1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



When the thermometer was 10° below zero 

 out doors, in the hee-house it was not below 

 freezing, and when it was 50° out of doors, the 

 thermometer in the bee-house rose to 37°. It 

 ranges from 32° to 37° with the ventilators open, 

 giving an even temperature all the time. 



It seems that the rapid strides that the bee- 

 keepers of this country are making with our im- 

 proved bees (Italians) and improved system of 

 management, and the use of the honey extractor, 

 would not give old -foggy beekeepers half a 

 chance with their old whims and prejudices 

 about bees. 



This section of the country is a good section 

 for bees, and we mean to improve it. We have 

 our willow, and elm, and soft maple in the spring, 

 which keep the bees busy. Next comes dan- 

 delion, apple blossoms, white clover, and best 

 of all is bassvvood, and our fall crop is buck- 

 wheat. The bees usually gather enough to win- 

 ter on, so that we have all our basswood and 

 clover honey pure again. 



Wtst Oroion, N. T. Coggshali, Buos. 



[For the American. Bee Journal.] 



The Improved Hive. 



As Mr. Nesbit has made public, in the Feb- 

 ruary number uf the Bee Journal, what he con- 

 siders as objections to my style of bee hive, I 

 desire to reply to his article, so far as to state 

 that every one of the features he regards as ob- 

 jectionable, were thought of and duly considered 

 by me before the hive was made ; and also to 

 show why they are not objectionable.. Having 

 used the Langstroth and other patent hives 

 many years, and made other styles of my own, 

 I do not set forth the claims of my present hive 

 without any show of reason. 



Mr. Nesbit agrees with me as to the capacity 

 needed for breeding and storing winter supplies, 

 and then asks : 



" Why does he want to go so far astray from 

 the most successful apiarians, making his cheap 

 hive almost double the proper capacity?" 



Answer : Of course the extra capacity is for 

 storing surplus honey, either to be taken out by 

 the extractor, or in the comb If desired in the 

 comb, it can be obtained much faster in the main 

 hive than in boxes or top frames. 



His next objection is, difficulty in lifting out 

 the frames 



Reply : The difficulty is purely imaginary. By 

 removing the division board, any frame can 

 easily be lifted ; and if the hive is full of combs 

 and bees, the division board is not needed, but 

 its space at the top filled up with strips of wood. 

 He represents my frame as 15f by 19.J inches. 

 This is a mistake, probably an oversight, caused 

 by haste. The frames, inside measure, are 15 

 by 11 ; and I find that in lifting and turning the 

 full frames, the combs are far less liable to break 

 out thau full combs in the Langstroth frames — 

 they being so long that there is great weight of 

 honey and brood between the ends; while the 

 cross bars in my frame obviate that difficulty. 



I desire in this connection to allude to two 



special advantages gained by close fitting tops, 

 namely, that in opening the hive to remove 

 frames, light is admitted only in one place at a 

 time, namely, where the frame is taken out. The 

 closed tops also prevent the bees from rushing 

 out except where the frame is lifted, and they 

 may easily be driven back by smoke ; while, with 

 open tops, they rush out and cover the whole 

 top of the hive. 



It is true, my ox is "only a twenty-five cent 

 one;" but I believe bees will winter better in 

 Tennessee, or any other State, in frames fifteen 

 inches deep, than in those only ten. 



Mr. Nesbit now mentions the capacity again, 

 but admits that it can be controlled by the di- 

 vision board, and claims that the same is true of 

 the Langstroth, Triumph and other hives. I ask. 

 why is the large capacity of my hive an objec- 

 tion, then? How about the forty inch Triumph? 

 Measured in the same way, Mr. Nesbit measures 

 mine, it contains, in the body of the hive alone, 

 to say nothing of the upper chamber, 4788 inches. 



The objection I have to the shape of the Lang- 

 stroth frame, is, that if you adjust, by the di- 

 vision board, to the capacity of a small swarm, 

 you give them a space long and narrow, like the 

 hall of a house, running from front to rear ; and 

 it is not at all suited to the needs of the cluster. 

 But with a deep and short frame, running cross- 

 wise, you may give three or four frames in the 

 front end of the hive, and the bees have their 

 natural heat concentrated where they need it. 



I stand at the side of the hive to open it, and 

 find no difficulty. The tops of the frames are 

 close fitting, but not, as he says, "consequently 

 one and a half inches wider." Mr. Nesbit ought 

 to know that one and a half inches from center 

 to center of brood combs, is just one-eighth of an 

 inch too much. The native bees by instinct 

 build their brood combs exactly one inch and 

 three-eighths of an inch from center to center. 

 I have never observed whether the Italians allow 

 more space, but suppose they do not. 



As to placing the frame in the extractor, may 

 not the top of the frame project beyond the wire 

 support, and thus the comb rest on it? It does 

 so in my extractor, and thus the "sweet job" 

 has never come. But how about the Triumph 

 frames, which are close fitting on three sides? 



Now the cross bar objection, that it is placing 

 wood where brood is needed. Reply : The cross 

 bar is not "in the center of his frames," and 

 the brood is all below the cross bar, as there is 

 abundance of space there. But if the cross bar 

 were left out of my frame, the comb would not 

 be as liable to break as in the Langstroth frame, 

 for the reason that the long way of the comb in 

 my hive is vertical, and consequently fastened 

 to the frame on both of the long sides of one 

 entire end; whereas in the Langstroth frame it 

 is fastened only on one of the long sides. 



Mr. Nesbit now asks : "How does Mr. Condit 

 propose to ventilate his mammoth hive?" 



Reply : There is abundant ventilation pro- 

 vided by the two end entrances, together with 

 the inch fly holes in the center of each end. An 

 air space can easily be provided over the tops 

 of the frames by resting the corner on cleats, so 

 as to raise it an inch or two. And if it is desired 



