50 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Sept., 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Novice. 



Please, Mr. Editor, can't we have a hive too? 

 We know you will think, and many of our 

 "large family " say, there are too many already 

 and that the more we get, the worse we are off, 

 and that there are patent hives enough for the 

 next thousand years, etc. 



But, Mr. Editor, "our hive" is "nothing 

 new, ' ' and, of course, is not patentable, we hope 

 so, at least, and the novelty, if it is that, it is 

 entirely stripped of the thousand and one valu- 

 able, all important features that worry the pa- 

 tient beekeeper and waste his valuable time. 



Now, then, our hive is simply a square box 

 open top and bottom. 



As we are speaking to a generation possessing 

 brains and using them, we will give our reasons 

 as we go along. For instance, we must have a 

 movable bottom, that the lower story may be 

 used as an upper one, and vice versa. We dis- 

 pense with a portico, also, for the same reason, 

 and because it takes lumber, makes the hive 

 heavy, harbors spiders, and gives no real advan- 

 tage that we know of. 



The stand for the hive and bottom board are 

 one and the same thing, for when a hive with a 

 bottom board stands on another board, we have 

 the space between them wet and damp much 

 longer after rains than when a single board 

 makes both, and for this reason we advise all 

 hives having permanent bottoms, to have for a 

 stand, simply a frame of four pieces of inch 

 board, two inches wide, and made one-half inch 

 smaller each way than the bottom of the hive ; 

 thus allowing the rain to run down without be- 

 ing carried under the hive. 



The bottom and cover are one and the same 

 thing, and can be used in either capacity, so 

 that if you have a stock of one you have both, 

 and there ends our hive, when we have told you 

 how to make the all important top or bottom. 



Suppose you make a frame just like the hive, 

 only two inches in depth instead of full depth, 

 and when this frame is strongly made by halving 

 in the corner, halve in for cover a sound board, 

 but leave no projection at all, and nail it firmly 

 from both ways, so that warping and opening is 

 impossible. 



When used for a cover, both hive and cover 

 are beveled, so that the crack or joint carries the 

 water outward, and when used for a bottom 

 board the cover is also beveled around the out- 

 side edge, that the hive may fit over it for the 

 same reason. 



Accordingly, any number of hives may be 

 piled on each other, or any number of bottoms 

 or covers or all together, and all fit and no pro- 

 jections. They can be packed closely in winter 

 quarters, or in a wagon or in shelter, empty, and 

 if they are to be handled we can walk off briskly 

 with a hive under each arm. 



But the bottoms will drop off and the covers 

 get away ! 



No they don't, when we have had our say, for 

 you are to get some pieces of galvanized iron- 

 wire, as large as a knitting needle, and three 

 inches long ; bend each end at right angles one- 



half inch, and when the bottom is squarely in 

 place drive these staples with one foot in the 

 bottom and one in the hive. And now for the 

 entrance, which cannot be of blocks, nor do we 

 want them, for they are loose and get lost, and 

 3 r et, we want an entrance that can be enlarged 

 and contracted. Nothing loose, that can be 

 lost ; nothing expensive ; nothing that will get 

 gummed and stick fast, was a problem we long 

 sought to solve, but do it now very simply, 

 thus : 



Whittle out the lower inside corner of the 

 front end board on a curve deepest in the middle, 

 but not deep enough to remove any of the out- 

 side corner, or we should spoil it if ever used 

 for an upper story. 



Now, if you slide the hive forward so as to 

 project over the bottom, we have an entrance, 

 first small in the middle, and then enlarging to 

 any extent, if we move it far enough, or so far 

 as our staples will let it slide ; and when we 

 close a hive it is closed surely, and we need have 

 no fear that robbers may crowd it open as they 

 do sometimes the blocks. Use the door step or 

 alighting board described last month. 



The cover may be hinged on one side, and if 

 you make a cloth quilt to cover the frame so 

 closely that no bee can get by it, you can close 

 a hive^ full of bees as quickly as a carpenter 

 closes his tool chest. As a visitor remarked 

 when we opened one of these hives, showed him 

 two queens peaceably presiding therein, and 

 then put them both back and closed the hive be- 

 fore he or they had time to be frightened. 



The quilt, if properly made, can be spread 

 over angry bees, and they will hush like a brood 

 of chickens, as such closing up does not hurt 

 them at all, and those remaining outside quickly 

 seek the entrance when brushed away. A cover 

 that is hinged can be opened and closed with 

 one hand, and if in a hurry, we frequently re- 

 move a frame with the other. Taking off a 

 cover with both hands and stooping to lay it 

 down is tiresome, more especially if it projects 

 over the hive two or three inches. 



When one hive requires more room we simply 

 place as many frames as we wish in another hive 

 with no cover or bottom, and raise the original to 

 allow this to set under it, or if we want a hive 

 spread horizontally, place two tight together — 

 nothing hinders — and cut passages when or as 

 large as you like between them, and you then 

 have every advantage, except a double division 

 board, and this may be better if one is good. 

 The entrance can easily be made on one of the 

 long sides if preferred. 



No water gets into this hive, as the top is one 

 solid board, and no rain drives in the entrance, 

 as it is directly upward. 



The hive as well as covers, should be all halved 

 together, as they have no permanent bottom to 

 give them strength. 



The halving or rabbetting is all done on the 

 end pieces, viz. : across the top for the frame to 

 rest on, and same depth down each end. The 

 rabbet that holds the frames should be low 

 enough to allow about three-quarters of an inch 

 for the quilt to drop in, to close when laid ou 

 top of frames. Rabbet in ends of end piece deep 



