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VOL. I. 



JANUfVRY, 1891. 



NO, 1. 



Fixed vs. Loose Bottom- 

 boards. 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



The subject of hives is a somewhat 

 ticklish one to tackle, for fear of step- 

 ping on some 'one's corns, but I think 

 bottom boards belong to all so I am 

 quite safe. We are likely to be prejud- 

 iced ; I atn sure I am. When I first 

 kept bees I had loose bottom-boards 

 and did not see how I could get along 

 without them. Then Vandervort, (he 

 of Foundation Mill fame,) moved 

 away from Marengo and I bought his 

 stock of hives. They had fixed bottoms 

 and I found decided advantages in 

 them, so great indeed, that I concluded 

 I wanted no loose bottoms, and con- 

 tinued in that mind for a good many 

 years. 



Years ago great stress was placed 

 on the importance of upward ventilat- 

 ion when wintering in cellars. Before 

 I had any frame hives, I wintered 

 box hives in the cellar, turning them 

 upside down, a la Quinby. It was 

 upward ventilation with a vengeance, 

 but they wintered well. There was 

 no lower ventilation and it was mil 

 strange that upon adopting frame 

 hives there was no great need felt of 

 having much opening below. In the 



course of years the pendulum of 

 opinion swung clear to the other ex- 

 treme, and hives were put in the 

 cellar with everything at the top 

 sealed up as tight as bee-glue could 

 make it. Some of the veterans then 

 began to insist very strongly that much 

 ventilation was needed at the bottom 

 even to the extent of having the 

 whole bottom entirely open. One of 

 them, H. R. Boa*dman, had notable 

 success in wintering, and I think gave 

 the credit mainly to open bottoms. 

 With the fixed bottoms it was impossi- 

 ble for me to increase bottom venti- 

 lation, and if I wanted the advantage 

 of large bottom ventilation I must 

 resort to loose bottoms. So it was 

 not strange that I should carefully 

 compare the relative merits of loose 

 and fixed bottoms. A fixed bottom 

 has the important advantage of being 

 always ready in its place. If you 

 wish to move the hive three feet or 

 three miles, no attention need be paid 

 to the bottom board. It is a part of 

 the hive, always there. The value of 

 this convenience is enhanced when 

 out-apiaries come into play with their 

 attendant hauling. 



The loose bottom uives a chance to 

 raise the hive at any time and look 



