(&0txz$p&u&mtz. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Hive "I Prefer." 



JAMES HEDDON. 



The cut below will assist much in explain- 

 ing the hive " I prefer" and am using. It is 

 an eight-frame Langstrotli hive, without 

 porch (which I have discarded), and what I 

 claim as improvements of my own are 

 partly shown in the illustration. The bot- 

 tom stand is simply four pieces of pine. 

 The front and back pieces are narrower than 

 the sides, the front being nailed on to the 

 side ends, while the back piece goes between 

 the sides. The back end of the stand ad- 

 mits of ventilation under the hive. The 

 bottom-board is only 13 inches wide, and as 

 the grain runs from the front to the rear (al- 

 lowing us to use narrower lumber), we put 

 a cleat across the front that prevents warp- 

 ing, and fits the bottom stand tightly. The 



The Hive " I prefer." 



cut shows the hive slid slightly forward upon 

 the stand. We use the simon-pure Lang- 

 stroth blocks, and think them best. The top 

 bars of the movable frames are heavy, and 

 their sides run straight down % of an incli 

 before the bevel commences. I know that 

 this shaped bar gives truer combs, and less 

 comb-pieces between their tops and the 

 the honey-board or surplus receptacles. The 

 honey-board (C) is a skeleton composed of 

 strips, and when complete forms four sinks 

 of sufficient size to each admit of a clamp of 

 six 5x6 sections. Now, you will see that the 

 bottoms of the clamps (D, E) rest bee-space 

 above the honey-board, except just at their 

 edges. Experience has convinced me that 

 with a honey-board of this description the 

 bees work as readily as with none, and it 

 gives us these two great advantages : We 

 can remove the whole surplus arrangement 

 at once when we wish to take out the frames, 

 and we can move each individual clamp 

 much easier, as they are clean at their bot- 

 toms, and this is a satisfaction when we 



come to crate them for market. To make up 

 a clamp as is shown by D or E, we place 6 

 sections side by side, put a pane of 5x6 glass 

 at each end, and then clamp" all by springing 

 on the wire as shown in the cut. This wire 

 is a No. 12 coppered, which is the stiffest and 

 most elastic. To cover up the openings 

 above I use a pine board, smoothly dressed 

 on both sides, that just covers the whole 

 clamp. It is 12x5x% inches. I much prefer 

 using sections with open tops, as by remov- 

 ing the little board cover we can blow down 

 the bees in a jiffy ; and can you imagine an 

 easier arrangement by which we can remove 

 any one finished section and leave the rest ? 

 You may think this wire too small to have 

 strength enough to hold all firmly together. 

 We do have to handle the clamps with care 

 before they have been given to the bees, but 

 this arrangement, different from all others, 

 works much better in the apiary than in the 

 cabinet shop or hive-vender's wagon. The 

 cap that 1 use is a little new also. It is 

 merely an 8-inch rim, made so that when 

 shoved to the extreme forward or backward, 

 it admits of a % inch space for ventilation. 

 When drawn to its central position, it closes 

 tightly. When the cover (F) is laid down so 

 that tue end cleat rests on the rim, then we 

 have a ventilation above also. When slid 

 an inch or less over the rim, all is closed 

 tightly. Little cleats on each side of the 

 rim enable us to lift off the rim and cover 

 with one motion, the same as with any cap. 

 Now, when we wish to " tier up," and put 

 48 sections on a hive (which we often do), we 

 have only to omit the little board covers on 

 the clamps to be slipped under the nearly 

 full ones, and bring out another cap rim. 

 The rim is not shown in the cut. I make 

 sides of the rim, bottom of the hive and 

 cover of % pine, dressed both sides; the sides 

 of hive %, and the ends of hive and rim %. 



After spending four or five years in think- 

 ing and experimenting upon hives, I came 

 to the conclusion that no one hive could em- 

 body all the advantages. I give the above 

 description of the hive which, it seems to 

 me, contains the most useful features of any 

 one with which I am acquainted, and at the 

 same time is free from all troublesome com- 

 plications. 



Dowagiac, Mich., March, 1879. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Glucose : Answer to Dr. Foreman. 



CH. DAPANT. 



Dr. A. W. Foreman questions my state- 

 ment that the best chemists of France, Eng- 

 land and the United States say that glucose 

 always contains more or less sulphuric acid, 

 sulphate of lime, or lime, and wants me to 

 give the names of the best chemists, and 

 titles of the books and pages where these 

 statements can be found. I reply : 



Mr. Kedzie, who is professor of chemistry 

 at the Agricultural College of Michigan, and 

 President of the Board of Health of that, 

 State, has given the result of the analysis of 

 15 samples of glucose, sold as table syrups ; 

 every one of which contained either sul- 

 phate of lime, sulphate of iron, sulphuric 



