THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST SUPPLEMENT. 



the best invertible hive. An}' be- 

 ginner just starting out in the fas- 

 cinating pursuit of beekeeping, 

 couUl not do better than adopt this 

 liive whicli sums up all the latest 

 desirable improvements. It has 

 the Langstroth frame, is a double- 

 wall hive, and it is invertible. 

 Among its features which to me 

 seem valuable, I would mention the 

 following: 1. The outer case is 

 light, being made on the sides of 

 half-inch boards, and on the ends of 

 seven-eighths stock. It is not like 

 a great cumbersome chaff-hive, nor 

 like a heavy box ; but it is neat, 

 and graceful looking, weighing all 

 complete only thirty-six pounds. 



2. The roof slopes to the right 

 and to the left like a house roof, 

 and has a saddle-board covering 

 the joint where the two slopes come 

 together, making a leak impossible, 

 besides giving it a very trim and 

 graceful look. 



3. The bottom-hoard is a good 

 solid stand and board combined, so 

 made that it cannot warp, with a 

 half-inch space under the frames, 

 and on a lighted portico in front 

 with narrowing walk-way into the 

 hive. A queen-trap just fills the en- 

 trance, and in winter all you have 

 to do is to lay a six-inch board 

 across the portico, and you have 

 under the board a darkened en- 

 trance into the hive which neither 

 sun, nor rain, nor snow can enter. 

 Besides, just within the entrance, 

 the bottom-board has a half-inch- 

 sloping rise, so that no water can 

 run into the hive, even though it 

 stood on a level. 



4. The &?-ood-&oa; is composed of 

 eight closed-end frames, with half- 

 inch-thick side-boai'ds on the outer 

 sides of the whole, the whole 

 clamped together by two iron rods 

 with thumb screws. As it stands, 

 the ends of the frames make the 

 ends of the box ; it is just alike top 

 and bottom, and can be turned 

 either side up ut will, for the top- 



bar and bottom -bar of the frames 

 are of the same width, and both 

 are just a bee-space inside of the 

 tops of the frame ends. 



5. The frame is a closed end 

 frame, and this I consider the chief 

 excellence of the hive. In our cli- 

 mate box hone}' comes largely from 

 white clover, and the swarm that 

 breeds up in season for apple-bloom 

 and clover-bloom is the one that 

 piles in the honey. The value of a 

 hive depends almost wholly on its 

 favoring early breeding in the 

 spring. 



Now an open-end frame permits 

 cold air to play around the cluster, 

 and not until they get strong can 

 they fill the brood box with heat. 

 This retards brood-rearing in early 

 spring. But with a closed-end 

 frame, each space between two 

 combs is a little tight, cosey, brood- 

 nest which holds the heat. P^ven 

 though there are bees enough to 

 fill only one space they will build 

 up rapidly. This hive has the 

 crowning quality that it favors the 

 building up of the colony in early 

 spring. 



6. The cushion filled with chafT 

 which goes on top the brood-box is 

 made large enough to fill the outer 

 case entirely. This makes ah air- 

 tight space below the cushion be- 

 tween the brood-box and outer case, 

 which is just as good protection as 

 packing the space with chaff. Here 

 is a point which I think is impor- 

 tant, doing away with cumbersome 

 chaff-hives which are heavy to lift, 

 hold dampness, and do not let the 

 heat of the sunshine through iu 

 early spring. 



7. The super, or section case, 

 is just simplicity itself, like the 

 brood-box exactly alike on top 

 and bottom. It is made of six 

 wide frames each holding four 

 pound-sections, with side-boards 

 on the outer sides of all, and all 

 clamped together by a rod running 

 throuiih the centre in a hole bored 



