18 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



(lIoiTC0poni)cnrc. 



Honey-boards. 



Dr. G. L. Tinkkh. 



The l)ieak-joint principle in lionoy 

 boards has had its day. Conceived 

 as a plausible theoiy, it has been ac- 

 cepted as a princi[)te of value by the 

 masses of beekeepeis without serious 

 question. It was held that if slats of 

 wood were placed bee-space above 

 the frames so as to cover over the 

 spaces between the brood combs, the 

 queen in attempting to pass above 

 into the supers would bump her head 

 against the slats and go l)ack to her 

 brood again in disgust. A nice the- 

 ory was that ! But it seemed plausi- 

 ble, and has proved a sort of knock 

 down argument to the advocates of 

 direct passage ways for the last ten 

 years. The slat was also held to be 

 a bar to the extension of burr combs. 



Some two years since, the writer 

 began experimenting anew with' di- 

 rect or continuous passage ways ; al- 

 though the horizontal bee- space of 

 Langstroth was retained and honey- 

 boards for direct passage ways were 

 exhibited at a convention of the Ohio 

 State beekeepers at Columbus in Jan., 

 1888. The season of 1888 being a 

 poor one for honey the trial was in- 

 conclusive, but the season of 1889 

 has demonstrated clearly that the 

 break-joint principle in honey-boards 

 is not onl}^ without advantages but a 

 positive obstruction to the working of 

 bees in supers. Moreover the break- 

 joint slats did not prove a bar to the 

 extension of burr combs in any case. 

 It was found that, if anything, there 

 were less burr combs built where the 

 passage ways were continuous than 

 where they were broken by the slats. 

 It was also found that the break-joint 

 slats interfered with the perception of 

 light at the entrance by the bees in the 

 upper parts of the hive, and if they 

 were tiered up more than twenty-four 



inches high the bees in the upper stor- 

 ies were unable to find their way out 

 of the hives. They were practically 

 lost in their hives, ridiculous as it may 

 appeal-, and so became consumers 

 rather than producers. Did they find 

 tiieir way out finally? Oh, yes ! After 

 the lapse of several days some of the 

 last bees would get below the honey- 

 board and see the light at the entrance 

 and set up a hum and soon the whole 

 upper hive would be in a hum. This 

 continued until all the bees had 

 hummed their wa}' out, and taken 

 wing. My surprise may well be im- 

 agined at seeing so many bees com- 

 ing out of the hive humming. It fi- 

 nally occurred to rae that this was the 

 only way tiiey could get out. In the 

 hives where the passages were con- 

 tinuous no such i-esults were observed. 



It follows, if we are to storifv hives 

 and supers very high we nnist have 

 continuous passage ways, so the bees 

 in the upper parts of the hive can get 

 occasional glimpses of the light at the 

 entrances and so find their way out 

 readily. Aside from the above facts 

 it must be seen that there can be no ad- 

 vantage in causing all the bees to 

 travel out of a direct line in passing 

 a honey-board when nothing is to be 

 gained thereby. 



New Philadelphia^ Ohio. 



Reply to Dr. C. C. Millkr. 



Wood-combs— Clipping queens' 

 wings, etc. 



E. L. Pratt. 



Dr. Miller having drawn his sword, 

 there is nothing for rae to do but de- 

 fend myself, so I will sa}^ as did 

 Macbeth "Lay on McMiller," etc. 

 "Wooden combs. 



First of all, I shall want to say that 

 I do not wish the "Doctor" or an}'- 

 body else to think that I shall ever 

 stand in the way of progress when I 

 know it. No, no ! I would rather 

 stand before a locomotive in motion 

 and suffer the results than be the 



