.Mine 21, 1906 



529 



American Ttee Journal 



ity of working during rainy days. This alone would be an 

 immense advantage to the queen-breeders who have to do 

 their work at certain determined days, whether it rains or 

 not. In winter, straw or some other material can be packed 

 around the hives, and being kept dry is far more effective 

 than when exposed to the weather. The ruchers are gen- 

 erally turned toward the south and the ruches receive the 

 sun's rays during the morning and evening, while they are 

 protected against the sun during the middle of the day by 

 the projecting roof. A better kind of shading apparatus 

 could not be devised. 



FRAMES. 



Many of our writers are inclined to consider the hives 

 opening 'behind and having the frames across as an awk- 

 ward and old-foggy contraption. 



Well, there is no doubt that when the hives are in the 

 open air and placed right on the ground, the frames must 

 come out at the top, but it is easy to see that in a rucher 

 the case is altogether different. To pull out the frames at 

 the top, when another shelf or the roof is immediately above 

 it, is not exactly a very convenient arrangement — not nearly 

 so convenient as frames placed across and taken out from 

 behind. The frames thus used are provided with nail spacers 

 on the front side, so as to prevent them from being pushed 

 too close to the preceding ones, and with a kind of wing on 

 the back side, to get hold of them when they are taken out. 

 An objection has been made here to that kind of arrange- 

 ment, that it is necessary to take out all the preceding frames 

 when you want to get at a certain one. I never could see 

 the point. Neither can I see an advantage in being able 

 to handle the Hoffman frames by 2 or 3 at a time. When 

 I want to inspect a hive for queen-cells, amount of brood 

 or honey, or any other purpose, I want to see all the frames. 

 Some people insist on the necessity of having hives light 

 enough and small enough to be carried easily, or frames that 

 can be moved and carried by 2 or 3 or more together; just 

 as if the apiarist's business was merely to be "toting around" 

 hives and frames just for the fun of it. 



The European frames are all deeper than ours. The 

 Dadant size, or about, is usually adopted for the hives having 

 supers. The shape is sometimes square, usually longer than 

 high, with a half-depth frame for the supers. Another type 

 is the De Layen s. This is something like what we call here 

 the Long Ideal hive and frames. The frames for that pur- 

 pose are usually much taller than long. As many as 20 and 

 even 24 are used in a hive. A division-board permits their 

 being added successively as the honey-flow progresses. 



Very few people know that the original Langstroth frame 

 was 2 or 3 inches deeper than the one we call by that name 

 now. Exactly why the change was made I can not tell, but 

 I suppose on account of the cheapness of the small frame. 

 Not the frames themselves as much as the hive containing 

 them. With a low frame, a mere box made of 4 planks 

 about 10 inches wide was all that was needed. By reducing 

 the number of frames to 8, a wide piece for the bottom and 

 another for the top were sufficient. To reduce the size still 

 more the top-bar of the frames was made only % of an inch 

 thick, and the spacing reduced as much as possible. And 

 here you are. "Simplicity," sure enough. And cheapness, 

 too. And it is this very cheapness that has made the mov- 

 able-frame hives as popular here. At the price which a 

 better hive would cost, there would not be more than one 

 ■ where there are 20 now. We are a nation of bargain-hunt- 

 ers, anyway. Our women will go to a bargain counter and 

 pay 98 cents for a worthless article, when a good one can 

 be had for a dollar in a regular store. Our bee-keepers kick 

 at the price of a good, big Dadant hive, and then have to 

 pile 2 or 3 small Dovetail hives one upon another in order 

 to get a sufficient space. Where the saving of money comes 

 in, I don't see, not speaking of the increased manipula- 

 ti"ii-. 



WINTERING. 



It is admitted that the bees winter better in a straw-hive 

 than in a wood one. It has been suggested that the straw 

 absorbs the dampness of the hive and therefore creates more 

 health}- conditions; I doubt this very much. After a year of 

 use the interior of a straw or any other hive is completely 

 coated with propolis and impermeable by moisture. But 

 there may be other things in favor of straw-hives. If kept 

 dry in a rucher, the straw i< about as good protecting m. it . i il 



against the cold as could be devised; yet a good chaff-hive 

 or similar protection ought to answer the purpose as well. 

 But for my part I am well satisfied that the superiority 

 of the straw or even wood box-hive lies in another direction. 

 Anyone who has transferred bees from box-hives knows that 

 the combs are usually very irregular. It seems that the 

 bees start at random at several different places, and then 

 fill up the best way they can with small, narrow combs. 

 The result is that there are numerous passage-ways between 

 the combs, and that the cluster of bees during the winter 

 can gradually move anywhere in the hive where there is some 

 honey. 



But in a frame hive the case is altogether different. The 

 bees are separated by combs occupying the entire width 

 and depth of the hive. Sometimes one of the spaces (or 

 several) between the combs gets empty of all its honey, and 

 the bees, being unable to go around the comb on account of 

 the cold, perish there. Occasionally the cluster moves grad- 

 ually toward one end of the hive, and when the honey at that 

 end is out, they are unable to go to the other. 



Somebody will say here that Doolittle says that it is 

 not so, that the bees which die in the winter are old bees 

 that have reached the end of their allotted life. Perhaps 

 it is so when the bees are wintered in a cellar — if not always, 

 at least sometimes. With a cellar sufficiently warm, it may 

 be possible for the bees to get around the emptied combs 

 and reach the honey that may be elsewhere. 



But we can reach the aim without having to go back to 

 the box or straw hive. Many European apiarists use very 

 tall frames, and the bees, having their honey above, can 

 always follow it, as the heat of the cluster goes above and 

 permits them to move up. 



There is, however, one objection. While tall frames are 

 the best for hives of the De Layens or Long Ideal patterns, 

 they are not adapted to use in connection with supers. Tall 

 frames mean shorter frames and less of them, consequently 

 less space at the top; smaller supers and more of them, and 

 the upshot would be something like the tower of Babet 

 during the summer-time — something that the bees would find 

 very difficult to ventilate properly. 



The celebrated Italian apiarist, Dr. Dubini (now dead) 

 used to manage it in a different way. He always made sev- 

 eral holes in the combs for passage-ways, and to prevent 

 the bees from plugging them he put a small tin tube in 

 each. I suppose that the holes were about l / 2 inch in diam- 

 eter. 



I have an idea that such holes would be a benefit to 

 the queen. In passing from one comb to another, she must 

 spend some time in going over or under, and, after it is 

 done, hunt up the empty cells. Passage-holes would reduce 

 the time lost, and possibly help to prevent the queen from 

 going into the supers, as this very likely occurs when she 

 passes over the combs. Knoxville, Tenn. 



Willows and Bees— Brood-Nest Heat 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



WISCONSIN" asks Dr. Miller this question, on page 

 369: "I would like to plant lots of willow trees of the 

 yellow-brush kind. Bees work on them very much. 

 Do they yield honey?" 



To this question Dr. Miller replies: "G. M. Doolittle 

 is the man that knows all about willows, and somewhere 

 he has told us about the different kinds, but I don't remem- 

 ber where. If I remember correctly, some of them yield 

 honey, some pollen, and some both. Perhaps he will be 

 kind enough to tell us- briefly again." 



When the Doctor tells any one that Doolittle knows all 

 about willows, Doolittle is sure that he is making a mistake, 

 for there is "lots" that Doolittle does not know about the 

 willows, right in his own locality. I wish I knew more about 

 them, for I consider them as of the greatest value to our 

 bees. In fact, I know of nothing which so stimulates the 

 bees to active brood-rearing as these very same willows; 

 especially those which yield honey, as does the "yellow-brush 

 kind" that Wisconsin asks about. But this kind is not the 

 first to blossom. These 11 1 are called the "pussy wil- 



low" here. 



We have several kinds of these pussy willow here, which 

 put out their blossoms quite irregularly. Some are a month 



