1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



131 



another fact, that in such a colony the bees can 

 generate wax and construct comb as rapidly as 

 is needed for the brooding of the queen and the 

 storing of honey. With our present knowledge 

 of the habits and instincts of the bees, we admit 

 that such perfection is seldom reached in ihe man- 

 agement of bees; but we are sanguine in the 

 belief that it can he attained. To do so, will require 

 that wc should be thoroughly, intimately and cor- 

 rectly informed of the natural laws governing all 

 the operations of the hive, and of the offices per- 

 formed by all its inmates.'''' 



Is "Novice" so thoroughly versed in bee- 

 culture, so perfect in his management, as to be 

 able to say that this is "error, " or is such "a 

 strong, positive, or harsh statement," that he, 

 or others, can see the "fallacy of it at once?" 

 Does he think he or any one has attained per- 

 fection? It would seem that he thinks so, or 

 he would not make such a statement as the 

 following: — "Our soundest thinkers have no 

 time to theorize and argue the matter." 



Is that so ? Have not all the advancements 

 "that have been made in bee culture, as well as in 

 the sciences generally, been made by men who 

 took the time to " theorize and argue ?" Did not 

 Dzierzon both theorize and argue the matter 

 when he framed his "Theory." that is the basis 

 of "Novice's" success? Did not Huber and 

 Langstroth use their powerful brains in " theo- 

 rizing" and arguing the matter, or did they in- 

 stinctively stumble on their great discoveries ? 

 Did Houska set the* centrifugal force to expelling 

 the honey from the comb without theorizing auct 

 arguing ? 



Why, Mr. Editor, our "soundest thinkers" 

 are those who look for progress in everything. 

 A mas who sets himself up as "Sir Oracle," 

 and says, "you can go no further," is, in my 

 opinion, no' "sound thinker." Nothing is per- 

 fect yet. The medical man who should content 

 himself with what he learned from books ten 

 years ago, would sooii be without intelligent 

 patients ; and such a lawyer would have few 

 clients. Chemistry, astronomy, meteorology, 

 and all the physical sciences are continually un- 

 folding new facts ; and bee-culture, which has 

 but lately made any advances at all, has not near 

 attained its perfection. 



" Novice" is the last man I should have sus- 

 pected of such sentiments, and I cannot believe 

 now that he is such an old fogy. The truth is, 

 that Gallup had him a little worried, and he forgot 

 himself. If he could only get that two-story 

 concern out of his head, there would be plenty 

 of room for the "New Idea." 



Since writing the foregoing, I have received 

 your September number, and must thank "Nov- 

 ice" for what he says so kindly of me; but 

 think it unkind in him to say of Progressive Bee 

 Culture that "It is so much an advertisement of 

 a patent hive, that it seems it should be fur- 

 nished gratuitously, as should all books, in our 

 opinion, that are written in the interest of any 

 patented articles." In answer to this, I wish to 

 say that the book is not, strictly speaking, writ- 

 ten as an advertisement of my patented hive, as 

 the theory advanced therein is a general one, 

 and, as stated in it, can be applied to the Lang- 



stroth, or similar hives. In fact, Mr. Gallup had 

 arrived at similar results and conclusions by 

 using a different hive. For further answer, I 

 would ask him whether he knows of a book on 

 bee-culture that does not advocate the use of 

 some particular "patent hive," from Langstroth 

 to the smallest pamphlet that has been pub- 

 lished, unless it be Mr. Quinby's, which, while 

 disclaiming any patent, is, when judged by 

 "Novice's" rule, "an advertisement" for the 

 Quinby non-patented hive, which he manufac- 

 tures and sells. Mr. Langstroth's book, which 

 "Novice" assists so much in sellinsr, is, from 

 beginning to end, in that sense nothing but a 

 big advertisement, for pages of it are devoted to 

 showing its superiority, and thirty cuts (more 

 than one-third of all the book contains), are in 

 illustration of his hive ; and, to come nearer 

 home, let " Novice" read his own articles in your 

 Journal, and he will see that nearly every one of 

 them is an advertisement of a hive, on the 

 frames of which, he has lately taken out a 

 patent for an improvement ; if it is not, it is a 

 puff of that " tea kettle feeder" of his which he 

 proposes to sell for $1 ; or is to tell about that 

 "quilt" he has invented, which he will probably 

 patent, and advertise in the next number of the 

 Journal. 



While this is a "positive," I hope "Novice" 

 will not consider that I intend it for a "harsh 

 statement ;" for the hive is so intimately con- 

 nected with the management of bees, that it 

 would be almost impossible to treat on many 

 points connected with it, without showing a 

 preference for some form of hive. 



D. L. Adair. 



Hawesville, Ky. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



How to have Straight Combs. 



In the October No. of the Journal "B" in- 

 quires how he can "have combs built straight, 

 so that the frames can be readily removed from 

 the hive." I will state how I accomplished that 

 result, and if " B." will follow the same plan, he 

 will have no more trouble with crooked combs. 

 With a rip-saw I cut thin strips from common 

 pine laths, such as the plasterers use. I lay 

 these down on a work bench, and holding them, 

 with one hand dress them smoothe with a 

 smoothing plane. I now have strips about § of 

 an inch wide by \ of an inch thick. I cut them 

 the proper length for comb guides, pierce them 

 with a small brad awl, and, using f inch brads, 

 fasten them to the under side of the top bars of 

 the frame. Of course one edge is clown ; and 

 the bees must be very perverse, and very perse- 

 vering in their perversity, if they deviate from 

 the guides. By using the same kind of guide 

 on the side bars of the frame, assurance will be 

 made doubly sure. With this comb guide, it is 

 not necessary to elevate the rear of the hive. 

 Until the past season, I used the triangular 

 comb guide, but it did not work satisfactorily. 

 The bees would leave the edges, and run the 

 centre of the combs, in some cases, along one 



