THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



1B7 



I lost oue queen— the first one I introduced— 

 by being soiuewliat sentimental, for, thinking it 

 cruel not only to displace the mother, but also to 

 crush her, I set Iwr up as a sort of queen dowager 

 on a small scale, in a nucleus hive well stored 

 with honey and a handful of her own subjects, 

 behind the barn and some rods from her old hive. 

 But in a few hours I found the little hive aban- 

 doned, and on going to the old hive, her Italian 

 miijesty was dying on the bottom board, and her 

 rival had again taken possession. Now as she 

 was an old queen, and had been raised some 

 miles away, 1 concluded she must have been 

 guided back by the bees which I had given to 

 her. 



I have put my hives in a dark dry room (ce- 

 mented) in the cellar ; but find it difficult to keep 

 the temperature below 42°, although it does not 

 rise to 45°. I am wintering one swarm out of doors 

 in a refrigerator hive. It was an old-fashioned box 

 concern, large, and the sides double, filled in with 

 charcoal, opening with a lid from the top, and 

 had been stowed away for years as useless lumber 

 in the cellar. It occurred to me, why not turn it 

 into a bee-hive '? I soon had an opening made in 

 oue side, four inches wide through the zinc, and 

 double walls, and fitted close the entrance Avith 

 thin strips of boards to keep the charcoal in place. 

 I then nnfde a regular hive of % inch boards 19 Xl8 

 inside, and placed in it twelve frames with a very 

 large swarm, which I obtained from a bee-tree in 

 the woods, in September, by the kindness of a 

 bee friend, who invited me to the "taking up." 

 I will not recount to you the trials and wettings, 

 and tearings in following the bee-hunter through 

 the cedar swamp and tangled brush to his prize. 

 Enough, that, after the tree was opened, I found 

 her majesty sitting on a comb alone. I put her 

 in an old bucket, brought for carrying away the 

 honey, and held it at once to the hole where the 

 comb had been taken out, and soon the swarm 

 (which was large) was collected around her. It 

 was too late in the season for them to gather any 

 honey ; I therefore fitted empty combs in the 

 frames, and when they had fastened them, filled 

 the cells with about two gallons of honey. As 

 there is room enough within, on the sides of this 

 refrigerator hive for seventy-five pounds of box 

 honey, and for as much more on the top ; and as I 

 intend to itaiiauize them, clip the queen's wings, 

 and use oue of Quinsy's queen yards in the 

 spring, I hope to be able to report success next 

 fall. 



In this section of Massachusetts there are no 

 Italians, and no movable frame hives. We are 

 nearly all old fogies, and the bees for a few years 

 past are of course ditto. I did not intend, when 

 I began to furnish you with so much, but perhaps 

 some of your readers may have some old refriger- 

 ators out of use. If so you can recommend them 

 as being good to keep the bees cool in summer 

 and Avarni in winter. E. P. Abbe. 



New Bedford, Mass. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Comb Frames to stand on Bottom Boards. 



The third swarm usually leaves the hive on 

 the second or third day after the second swarm, 

 and the others at intervals of about a day. — 



Langstroth. 



On page 118, vol. 5, of the Bee Journal, a 

 correspondent asks for Mi\ Qulnby's plan for 

 using strips of tin, and causing trames to stand 

 on the bottom board. I do not know how Mr. 

 Quinby's hive is constructed, but will try to tell 

 the readers of the Journai, how I have at- 

 tained similar results. 



In order that my description may be under- 

 stood, it will be necessary to describe a part of 

 Adair's section hive. In doing so, however, it 

 is not for the purpose of recommending his or 

 any other patent hive. I do not know what is 

 covered by his patent, as I have never seen his 

 claims stated. 



The brood chamber in his hive is formed of 

 vertical sections or rims, each one and a halt 

 inches wide. They are nailed together, one nail 

 in each corner, the top and bottom pieces to the 

 ends of the side pieces, and projecting in front 

 three-sixteenths of an inch, and setting back from 

 the edge of the side pieces the same distance in 

 the rear. When two of these sections are placed 

 together, the projections of oue fit over the 

 shoulder of the other, thus holding them true 

 horizontally. The sections can be made of any 

 desired dimensions. Ten inches deep and thir- 

 teen inches wide, in the clear, is the usual size, 

 I believe. In addition to these, there are two 

 shallow sections, or frames, made of the same 

 size, and filled with glass or wood to close the 

 ends of the brood chamber, which, besides these, 

 should contain ten or twelve sections, according 

 to the size used. The frames or sections run 

 from side to side. The honey boxes are formed 

 in the same manner, and composed of similar 

 sections, only smaller, usually five by six inches 

 in the clear. 



Now, I allow for the brood chambil', the tops 

 to project over the ends of the side pieces three- 

 eighths (f) instead of three-sixteenths of an inch. 

 The slats to form the sections should be half 

 an inch thick, and one and a half inches wide. 

 Set your gauge three-eighths of an inch, and 

 having cut your slats the length required, make 

 a gauge mark three-eighths of an inch from 

 one edge of each piece ; then, with your knife, 

 chisel, or whatever tool you use, commence 

 within one-fourth of an inch of each end of the 

 piece on the edge on which the gauge mark was 

 made, and cut sloping toward the centre of the 

 piece till you reach the line made by the gauge. 

 This will leave the slat one and a half inches 

 wide at the end, forming a right-angled triangu- 

 lar bracket-like projection at each end. Now, 

 have another triangular somewhat saw-toothed 

 projection in {he middle of the slat, to support 

 the strips of tin. Do the same with top, bottom, 

 and side pieces. You will now have your slats 

 one and one- eighth of an inch wide, except at 

 the ends and one point in the middle, at which 

 points they are one and a half inches wide. 

 Now, in putting them together, nail the tops and 

 bottoms to the ends of the side pieces ; place 

 them so that the projections of the side pieces 

 will be toioard you, and the projections of the 

 top and bottom pieces from you. Allow the 



