236 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



(For tbe American liee Journal.] 



Xangstrotli Hives, &c. 



Mr. Editor: — In the February -nnmber of 

 tiie Bee Jottknal. 1868, page 157, Mr. E. Gal- 

 lup says :— "why Mr. Langstroth does not fur- 

 nish his agents with some other form of hive 

 besides the broad shallow things that I have 

 seen, is more than I can understand." Now I 

 prcsmne that Mr. Langstroth knows his own 

 business, and furnishes tliat form of hive which 

 is mostly ordered by his cus'omers. I found it 

 so, at least, and received just such a hive ns I 

 ordered. And, furthermore, I have no reason 

 to find fault with the above mentioned form of 

 hive — from a single one of which I have 

 taken more than thii-ty4wo dollars ($32) 

 worth of honey last season. Nor have I ever 

 liad a stock starved or frozen to death in them, 

 though I have used them now three years. My 

 bees are the common black bees. I have no 

 Italians, nor have I ever seen any ; but do not 

 think I shall have this to say at this time next 

 year. 



I presume if Mr. Gallup prefers a shorter and 

 deeper Langstroth hive, he can be accommo- 

 dated by Mr. Langstroth, or his agent ; as the 

 Langstroth hive is not by any means confined 

 to the broad shallow form. 



Again, my opinion is that bees do not fancy 

 cTimbing up two or three flight of stairs, after 

 they have reached their hives with a heavy 

 load. At Iciist, I am willing to unload when I 

 get up one flight of stairs, if there is any chance 

 to do so, I have seen a style of hives that were 

 staked and ridered with fence rails to keep the 

 wind from blowing them over ; but I have no 

 fanry for such contrivances to keep been in. 



When I read Mr. Quinby's able work on bees, 

 I did not understand it as Mr. Gallup seems to 

 do. Where Mr. Quinby speaks of his two-story 

 bee house, he says it would be ornamental, and 

 a few pages back— I think on page 107— he ob- 

 jects to bee houses, for several reaons, and says 

 they will not pay. I know that young and 

 even old bee-keepers of the present time, can 

 get much valuable information from Mr. Quin- 

 by's book. 



To Mr. Langstroth belongs the credit of in- 

 troducing to US the movable comb system ; for 

 if each and every feature of the Langstroth in- 

 vention is taken from other movable comb hives, 

 there is, in my estimation, precious little left to 

 buy a right to use. In view of all the light he 

 has given us on the movable comb system, I 

 can see no improvements made by anyone e!&e. 



Again, it is the same with bee books. Almost 

 any tolerably good s-cholar could take Mr. Lang- 

 stioth and Mr. Quinby's books and write anoth- 

 er //•<?»» them ; and he would be thought quite 

 an author by a person who saw his production, 

 and had never seen the former. But let hint 

 see the originals, and he could pretty well guess 

 where the other came from. Heiice I think 

 Mr. Langstroth is the man who deserves the 

 pay and honor. 



Now a practical suggestion. To contract the 

 entrance of a Langstroth hive, to prevent other 

 bees from robbing a weak colony, reverse the 

 movable blocks, with the wide ends next each 



other, place them close »o the liiive and half an 

 inch or so apart ; lay on the top of the blocks a 

 piece of board or shingle, thus fonning a nar- 

 row hall or passage, where it would be almost 

 impossible for a strange bee to* enter a- hive 

 without being detected. 



Let me add my closing advic-e fO' beginners 

 in bee-culture: Procure Mr. Langstroth's book 

 on the Hive and the Honey B3C-,"jrr. Quinby's 

 Mysteries of Bee-Keeping, and take tlie Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, and if there- is any etUer- 

 prize and cnerfjij in you, you c-.ui Have lioaey 

 and make money. MI. WixsoN. 



Denison, III. 



IFor the Amcrieiwi.Efee Journal.) 



Height of Hives. 



In the January number of the-BEE Jottrnal, 

 Querist expressed a Avish tiiat the readers of the 

 Journal would give their vicwrs as the best 

 Mze andfo7'}n of hives. Mr. Quinliysays 1.1io ad- 

 vantages of bee-keeping depend as- much- irpon 

 the construction ef the hives, as on anyone 

 thing. And in the Februarj numl)cr,. Mr. 

 Langstroth suggests that some oi' his hives- be 

 made higher and more compact,, for. the purpose 

 of testing their adaptability for wintering bees, 

 on their summer stands, in the speniair... 



Now, altliough tills is a movc^ia;the ri"gh.t di- 

 rection, I think that fifYeen indies, the height 

 Mr. Langstroth named for the p-oposed change 

 in the form of Ids hive, is ruiining tO' an. ex- 

 treme. .1 have used hives just fiTtten inches i-n 

 height, but the amount of suxpUis honey ob- 

 tained from hives ol so gi-eat Isei'ght would, not 

 satisfy bee-keepers of the presmit day. Of 

 course hives so low and widespsfjadasto secure- 

 the greatest amount possible of surplus- honey; 

 are not profitable, if the hives rfflc to remain, en 

 their stands during the winter ;: as it would be 

 next to impossible to get anytliing like a full 

 swarm through the winter, with; the breath, of 

 life in them. 



I tliink that, to avoid extremes iiii the height 

 of hives, we slioukl not vary n^iachfrom .twelve- 

 inches. I have a letter from H. Kirby, of Hen- 

 rietta, N. Y., who had cxperiaiented a great 

 deal in the height of hives. He decided that 

 tAvelve inches was best. The UHual' height- off 

 the Langstroth hive is ten inches.. Two inches; 

 in the height of a hive makes a material. dilTtir- 

 ence. Movable frame hives arc net. quite as^ 

 Avarm as those without frames-;; as the vacant 

 space around the frames admits a oomparaively 

 free escape of animal heat, and is so- much, ad- 

 ditional space for the animal beat, of the swarm 

 to extend over, and thus renders the swarm, 

 less able to maintain the reqmsite degree of 

 warmth. Isaac Ide. 



Medina, N. Y. 



Crippled and disabled workers arc not tolera- 

 ted in the bee commonwealth;, Thej' are at 

 once condemned and ejected bythecommunLty,, 

 as not only useless but injurioas members,. lor 

 whom no compassion is felt aiKl no mercy i&ih 

 store. C:ippled queens are reseiw-ed and cher- 

 ished, though when become supemnnuatetLand 

 unproductive, they too arc disesivied. 



