110 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



and give as clear a description of liie pure Ital- 

 ian or Liguriaa bee as I may be able to make. 

 I trust that on seeing the pure race in its native 

 country, and comparing a liundrcd queens 

 raised and impregnated there, I shall be as well 

 qualified to write about the purity of Italian 

 bees and queens, as a Professor, who derived 

 all his knowledge about this matter from half 

 a dozen well marked pure queens and about 

 half a dozen more of their daughters. 



Hoping that these few lines may reach you 

 safely, and that they may find room in the 

 Journal, 



I am, yours, 



A. Grimm. 



[For the American Bee JournaJ.] 



Side-Opening Hives. 



Mr. Editor: — I noticed in the October num- 

 ber of the Bee Journal an article by Novice 

 about bee-hives, and as he is using a side-opening 

 hive, and one in which the frames Ibrm.the lioney- 

 board, I thought I would give my own experience 

 with regard to that class o/ hives. 



Three years ago wishing to Italianize my 

 stock of bees, I concluded lo try the movable 

 comb-hive, and so made a few that year of the 

 Quinby form of the Langstroth hive. Being sat- 

 isfied that the movable comb or frame hive was 

 the hive for the apiarian, I concluded to make no 

 other. I had seen the American hive and was 

 pleased with it. It seemed to me that the side- 

 opening feature, and also the arrangement of the 

 top of tlie frames to form the honey-board, might 

 be adopted with advantage in the hive I was 

 using. So last year all my hives were side-open- 

 ing ones, using the same frames I had been using, 

 but having strips of the proper width and thick- 

 ness glued on their sides and so cut as to leave 

 vacancies for the bees to pass through. I pre- 

 ferred gluing them on to increase the width of 

 the toj), because they could then be very easily 

 taken off if desired. I had the impression which 

 others have, that the honey-board was superflu- 

 OU.S, giving the bees the air-space and the thick- 

 ness of the board, as so mucli extra distance to 

 travel. 



I watched the two forms of hive closely, and 

 could not see that there was any difference in the 

 amount of honey stored in the boxes; while the 

 disadvantages of the solid top frames were so ob- 

 vious, that the fifty hives made this year were 

 all made with honey-boards, and also the strips 

 taken off the frames of last year's hives and the 

 additional height necessary for the air-space put 

 to them, and honey-boards made for them also. 

 I found that it was so much trouble to take off 

 the boxes, and so many bees were killed in put- 

 ting them back, that I always disliked opening 

 those hives. When there were no boxes on the 

 hives, they could be opened rather than the other 

 forni of hive. But with the honey-board it makes 

 no difference whether there are boxes on the hive 

 or not, save the increased weight of the honey- 

 board. 



The side-opening arrangement of last year's 

 hives is retained; but I have scarcely used it all 

 this year. Occasionally a ^warm will build 



combs so irregularly tlmt it is an advantage to 

 have a side-opening hive. But there are so few 

 su«h cases that I have not made any more side- 

 opening hives, and probably never shall. 



And now I would like to ask a question. What 

 is the best height for the movable comb hive 

 where bees arc wintered in-doors? Mr. Lang- 

 stroth's hives, I believe, are nine inches high. 

 Mr. Quinby makes the Langstroth hive twelve 

 and one-half inches high. Mr. Otis and others 

 claim that bees will store more honey in boxes 

 in the shallow hive used by Mr. Langstroth, than 

 in the higher one recommended by Mr. Quinby. 

 In the plan now adopted by myself as well as 

 others, of putting empty boxes under those nearly 

 full, I am not sure but that the shallow hive is 

 the best; and I have pretty much decided to adopt 

 that form in the future. I am aware that it is 

 inconvenient to have two sizes of frame in the 

 same apiary; but if bees will store more honey in 

 the shallow form of hive, I am willing to risk the 

 inconvenience, as I can look upon them and treat 

 them as two separate apiaries, independent of 

 each other. L. C. Francis. 



SpRiNGFiEiiD, III. 



[For the American Bee Jom'nal.T| 



Italianizing Colonies of Black Bees in 

 Bos: Hives. 



I find but little trouble in introducing Italian 

 queens to black bees in box hives. 



When the honey-gathering is not profuse, I 

 select my time one-half horn* before sunset, so ag 

 not to be troubled by robbers while the distui'bed 

 colony is not prepared for self-defence. 



I capture two black queens of an evening. 1. 

 I take a plain box the same dimensions of tl'.e 

 width and breadth of the mouth of my hive. 2. 

 I invert my hive, placing the box on the inverted 

 hive. I blow some smoke of rags in the joints 

 about the lid which is now down, then commence 

 drumming on the hive vrith a small stick, and in 

 ten minutes I remove my box and shake the bees 

 out on a sheet spread near the hive, and capture 

 the black queen. 3. I insert my caged queen 

 between two flakes of honey-comb, containing 

 young bees, if possible. It is all unnecessary to 

 wait six hours before inserting her. I let her 

 remain till the second evening, when I blow 

 some smoke under the hive and again invert it; 

 take my queen cage out and remove the cork, 

 draw a piece of newspaper over the mouth of the 

 cage, tying it fast around the cage with thread. J 

 then daub the paper with honey, and perforate it 

 with a few holes with the small blade of a pocket 

 knife; then put the cage back to its proper place, 

 invert the hive, and find all right nine times iu 

 ten. 



Experience has taught me that if the caged 

 queen is placed among the larvae and eggs, the 

 bees arc not so apt to start royal cells. 



I do not wish to be understood as recommend- 

 ing the box hive, but only to assist those who 

 already have bees in them and are not prepared 

 to transfer, and who wish to have Italian bees. 



The Langstroth or movable comb hive in some 

 form, is an almost indispausable requisite to every 

 propagator of bees. A. Salisbury. 



CA3IAUG0, III. 



