THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



mg ends, a perfect rectangular 

 frame, with no projecting bars, was 

 made to swing in a larger frame 

 with projecting top-bar and end- 

 bars which reached a little below 

 the middle point of the end-bars 

 of the inner rectangular frame. By 

 use of wire nails tlie inner frame 

 is pivoted to the outer half-frame, 

 so it can swing in and be iuA-erted 

 in a moment at any time. I have 

 used these frames now for two 

 years, and like them so well that I 

 am changing all my combs into 

 these reversible frames. 



Within the last two years an at- 

 tempt has been made to improve 

 upon this plan b}' inverting the en- 

 tire hive, which is about the size of 

 the common Langstroth hive, and 

 consists of two horizontal sections, 

 which can be used either independ- 

 entl}^ or together. Thus it will be 

 seen that the frames in this hive 

 are only about half as deep as those 

 of the usual Langstroth. These 

 frames have close-fitting end-bars, 

 and when put into the hives, rest 

 on tin projections, which are tacked 

 to the bottom of the end-boards of 

 the hive. When all the frames 

 are put into the hives, a wooden 

 thumb-screw, which is set in the 

 side-board of the hive opposite the 

 end-bars of the frames, is screwed 

 up. This holds all the frames 

 firmly, and so when these screws 

 are thus turned the frames are all 

 held securely, and the entire hive 

 can be turned bottom up in a mo- 

 ment. 



The advantages of inverting are : 

 1. Combs are built and fastened to 

 the frames on all sides. Every 

 beekeeper knows that bees alwa^ys 

 fasten combs firmly at the toj) and 

 along the upper half of the edges. 

 When this is once done we have 

 onl}^ to remove the frames, when 

 the union is made complete about 

 the whole margin of the comb. 

 The advantages of such entire 

 union are, that the combs are held 



securel}', and are V no'd^ger of 

 falling out when exCj^c^ng oi-^ip- 

 ping bees. V^-^ .^ 



2. The spaces between ^omb and 

 frame, which serve as hidino-j)]accs 

 for queens, are removed, ^^hi4^jast 

 is a great gain, as any one who 

 has sought for queens is aware. 



3. Reversing frames places the 

 honey below the brood, which is 

 unnatural. Hence, if just as the 

 season opens, when we place the 

 sections on the hive, we reverse 

 the frames, the bees at once carry 

 the honey above the brood, or in- 

 to the sections, where we wish it, 

 and once employed in filling the 

 sections they make no halt till the 

 season closes. If, when we reverse 

 we uncap some of the honey, we 

 shall hasten this rush to the sec- 

 tions, Ma,\\y who have been an- 

 noyed at the persistent refusal of 

 their bees to work in sections, will 

 appreciate this argument in favor 

 of reversible frames, though to the 

 expert apiarist this is the weakest 

 argument. 



4. When a beekeeper has all the 

 bees he wishes, he can preclude 

 swarming by this simple work of 

 inversion, which, in case the hive is 

 reversible, is but the work of a mo- 

 ment. Curious as it may seem, the 

 bees at once cut away or remove 

 all queen cells as soon as the combs 

 are turned upside down. Thus by 

 inverting the hives each week 

 swarming is prevented, and all but 

 the work of a moment. 



Of course this last, and indeed all 

 the points, argue loudly in favor of 

 the reversible hive. To invert a 

 hive takes a moment ; to reverse 

 all the frames is the work of sev- 

 eral minutes. — Rural New Yorker. 



Agricultural College, Ulich. 



