construction, retaining Mr. Colvin's original 

 principle, but adding to it two very impor- 

 tant features, viz : that these guide frames 

 regulate the distance between the comb- 

 frames, and hold them firmly together and 

 "out of wind." 



The annexed is a perspective view of one 

 of these guides, and the dimensions are in- 

 tended to suit the size of hive and comb- 

 frames given in the third edition of my 

 work on the Hive and Honey Bee. 



1, 2, 3 and 4 are slats, each 17% inches 

 long, by 1% inches wide, and % inch thick. 

 5 and 7 are each S% inches long, by X inch 

 wide, and K inch thick. 6 and 8 are each 1% 

 inches long, by 3^ in. wide and % in. thick. 

 In nailing, the slats are put between 5 and 7, 

 and 6 and 8, the bottom slat coming flush 

 witli the lower ends of 6 and 8, and the top 

 slat projecting % in. above the top ends ot 

 the uprights 5, 7 and 6, 8. The spaces be- 

 tween the slats are eacli % inch wide. 



Thin nails (cigar box nails are best) % 

 inch long, are driven as shown in the cut, so 

 as to fasten the slats between the uprights, 

 and slightly clinched by nailing upon an iron 

 surface. The lower ends of 5 and 7 (A and 

 B) extend below the ends of 6 and 8, and 

 form legs which rest on the bottom board 

 of the hive. These legs are on opposite 

 sides of the guide-frame, so as not to inter- 

 fere with the bradding of the comb-frames 

 as described in the last No. of the Bee 

 Journal.* 



Mode of using them : Put the first comb- 

 frame x /i inch from the farther side of the 

 hive, crowding a wad of paper or cotton 

 between the top of the frame— where it rests 

 on the rabbet— and the side of the hive to 

 keep the frame in place. Now put in, as 

 close as possible, a guide-frame ; then 

 another comb-frame, &c, until the hive has 

 9 comb and 8 guide- frames. The last guide- 

 frame may be slightly bradded to the last 

 comb-frame, so that the two can be lifted 

 out together. It will be well to put one 

 frame with brood into the hive (see page 115 

 of my work), before hiving a swarm, as the 

 bees are more liable to desert such a hive, 

 not knowing that their owner intends to 

 remove the partitions between their combs. 



*In that description, as well as this, the hive is sup- 

 posed to be placed before the reader, with the por- 

 tico on his left hand and the leg B of the guide comb 

 on his lefthandalso. Eight guide-frames form a set, 

 and where a number are made with proper facilities, 

 a set need not cost over 25 cents, andean be used 

 year after year. 



It may be asked— Can we interfere so 

 much with the bees, and yet not diminish 

 theamountof comb built or honey gathered? 

 This question can be more satisfactorily 

 answered, after the guides have been tried, 

 by many observers, under the varying cir- 

 cumstances of different seasons and loca- 

 tions. Enough, however, has been done to 

 make complete success highly probable ; 

 and if the final result justifies our expecta- 

 tions, the Improved Colvin Guide Frames 

 will be second in importance only to the 

 movable comb principle. 



Since the swarming season began, I have 

 used a number of these sets of guide-frames, 

 and find that they answer admirably the 

 ends intended— the combs being built, to 

 use the words of a friend describing the 

 results in his apiary, " as perfectly as a 

 joiner could work with square and compass." 

 Although the bees are sometimes inclined 

 to abandon a hive containing such guides, 

 they do not, after fairly beginning to work, 

 seem to be at all incommoded by them; and 

 the guides, not interfering with the storage 

 of honey in the surplus boxes, may be left 

 in (he hive until those boxes are removed. 



To prevent the bees from leaving, the 

 guides may be inserted three or four days 

 after hiving the swarm; by which time, they 

 will have too much invested in comb, eggs 

 and honey, to be willing to go off. If, how- 

 ever, the hive is placed as recomended in 

 the .July number, and the wings of the queen 

 clipped, the guides may be used without any 

 other precautions. Since writing that 

 article, 1 have had several swarms attempt 

 to leave ; but in each instance the bees re- 

 turned, and the queen crawled back to her 

 hive. * * * L. L. Langstroth. 



Now, although these guide frames, or 

 patterns, as I prefer to call them, were 

 a great success with black bees, they 

 proved an entire failure with the Ital- 

 ians. Many swarms deserted again and 

 again, and while I could always prevent 

 the loss of the queen by confining her in 

 a cage ; I could seldom persuade the 

 Italians to work with any vigor. They 

 would often sulk for days, building next 

 to no comb,* and when they worked 

 more freely, they preferred to build 

 upon the sharp edges of the slats of the 

 patterns instead of on the triangular 

 wooden comb guides, and I abandoned 

 the patterns in disgust. 



The invention of foundation, as it 

 seems to me, puts a new face on the 

 matter. By using a good strip of founda- 

 tion upon eacli frame, and one frame 

 filled with brood, I think that the Ital- 

 ians would quickly reconcile themselves 

 to the patterns. 



The connection between these pat- 

 terns and the compelling bees to build 

 drone comb only, remains to be shown. 

 Last September, as soon as I regained 

 my health sufficiently to take any inter- 



"Other remarkable instances can be given where 

 Italian bees refuse to do as the blacks have done, un- 

 der precisely similar circumstances. 



