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For the American Bee Journal. 



Something About Bee Hives. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Ten or fifteen years ago Langstroth, 

 Quinby, Gallup, and others, gave as a 

 standard hive, a brood-chamber of 2,000 

 cubic inches ; while others went so far 

 as to say 2,500 to 3,000 were preferable, 

 and this for box honey, as the extractor 

 was unknown at that time. The Lang- 

 stroth hive held 10 frames about 16|x8£ 

 inside measure, which would give about 

 2,175 cubic inches inside the frames, or 

 1 ,450 square inches of comb. To-day we 

 have many who advoctate a hive for 

 box honey of like capacity while a few 

 prefer a brood-chamber of about two- 

 thirds that size. As the size of the 

 brood-chamber has much to do with the 

 average yield of box honey, perhaps it 

 would be well to look into this matter 

 a little. Queens as a rule will not occupy 

 more than 800 square inches of comb 

 with brood for any length of time ; 

 therefore it will be seen, that if we use 

 10 Langstroth frames, we have 650 

 square inches of comb to be occupied 

 with honey andpollen. In case we hive 

 a new swarm in such a hive we shall 

 have from 500 to (500 square inches of 

 comb filled with the best of honey 

 which would be from 25 to 30 lbs. We 

 are told that this extra room is needed 

 in case of a poor season so as to insure 

 honey enough for safe wintering. So 

 each year our bees are wintered on from 

 25 to 30 lbs. of the very best of honey 

 which should go in the boxes and be 

 turned into cash, and in case of a poor 

 season the bees should be looked after 

 to see if they have honey enough for 

 winter and if not, they should be fed 

 sugar syrup, if you do not have a sur- 

 plus of extracted honey. In order not 

 to get any pollen in our boxes we will 

 allow 200 square inches of comb (above 

 the 800the queen occupies) for that and 

 the little honey they always will have 

 in the upper corners of the frames, so 

 we have 1 ,000 square inches comb space 

 or about 1,500 cubic inches as the right 

 size for the brood chamber, regardless 

 of what style of frame is used. Of 

 course the frames will not always give 

 just this number of square inches in- 

 side of them, but use the number that 

 comes the nearest to it. For instance 

 I use 9 Gallup frames which give 1,035 

 square inches of comb, while if I used 

 but 8 it would give me but 920. To get 

 the square inches of comb in the frame, 



multiply the length by the depth, then 

 use the number of frames which come 

 the nearest to 1,000 inches. Mr. Gallup 

 used 12 frames in his hive and as he was 

 my teacher, I of course, used the same 

 number. But some 5 years ago I re- 

 duced them to 9 by using 3 blank boards 

 in place of the frames. The number of 

 frames can be reduced at any time in 

 this way, with but little expense, and 

 that too without disturbing the hive at 

 all. These boards are made of inch 

 lumber, the size of the inside of the 

 hive (fitting loosely) below the rabbets- 

 with the top bar of a frame nailed 

 thereto, so it hangs in the hive just like 

 a frame. I call them division boards, 

 as I use them in building up weak colo- 

 nies, securing straight combs, &c. 



Hives should be so made that all 

 the bees can be kept profitably at work, 

 and if you have a three frame nucleus- 

 well supplied with bees and a queen T 

 you should be able to get just as much 

 box honey from it, in proportion to its 

 numbers, as from a full colony. Unless 

 a hive is calculated for this, it is lacking 

 just one important feature. Also, to 

 secure the best results, the hive should 

 be made so as to admit of the use of 

 side boxes as well as top, and these 

 should be interchangable, so that the 

 partly filled boxes at the sides can be 

 raised to the top as the full ones are 

 taken off, and empty boxes with start- 

 ers placed at the side, in place of those 

 raised to the top, on the principle that 

 bees build comb faster at the sides, 

 and store honey faster at the top. 



By this plan you have boxes in all 

 stages of advancement and this obviates 

 the difficulty, so often experienced, of 

 having a full set of boxes come off at 

 once. We all know how loth the bees 

 are to take possession of a second set 

 of boxes when a full set has been taken 

 off. 



To get the bees started in the top 

 boxes first, the center tier should have 

 full combs in them, so they may come 

 off first. But no hive, however well 

 adapted to securing surplus honey, 

 will give large returns unless pro- 

 perly managed. It is the manage- 

 ment of hives that gives the practical 

 apiarist good returns of snowy-white 

 comb honey such as sells readily in any 

 market, when a second quality would 

 be a drug. The hives must deligently 

 be looked after from the time spring 

 opens till the bees are ready for winter. 



One secret of success in getting box 

 honey is to get the brood combs all oc- 

 cupied with brood before the honey 

 harvest commences, so that when the 

 harvest opens, the bees are obliged to 

 put the honey in the boxes, or not store 



