THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



233 



[For tho Airnrican Coc Jovirnal J 



A few Probabilities. 



Different Kinds of Hives. 



1. Straw, twktctl and fovraed iii tho shape of 

 a high inverted bowl. 



2. A square Ijox, made of six boards, form- 

 ing the sides, the toji, and the bottom. 



o. A square Ik)x, twelve inches inside meas- 

 nrcmeut, I'onrleen inches high, with two or four 

 boxes placed on the top, covered with a cip. 

 The boxes of the aggregate capacity of twenty 

 pounds. 



4. A box, so constructed as to present a )arger 

 surface for liie surplus honey hoxcs to rest on, 

 and two tiers of boxes, one above the other. 

 Aggregate capacitj', lifty pounds. 



!). A box, so constructed with side chambers, 

 ns to receive bo.xes on two sides, tlie whole 

 height of the hive. Aggregate capacity, seven- 

 ty pounds. 



G. A box, so constructed with side chambers, 

 and a chamber in the top of the hive, as to ad- 

 mit surplus honey boxes on both sides and top 

 oftheluve. Aggregate capacity, one Iiuudred 

 and twcntj'-five pounds. 



The lirst class of hives n>Hy include sections 

 of a hollow log standing upon a board for its 

 bottom, with another nailed on its top; or a 

 flour or salt barrel, standing on its end. 



Eexiilts. 1. The hives wilh but little room 

 will give many swarms, and little surplus honey. 



2. The hives Avi h abundant room, v.'hether 

 in hol'ow log, barrel, or urplus honey boxes, 

 will give a l^rge amount of surplus, and large 

 swarms, when they do swarm — which will not 

 be often. 



Classes op Hives. 



No. 1. The small hives of this cJass, and of 

 class No. 2, will give manj- swarms, no surplus 

 honey, and consume the stores gathered for 

 winter. Honey for use, must be secured by 

 driving out, or by destroying the bees. 



No. 2. Will give from nothing to forty 

 pounds. Mr. Quinb}', in one edition of cis 

 work, estimates tlie average at one dollar's 

 ■worth. This, at twenty cents per pound, is 

 five pounds. In a revised edition, he estimates 

 it at two dollars' worth, ten pounds. I pur- 

 chased tliree colonies in this class of hives in 

 1824, I tliink. They gave me one swarm each, 

 and not one ounce of surplus honey ; though 

 the four boxes were placed on each hive. 



Class No. 4, will occasionally till their boxes; 

 and in an extra season, may exceed. 



So of Nos. 5, and G. Tiicy will occasionally 

 fill their boxes, and sometimes exceed it. Col- 

 ton's patent is of Class No. 5. The Farmers' 

 hive, patented in 1862, with boxes of from sixty 

 to seventy pounds e;ipaoity in the aggregate ; 

 and the Eureka hive, patented in 18G7, with 

 boxes of one hundred and twenty f.ve pounds 

 capacity, may both be counted in Cla.ss No. G. 



In 1864, thirteen colonies in the Farmers' 

 hive gave seven hundred and ninety seven 

 pounds of surplus honey — an average of sixty- 

 one pounds. In 18G7, my whole number in that 

 hive, including one reported by Mr. House, gave 



an average of sixty eight and a half pounds of 

 surplus — being six hundred and seventy-eight 

 pounds from nine hives. 



Four Eureka hives, all in which were 

 swarms in tlie spring of 1867, gave five hun- 

 dred powncts of suq)lus — averaging-one Iiuudred 

 and tvyeuty-five pounds each. 



CONCI-USIONS, 



1. Bees place their brood in the central part 

 of the hive, for warmth and protection from ene- 

 mies. 



2. Store their honey in the upper part, and 

 and side edges, and outside sheets of their 

 combs. 



3. The best arrangement of snrplus boxes is 

 on the top and by the sides of the sheets of 

 comb. 



4. The snr|)lus honey boxes should be placed 

 in as close proximity to the sheets of comb as 

 may be. The less obstruction the better. 



5. If ample room is given for brood in tho 

 sheets of eomb which form the centre of the 

 hive, there is little danger of brood in the sur- 

 plus honey boxes. Out of more than two hun- 

 dred surplus boxes, filled with houey by my 

 bees last season, there was brood in only four ; 

 and that was from other causes than from close 

 proximity of the swarm. 



G. Bees may be expected to store surplus hon- 

 ey in proportion to tlie amount of room giveu 

 them in surplus honev boxes. 



7. They will as soon probably commence in a 

 second suit of eighteen boxes, as in a suit of 

 two boxes. The eo'ony that gave one hundred 

 and seventy-four pounds of surplus last season, 

 gave one hundred and twenty-one pounds of 

 white clover honey in the first suit of boxes, 

 and on the removal of those and the supply of 

 twelve empty boxes, they entered them at once, 

 and stored in them fifty -three pounds of buck- 

 wheat honey. 



8. The boxes should be so arranged as to 

 bring the whole suit equally near to the brood — 

 forming an equal amount of comb on both sides 

 of and above the brood. 



I draw the above conclusions from the obser- 

 vations I have had and the experiments I have 

 made. Jasper Hazen. 



Albant, N. Y. 



Besides the honey sac, in which the bees col- 

 lect nectar, water, &c., and convey them to 

 their hives, the abdomen of the bee contains 

 another viscus, the chyle-stomach, or true stom- 

 ach of tho insect, in which the nectar and pollen 

 required for its own nourishment or that of the 

 larva?, and for the production of wax, are di- 

 gested. Food partially digested here, is dis- 

 gorged from this stomach for use of the larvae ; 

 that more completely digested goes to the sup- 

 ]iort of the individual bee ; and the excess is 

 converted into a fattv substance, or wax, and 

 is secreted in the wax packets on the under 

 surface of the ventral segments of the abdomen. 



tWA. young swarm builds worker combs 

 exclusively at first. Weak swaims aud second 

 swarms seldom build drone combs the first year. 



