THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



185 



bred, from the last ol" Maroh to tlii; l.^tli of 

 June, we have ye', bees enough left to eonsti- 

 tule two good colonies. Wo will now tliviile 

 the bees eiiually, and leave the leniainiug num- 

 ber to store the remaining thrcc-fil'lhs of the 

 seventy-two thousand cells, (beiug fbrt)'-lhrce 

 thousand two hundred). This number will 

 contain thirly ])ounds oC honey, which is suHi- 

 cient to winter tlie colony salely. But tliej^ 

 will also, in districts where Cull forage abounds, 

 fill wiih winter supplies (luile a number of cells 

 used for breeding purposes, thereby adding 

 largely to the above amount, and which will 

 winter tlie largest colony through the most pro- 

 tracted winter and backward spring. They 

 will also store a large aniount of surplus honey, 

 as' has often been proved, and which M'e of 

 cmirse desire them to do, as otherwise they 

 would not be profitable to us. We also want 

 surplus honey to be stored in receptacles fitting 

 it for market in the very best and most sale- 

 able condition, and not in the breeding combs, 

 as that is not of the best c|uality to comnuiud 

 the largest price. Kow, if t^uerist wishes sur- 

 plus honey alone, and not an increase of colo- 

 nies, then he may add from two to four frames 

 to his hive, thereby increasing the room to be 

 used by the queen, lie will then have many 

 bees in one hive, and if be prevents them from 

 BAvarming, and will furnish them with boxes 

 containing comb, to induce them to occupy 

 them, his surplus will be larger than from a 

 smaller hive. But bis extra amount of surplus 

 boupj'' will not bring him as miu'h profit as he 

 would have obtained from one good swarm, 

 and the surplus from the parent stock in the 

 other case. 



Still Querist may say that in a Laugstroth or 

 Quinby hive of 2,000 cubic inches, bees will in- 

 crease from the loth of June to the 1st of Au- 

 gust, so that they will swarm again. Well, if 

 they do, and my object is surplus honey and 

 not an increase of stock, I will open the parent 

 bivc and destroj' all queen cells, and turn the 

 swarm back again. At the same time I will 

 give them boxes partly filled or containing 

 empty comb, which they will fill if forage 

 abounds; and if it does not, then a large hive 

 would be no benefit either to them or myself. 

 Neither would the late swarm be of any value, 

 as it would perisb from want of stores. A 

 liive smaller than the size recommended by 

 Quinby and Langstroth uill contain less bees at 

 almost all sca.sons of the year ; and if its combs 

 are used in the manner I have described, they 

 will not have the requisite amount of cells in 

 which to rear young. If thcirnumber fall much 

 short, there will not be at any time enough to 

 form two good colonies; and if you take many 

 over half their number from them for a new col- 

 ony, then you weaken the parent stock too much 

 to store a surplus of honej'. 



Again, with a larger hive it is always later 

 in the season before it becomes sutficiently popu- 

 lous to cover all its combs. Consequently we 

 get a later swarm from it, Avhich is not desirable; 

 and at the same time we get but little surplus 

 boney. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I believe I have proved 

 that a hive as recommended by Quinby and 



Langstroth, with regard to size, is at least a safe 



hive to keep bees in. And if Querist can give; 



another or bettrr reason lor using a hive either 



smaller or larger than 2000 cubic inches, than I 



have given for using such dimensions, it will be 



necessary lor him to prove that a less hive will 



1 cast one g(Mjd swarm each year and yield more 



\ surplus; or that one of a larger size will become 



poi)ul()Us to overllowing witli nmnbers and also 



j cast an early swarm, and at the same time give 



I a larger amount of surplus to its owner — oiher- 



j wise I Ciinnot consent to adopt his kind of hive, 



as regards nize. 



With regard to the nhape of hives I will not at 

 this time saj^ more tluin that I am satisfied with 

 the frame hive as made; by both Quinby and 

 Langstrotli ; the difference between them l)eing 

 but trifiing. If I were to select a tnller hive, I 

 should prefer that made by Mr. J. H. Thomas, 

 of Brooklin, Canada West. But as I am jier- 

 fectly satisfied with the Langstroth hive, I shall 

 not think of exchanging it for any other at this 

 time. I much admire the arraneemeut of the 

 bottom-board of ]\Ir. Thomas' hive, which is so 

 arranged as to be dropped down at tlie back 

 part of the hive, and is easil}' relumed without 

 in the least irritating the bees. But for a large 

 amount of room on top, to place the surplus 

 honey receptacles, I cannot fuid any so well 

 adapted as the Langstroth hive. I also succeed 

 very well in wintering bees in the open air, 

 when I fill the cap with corn-cobs. Its frames 

 are very easy to handle, as it is not a very deep 

 hive. Those of the Quinby and the Thomas 

 hive are somewhat deei)er— Thomas' being still 

 deeper than Quinby's; yet it is noL as far out of 

 feason as some others, and maj^ prove a very 

 good hivCj if not too expensive as regards con- 

 struction. There are other hives, the shape of 

 which I do not like at all. Neither do I like 

 their construction, as some of them are so modi- 

 fied from the original frames, as hardly to be 

 frame hives at all, being nearly unmanageable. 

 Some others again, that have lately been pre- 

 sented to the public, I cannot say an3'thing 

 of, for or against, as I have not seen them. But 

 some one will think I am gettiiig on patent 

 ground, where I should speak with great caution. 

 So I will pass those hives for the present. 



Godfrey Bohrek. 

 Alexa>dria, Ind. 



fFor thi» AinPiican Bee Journal.] 



An Improved Breed ! 



Dear Editor : — I am sometimes much amu- 

 sed when I read j'our very valuable paper, whi(^ 

 I would not do without, indeed, if it would cost 

 five times its price. If I can be admitted into 

 your family of bee-keepers, I do not care whether 

 j-ou call me second cousin, or brother, or syh^t, 

 provided I can have the benefit of all the excliau- 

 \ ging of thoughts, back and forth, done in the 

 I family. But slnndd this come before the public, 

 I presume our naturalists will soon see that \ 

 am a young brother in the family, young in age, 

 and also young in writing, having never wntteA 

 articles to be publi&lied. 



AVc arc doing a noble work, if only our senior 



