56 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



March 







(From Gleanings.) 



HIVES, LARGE VS. SMALL- 



SMALL HIVES MORE PROFITABLE, AND 



^VHY ,• A CAREFUL REVIEW OF THE 



AVHOLE MATTER. 



By H. R. Boardman. 



I have been discussing the matter 

 in ray own mind for some time as to 

 whether any thing more could be 

 profitably said upon this already 

 thoroughly canvassed subject. I am 

 quite sure, when the arguments are 

 are all in, could the vote be taken, no 

 change would be noted in the hives. 



It could be possible that all of the 

 bee-keepers in this great diversified 

 land, from the cold North to the sun- 

 ny South, could agree upon the same 

 kind of hive, either in size or style. 



Methods must be as various as the 

 climate. This question of hives, then, 

 is largely a matter of locality I can 

 speak for my own locality only, as to 

 what hives or methods suit me best. 

 I would not presume to discuss with 

 the bee-keeper of the South or West 

 as to what is best for his locality. 



Much depends, too, ujion what is 

 sought to be accomplished — whether 

 the apirist is working for comb or ex- 

 tracted honey, or both together ; 

 whether he wants increase, or wants 

 to prevent increase ; whether he wants 

 to secure all possible of the honey 

 gathered, and supply its place by feed- 

 ing, or depend entirely upon natural 

 sources. It seems to me that, for the 

 production of extracted honey, the 

 tiering up feature would be indispen- 



sable whether the hive used were large 

 or small; and it also appears to me, 

 that a small hive is better adapted to 

 this purpose than a large one. But I 

 am a specialist in comb honey, and 

 perhaps had better consider the ques- 

 tion from that standpoint alone. In 

 order that my prejudices as well as my 

 preferences be more clearly under- 

 stood I will describe my hive : 



It is an eight-frame hive, taking a 

 frame 12^x1 2f in., inside measure. 

 You will see that this enables me to 

 use a wide frame for sections that 

 holds 9 sections, 6 frames to the hive, 

 or 54 sections to a hive. I have re- 

 cently, within two or three years, 

 commenced using 9 frames in ray 

 eight-frame hive, in a space of 12 in., 

 and the number so used is increasing 

 each year. It gives some advantages 

 that I will not describe here, only to 

 say it giAes very nice combs ; so you 

 may put rae on record as favoring the 

 eight-frame hive with 9 frames in it, 

 and with the tiering up features. Let 

 me say, first and last and all of the 

 time, that, in an experience of 25 

 years, I have found my hive large 

 enough for every time and place. 



There are two principal points 

 which I take into consideration in de- 

 ciding the proper size for a hive : I 

 want it large enough to hold sufficient 

 winter stores, and also to furuish about 

 the right capacity for brood for the 

 average queen — average, I say, for I 

 have never been able to have all of 

 my colonies breed up uniformly. 

 Some queens will outdo and go ahead 

 of the rest, while others will fall be- 

 hind. It is a prominent feature of 

 my work in the bee-yard during the 

 early part of the season, when the bees 

 are building up rapidly, to equalize 



