THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



valuable material occasionally for our pages. 

 "We send in return the desired number and vol- 

 umes of the A. B. J. Will the Editor please 

 favor us with a copy of the IS Apicultcur for 

 July, 1868? 



tf°We have no doubt, judging from an inci- 

 dental remark by Mr. Gravenhorst, that the 

 theory of our correspondent below is the same as 

 that on which Mr. G. proceeds, however they 

 may differ in its practical application. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



To obtain all Worker Comb. 



It is announced in the October Bee Journal 

 that Mr. Gravenhorst, of Prussia, has probably 

 succeeded in contriving a plan whereby bees 

 may be compelled . in any hive, and under all 

 circumstances, to build worker comb. That 

 would certainly be an excellent thing, and pos- 

 sibly it may be done. Let us see if we too can- 

 not contrive a plan to effect the same result. 

 Drone comb differs from worker comb in two 

 respects only, viz : in the diameter and in the 

 depth of its cells. The greater depth of drone 

 cells is just as essential as the greater diameter. 

 Worker brood cells are seven-sixteenths of an 

 inch in depth, and drone brood cells are nine- 

 sixteenths of an inch in depth, or, taking cells 

 on both sides of the comb, eighteen- sixteenths 

 or one and one-eighth inches for the thickness 

 of drone comb, and drone comb would be en- 

 tirely useless, unless it could be built of this 

 thickness. Now, to prevent drone comb from 

 being built, or, in other words, to compel bees 

 to build only worker comb, it is only necessary 

 to oblige them to build all their combs in spaces 

 too narrow for drone comb. I think that is the 

 whole secret. Worker comb is fourteen-six- 

 teenths inches in thickness. Then there must 

 be left, on each side of the comb, a space wide 

 enough for the bees aud queen to pass, say 

 three sixteenths ou each side, making the whole 

 width devoted to each comb, twenty-sixteenths 

 of an inch, or one and and a quarter inches 

 precisely. Now, this precise width could be 

 given to the space occupied by each frame very 

 easily ; but to prevent the bees from running 

 over to the next frame, and thus occupying a 

 wider space and running into drone comb, some 

 barrier must be used; but it must be of such a 

 construction that the bees can readily pass from 

 one comb to another, or the}' - will be disconten- 

 ted aud probably fail to build any comb at all. 

 This barrier or guide could be made of wood or 

 tin pierced with numerous holes, but best of 

 large-meshed wire cloth, say number 4, or four 

 meshes to the inch. If wire cloth is used great 

 care should he taken to have it perfectly true or 

 straight, so that the space would be of exact 

 width throughout. I shall try this next sum- 

 mer and hope others will. It should be tried 

 only when the honey harvest is abundant, and 

 with large swarms, and it would be best to let 

 them start combs before the guides are inserted. 



R. Bickford. 



Seneca Falls, N. Y , Oct. 1G, 1808. 



[For the American Bee Journal] 



Patented and other Hives. 



Mr. Editor : — I see, on reading the Bee 

 Journal, that a free interchange of thought 

 between bee-keepers in different parts of the 

 country, relative to the best modes of manage- 

 ing the honey bee, is readily allowed in its 

 pages. It is no wonder that so many minds 

 should disagree in relation to bee-culture, for 

 such is the case upon every great point at issue, 

 by whomsoever presented. One succeeds well 

 with an old style of box hive ; while not a few 

 are wedded to stationary frames, or close-fitting 

 top-bars. All bear testimony in favor of their 

 respective favorites, through some fancied or real 

 good qualities said to exist in them. Not un- 

 like many of your correspondents, I too have a 

 preference in hives, and that is in favor of Kid- 

 der's Compound Hive, as possessing more good 

 points combined in one hive, than any other 

 with which I am acquainted. I do not know 

 that I could present them separately, or even 

 collectively, without trespassing upon the space 

 devoted to your regular correspondents. How- 

 ever, I have ventured thus far, trusting to the 

 apparent liberality of your excellent Journal. 



In the June number I find an excellent arti- 

 cle from the pen of J. Davis, of Charleston, Illi- 

 nois, under the heading '■'■Patent Hives and 

 Claims." Now, Mr. Davis is a stranger to me; 

 nevertheless he has paid me, and every subscri- 

 ber of it, a social call through the Journal, for 

 which I am, and every reader of it ought to be, 

 much obliged. His article has the "ring of the 

 true metal "in every line. Yes, gentlemen, if 

 your hives are worth anything, let us know, 

 through the Bee Journal, ichat makes them so. 

 Your circulars reach a few of us. They are no 

 doubt just what they were intended to be, but 

 fall short of the real wants of the bee-keepers. 

 Many of them reveal the character of the writers 

 much better than they do that of their hives. 

 This is not what we want. Present us your 

 "Claims !" Give us a description of your hives, 

 illustrated by good engravings, and give these 

 in the American Bee Journal, through which 

 they can reach the practical bee-keepers of the 

 country. If your hives possess real merit, it is 

 there that the bee-keepers will tell one another 

 thereof. If they are worthless (as many are) a 

 self-conceited inventor may profit and perhaps 

 improve his mental capacity, if not his hives, by 

 criticisms and suggestions received from those 

 whom he egotistically believes are his beneficia- 

 ries. Dr. S. N. Vickary. 



Darien, Sept. 30, 18G8. 



KlPWe are under the impression that, in a 

 case tried at Utica a few years ago, before the 

 United States District Court for the Northern 

 District of New York, the Kidder hive was de- 

 cided to be an infringement of the Langstroth 

 patent. 



Occasionally feed even your strongest colon- 



