here in 

 New England, since I have kept bees. 



The brood-chamber lias room for ten frames, 

 and has the same number of cubic inches inside 

 as the shallow form Langstroth hive. 



These hives will winter a stock of bees, with- 

 out extra preparation, better than any other 

 hive in use. They can be better ventilated than 

 any hive yet constructed, without having a 

 draft of air up through the bees or the brood 

 box. The sides of tlie brood-chamber, having 

 eighteen one and three-fourths of an inch holes 

 in each, and a movable top or honey board, it 

 will be seen at once that the entrance can be 

 closed, and holes for ventilation made in the 

 outer case, near the top, or anywhere to suit the 

 fancy of the bee-master. 



I know of one man who wintered a stock of 

 bees in this kind of hive last winter, and all he 

 did to prepare it was, to remove the top of the 

 brood box and place a piece of woolen carpeting 

 over the frames. This spring it was the best 

 stock of bees he had. 



These hives have the space between the 

 frames and sides of the hive (as is the case in 

 all good movable comb hives) admitting that 

 cold draft which some of your correspondents, 

 who have an interest in close-fitting frames, do 

 not think a good thing. Now I consider that 

 space one of the best features about Langstroth 

 hives. Who ever saw an old box hive that did 

 not have room for the bees to pass through be- 

 tween the ends of the combs and the sides of the 

 hive ? This story about the cold draft of air 

 will do for some beekeepers to believe ; but 

 with those who know what a good hive is, I 

 rather think it will not go down. The new 

 style hive has a deep frame, and most of your 

 correspondents admit that deep hives will win- 

 ter better than sliallow ones. 



The honey will always be found above the 

 bees in winter, which is another good feature 

 in this hive, if we can believe what we read in 

 the Bee Journal about some of the famous 

 patent hives offered for sale. Then, again, it 

 will be found on examination of the new style 

 hive and the shallow hive in Marcli and April, 

 that the former has at least one-third more 

 brood than the latter, with the same quantity 

 of bees. I examined fifty stocks of bees in 

 shallow hives last spring (and many of them 

 were larger colonies than any I had), but not 

 one of them had as much sealed brood as mine. 

 The brood-chamber being inside of a case or 

 house, and the ventilators closed, no heat can 

 escape, except through the entrance. The ac- 

 cess to the boxes is so clear that the bees find 

 themselves in them befoie they are aware of it. 

 I know that it seems most natural for bees to 

 work in boxes first, when placed above the 



