THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



137 



If we begin at one end and put on 

 a section and foundation till we 

 get to the oilier, the first will be 

 cool and ready to take off when 

 we get to it so that no time is lost 

 waiting for the wax to cool. In 

 this way I can put in foundation 

 almost as quickl}' as I can handle 

 foundation and section. The sec- 

 tions filled with foundation are 

 next put in wide frames holding 

 but one tier of sections deep, and 

 having separators nailed to them, 

 for after repeated trials I consider 

 the no-separator plan a move in 

 the wrong direction. Other wide 

 frames are filled with sections con- 

 taining comb left over from the 

 season previous, which combs I 

 consider of great value in getting 

 the bees at work quickl}- in them. 

 One or two are claiming that these 

 combs shoukl be cut out and melted 

 into wax, the sections being burned, 

 but it seems to me a person advis- 

 ing such a proceciure cannot be in 

 his right mind, for with me they 

 are of great value and when filled 

 are in no way inferior to that built 

 from foundation the same season 

 it is put on the hive. 



Having all in readiness I take 

 one wide frame of sections con- 

 taining the empt}^ comb and place 

 it over the centre of the brood- 

 nest, when two wide frames of 

 section tilled with foundation are 

 placed on either side of it, thus 

 giving a capacity of about twenty 

 pounds, which I consider ample for 

 the largest colony at first, for if 

 too much room is given on the 

 start, it seems to discourage the 

 bees. On either side of the wide 

 frames two thin boards are placed 

 to close the whole like a box, the 

 boards being held in place, and the 

 wide frames as well, being clamped 

 together by coil brass wire springs. 

 It takes but a few moments to put 

 them on as a whole load is wheeled 

 right into the apiary alongside of 

 any hive you desire. In a week or 



so, as soon as the bees are well at 

 work in what sections have been 

 given, unclamp them and put in 

 two or four more wide frames of 

 sections, putting them where four 

 are used, in each alternate space 

 after spreading the five wide frames 

 apart, when the whole nine are again 

 clamped together as before. When 

 a colony is not strong enough to 

 work to advantage in so many, put 

 in only one or two, putting these 

 on either side next the one filled 

 with comb. In this way the bees 

 are coaxed to work with all the 

 energy possible, and I much pre- 

 fer the plan to tiering up, because 

 only so few as two wide frames 

 can be used on the smaller colonies 

 while my hive room allows twelve 

 for the largest, or about sixty 

 pounds capacity, which is as large 

 as I ever wish to use, for often the 

 second time putting on there are 

 wide fi'ames full of honey coming 

 off every time more is put on. I 

 formerly used side boxes, but since 

 I have adopted chaff hives I find 

 that the bees work to just as good 

 or a little better advantage where 

 the sections are spread out lateral- 

 I3', and to much better advantage 

 than when tiered up. As the season 

 draws to a close the empty sections 

 are placed at the outside of those 

 partly filled, so that when the sea- 

 son closes there are few unfinished 

 sections and but few inch frames 

 on each hive. 



After two years testing of this 

 lateral movement of wide frames 

 of sections, I consider it far in ad- 

 vance of any plan yet devised for 

 comb honey, as you can accommo- 

 date the size of the hive to suit the 

 size of the colon}' in a very few mo- 

 ments, from a two-frame nucleus up 

 to a powerful colony. Some seem 

 to think that bees will not work in 

 sections that spread out beyond the 

 brood, but father Langstroth gave 

 us the real facts when he said bees 

 would work to advantage anywhere 



