258 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



we were rather harsli in speaking of the ' ' uon- 

 swarming boxes piled all around" arrangement 

 of Quinby and Jasper Hazen. 



We grant a great advantage there for box- 

 honey ; but cannot admit that one or two hun- 

 dred pounds can be safely calculated on, by sim- 

 ply setting the bees" to work in one corner of a 

 " great barn," as Adam Grimm expresses it. 

 And Mr. Hazen's reply to him was, in our opin- 

 ion, nothing more than another tremendous puff 

 for his hive, without noticing the main question 

 at all. If Mr. Hazen had told us why his hive 

 gave more honey than a two-story Langstroth, 

 with brood in the middle of the lower story and 

 empty combs or frames at the sides and on top, 

 he would have given some light. We do not 

 need to tell intelligent bee-keepers that more 

 honey will be stored in frames than in small 

 boxes ; and so far as non-swarming is concerned, 

 in Hazen's hive they may not swarm : but with 

 Langstroth's hive and the melextractor we can be 

 almost sure they will not. Now how is Hazen's 

 hive to give Mr. Grimm four or five times the 

 honey he gets now ? We wonder if Mr. Grimm 

 feels like burning up his hives and buying a right 

 for the Eureka ! Why not ? Mr. Hazen giive 

 him the figures ! Supposing a swarm of bees in- 

 side of one of those piles of honey boxes should 

 not start to work in the combs at all (see Gallup, 

 pages 229 and 230, current volume) we suppose 

 Mr. Hazen would pile on more boxes, and they 

 would certainly then fill them all, as he seems to 

 think that notliing else is necessary. And if they 

 manifested an inclination to swarm, we suppose 

 more boxes still would cure it. 



Our experiments have led us to think that the 

 kind of hive makes but little difference, so that 

 the bees are properly protected while raising 

 brood in the spring. With a small colony in the 

 spring, we think something liRe Gallup's or'tlie 

 Economic Hive would bean improvement; but 

 with a strong colony (and those are certainly the 

 profitable ones) we think we can show as good 

 a result with the Langstroth hive, as with any 

 other. Should something like Quinby' s be de- 

 cided to be more convenient, then there is cer- 

 tainly that advantage ; but no bee-keeper about 

 here, who had ever examined our Quinby hive 

 that was burnt, would for a moment think it 

 easier to handle than the two-story Langstroth. 



Dr. Conklin has sent us one of his Diamond 

 hives arranged for the melextractor, with sixteen 

 frames one foot square. We thought of making 

 an Economic hive to test that form ; but this 

 comes so near it, we think it will answer every 

 purpose for experiment. The arrangement to 

 support the frames, we are quite favorably im- 

 pressed with ; but the way the honey-boards are 

 put on, and the shutting of the hive, we fear will 

 not work so smoothly when covered with pro- 

 polis. His advice to grease the frames where we 

 do not wish them to stick fiist, is a novel idea to 

 us. We shall try it. 



Our queen, mentioned last month, with the 

 small drones, did become fertilized. We first 

 noticed her laying eggs on the 26th of April, and 

 shehas filled her hive with brood quite rapidly. 

 As it was so late before she became fertile, there 

 may have been other drones flying, though we 



had seen none among the Italians, which are 

 always some time in advance of common bees, 

 and are now coming out. 



We omitted to mention some time ago that we 

 had been experimenting on some substitute for a 

 division board — something that would be warmer 

 for small colonies, and that could be readily 

 tucked up around them ; and also for covering 

 the holes or slats in the honey-board. We tried 

 cloth, and finally cotton wadding in sheets, 

 which is very cheap and warm. .But the little 

 chaps could not keep from puiling it in pieces 

 and poking their heads out, so that it was very 

 soon used up. We finally had some little quilts 

 (or whatever you choose to call them) made, and 

 they answer admirably. The bees cluster up 

 close to them, and even g\\\n ihem down to the 

 frame ; but they can be readily removed at any 

 time. With a sewing machine they can be quickly 

 made of cheap cotton cloth. 



Apple trees are now in blossom, and our stocks 

 are raising a large amount of brood and making 

 active preparations for swarming, which we shall 

 check in due time, as we prefer to manage that 

 matter ourselves. 



We mentioned a stock of hybrids last fall, that 

 objected to being put into winter quarters. Well, 

 in tlie fore part of April, we discovered them to 

 be entirely out of honey, although they had an 

 abundant supply, like the rest, in the fall. 



Mr. J. H. Thomas says, if Novice had expended 

 his two hundred dollars in a cellar, he would not 

 have had to open doors at night, &c. Does he not 

 forget that we were compelled to use damp saw- 

 dust (so much so, that this spring we found lum- 

 ber placed in a loft quite damp and covered with 

 mould) ; and that a dry cellar, in our locality, is 

 something that we have been trying in vain to 

 make. If we would change our bee-house, in 

 any respect, it would be simply to make it larger. 

 As for holes under ground, or below the surface, 

 our experience has given us a prejudice against 

 them. They are damp and mouldy, and hard to 

 get into and out of. 



On page 188, J. M. Worden says, there are 

 two faults which all loose frames have. First, 

 want of stability — being unfit for transportation. 

 Our experience is as follows : We at one time 

 bought six stocks of bees, in the fall, in Lang- 

 stroth hives ; put them in a lumber wagon witJi- 

 out springs ; and as it soon commenced to rain 

 hard, we drove briskly three miles. Not a comb 

 was broken, nor a frame loosened, although as 

 they were new swarms, all the combs had been 

 built that summer. We have given the matter 

 nearly as severe a test several times since, with 

 the same result, because bees around here brace 

 their combs against each other, and fasten the 

 frames all that is ever needed. The second ob- 

 jection is new to us, and may be right. He says : 

 "In the best form of frame hives this loafing 

 space amounts to one-fifth or one-fourth of their 

 whole capacity." But supposing we did not 

 give them this "loafing space," would they be 

 sure to go to work ? We fear they would not. 

 When they loaf outside, we can manage them. 

 Cannot some one gut out a patent to squeeze the 

 sides of tlie hive together, when it is desirable to » 

 have the bees go out and go to work ? The idea 



