70 



THE AMEHICAN APICULTURIST, 



tween the top and bottom. I am very 

 glad if you can see friend Alley's ranch 

 from the top ; but when I was there I 

 did not know of friend Alley's place nor 

 about bees either. In my next visit I 

 will be sure to hunt him up — yes, even 

 if he does, as I have heard, manage to 

 get a good deal of tobacco out of the 

 way. While we are in the open air, I 

 suppose I should not mind it very much. 

 That idea of a plantain leaf for closing 

 an entrance is certainly unique. By the 

 way, didn't I have a little hand in that 

 discovery? You know I told you that 

 Dr. Miller threw some green leaves on 

 tlie top of any hive that needed attention. 

 If they forget to remove the leaves when 

 they go away, the leaves dry up and 

 blow away. In any case, they know at 

 a glance (by the looks of the leaves) 

 about how long ago the mark was made. 

 Now, then, if we wish to close an en- 

 trance, say for a few hours, a green leaf 

 Avill fill the bill. In regard to introduc- 

 ing a queen by just letting her loose, I 

 suppose some of you know you can do 

 this at almost any time, about three times 

 out of four. When honey is coming 

 briskly, and the colony has been queen- 

 less long enough to start queen-cells, we 

 can do it certainly nine times out of 

 ten. I hope friend Alley will excuse me 

 for remonstrating against brushing the 

 bees off on the grass. Brush them in- 

 to a hive, give them a comb or two, and 

 some sort of queen, and let them be 

 happy while they live. Keep them, like 

 the old horse, for the good they have 

 done. We do not like your reflections 

 on gilt-edged apiaries, exactly, friend R. 

 It is true, there are apiaries where the 

 gilt-edged feature is carried to extremes. 

 I have seen some of them myself — 

 some of those professional men, for in- 

 stance, who have lots of monev. A 

 real nice attractive apiary wants to be 

 the work of somebody who has to scratch 

 and scrape, just a little, to make both 

 ends meet. This will keep out of sight 

 superfluities (just for show), and yet 

 have things neat and in order, arranged 

 so as to give the greatest facilities for 

 rapid work. I am very glad of that 



glimpse you give of the twins. We 

 would not have missed them for any- 

 thing, liy the way, we wonder how 

 7iiaiiy of the veterans have arrived at 

 the dignity of being called "grandpa" 

 by some little "new edition." Friend 

 Alley, we lift our cap and extend our 

 congratulations.]^ — Gleanings, Feb. 75. 



Verv good, irieml Root. I will say in reply that 

 "ffifiid Alley" does not smoke or chew tobacco, 

 nor get drunk. 



Can't credit yon anything on the plantain leaf. 

 That was nsed in tlie Bay State apiary bel'ore friend 

 lioot kept a bee. Come on, friend R , we will give 

 you a royal welcome.— Ed]. 



STORIFYING HIVES AND THE USES 

 OF Tins QUEEN EXCLUDER. 



On page 43 of Api, allusion was made 

 ■ to the tact that a two-story hive of the 

 capacity recommended, was the best 

 hive for spring breeding. As it is now 

 timely I will consider it in this article. 

 The ten frame standard Langstroth hive 

 has a capacity of 1350 square inches of 

 brood comb. We have heretofore been 

 taught that it was large enough for 

 spring breeding, and so it is where no 

 protection is given. Now we find that 

 with suitable protection and good man- 

 agement that the average queen is able 

 to occupy 1400 square inches of brood 

 comb solid with brood but as there must 

 be room for honey and pollen we must 

 have two or three hundred square inches 

 of comb besides. As the brood cham- 

 ber I recommend has a capacity for 

 only 830 square inches of brood comb, 

 it is necessary to use a two story hive 

 for spring breeding. This gives us a 

 capacity for 1660 square inches of comb 

 in the brood-nest which is none too 

 large if we can get it filled with brood. 

 The advocates of large hives and big 

 colonies (which are almost synonymous 

 terms) have steadily shown that the 

 greatest results were to be obtained in 

 such hives, that the larger the colony 

 the more the surplus. And any one 

 who will test one of the big hives and 

 big colonies by the side of a colony i:i 

 the common eight-frame unprotected 

 hive will certainly be astonished at the 

 results. I may say without reserve 

 that we cannot get too many bees or 



