84 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



As to hives, I still like the 

 movable bottom-board. It permits 

 such quick and ready cleansing in 

 spring, and enables one to raise 

 the hive up an inch or two from 

 bottom-board in the cellar in win- 

 ter. I have tried this with marked 

 satisfaction for years. True, one 

 has to nail in shipping or moving 

 hives to better pasture, but with 

 our present wire nails this is very 

 quickly and easily done. Again, 

 we cannot feed by turning syrup or 

 honey right into the hive, but that 

 is a doubtful proceeding any way. 



A PLAIN HIVE. 



Again, I am very glad to be rid of 

 old bevels a la Simplicity hive, tel- 

 escope covers, etc. Not only are 

 plain connections as hive on hive 

 or cover on hive, cheaper, but just 

 as good in every respect and by 

 far the most convenient arrange- 

 ment, as it makes manipulation far 

 more simple. Except for the rab- 

 bets, then, which permit the frames 

 to set down just the scant three- 

 eighths of an inch from the top, 

 our hive is only a simple box. 

 Such in my judgment is the ideal 

 hive. 



SLATTED HONEY-BOARDS. 



The slatted honey-board, with 

 perforated zinc between the slats 

 to make it queen-excluding, is a 

 grand acquisition to the beekeeper. 

 No one should neglect this article 

 and no one will be witliout it after a 

 fair trial. This should break joints 

 with frames below, and should give 

 the scant three-eighths space be- 

 tween slats and frames, and also 

 between slats and sections above. 



I regard tiie tiering-up method 

 as the way to secure great amounts 

 of nice comb honey ; also the way 

 to get extracted honey most readily 

 and cheaply. The simple hive 

 makes using double or triple sto- 

 ries for extracting very convenient, 

 and also makes the tiering nj) or 

 adding cases of sections very easy. 



CONTRACTING. 



Contracting the brood-chamber 

 at the beginning of the hone}^ har- 

 vest is also a method that is al- 

 most revolutionar}^ in beekeeping. 

 Messrs. Doolittle and Hutchinson 

 have pushed this idea none too 

 strongly. Whetiier we accomplish 

 this reduction by using hives in 

 horizontal sections, or b}' remov- 

 ing frames, it perhaps matters not, 

 but we must use the principle 

 would we win the best success. 



All of the above have been 

 faithfully tried in our apiary and I 

 feel confident that they are worthy 

 and may well be adopted b}' all. 



NEW LINE OF INVESTIGATION. 



Under the new Hatch Bill I am 

 going to undertake two new lines 

 of investigation looking to the ad- 

 vancement of beekeeping. First, 

 I shall select and breed with great 

 care to secure a better bee. I have 

 been at this for some years, using 

 Syrian and Carniolan stock. The 

 other is to experiment to see 

 whether it will pay to plant for 

 bees. If so, what? 



Agricultural College^ Mich. 



[Tlie above was intended for the March is- 

 sue, but was mislaid.— Ed. J 



For the American Apiculturist. 



LOCATION OF THE APIARY. 



Can beekeeping be made profitable in the 

 following described location ? The bees have 

 to go north two miles to a field of wliite clo- 

 ver of ."JOO acres, east one mile to 10 acres, 

 south one mile and a half to 18 acres of com- 

 mon timber, no baaswood. On tlie west two 

 miles distant are 300 acre.s of white clover— 

 Reader of Api. 



ANSWER BY G. W. DOOLITTLE. 



If I believed as some claim to be- 

 lieve, that l)ees only lly one and 

 one-half miles in search of food, 

 it would not take me long to 

 say to the querist, you had bet- 

 ter let beekeeping alone if 3'ou 

 have no better location than the 

 one above described, for surel}' the 



