104 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Nov., 



same size as below. — Tall hives with lai-ge frames 

 ai*e not well adapted to this purpose. The two- 

 story Langstroth works well. Mr. Gallup's and 

 Mr. TruesdelFs style of hives can be easily 

 arranged with additional frames at eacli end, or 

 on top, or both. Now, I do not say that any 

 and every hive tlms arranged is perfect, but that 

 no hive should lay claim to being the most per- 

 fect hive made, without being adapted to such 

 an arrangement ; for it is important to give for 

 the breeding capacity of the queen, and to fur- 

 nish a sufficient amount of empty combs for the 

 accumulated workers, and thereby obtain the 

 greatest yield of honey with the extractor, or 

 without it. 



Besides "puffs" of particular hives, we have 

 numerous articles on general principles to be 

 observed in their construction — some approving 

 and some condemning the shallow form of the 

 Langstroth hive. In the August number, Mr. 

 J. W. Seay pitches into the .shallow hives on 

 general princi])les and preconceived theories. 

 Now, theories do well enough for fine talk, and 

 are good when substantiated by facts. But facts 

 are the tilings for the practical man, and one 

 fact is worth a dozen theories. Mr. S.'s theory and 

 deductions therefrom, in regard to the produc- 

 tion of early brood, I do not find confirmed in my 

 experience and observation ; and the facts of the 

 case warrant a very difterent conclusion. A tall 

 hive' is thought best for wintering out doors, for 

 we know the bees will place their stores above 

 them when there is room. We know, also, that 

 they do not cluster on the honey, but below it, 

 and tlie heat from them ascends and makes their 

 stores more accessible in cold weather. But liow 

 is it with tlie breeding early in the season ? Mr. 

 8. says, "the bees in order to liatch brood as the 

 weather becomes warm in the spring, will clus- 

 ter at the larviB end of said combs, &c. Now 

 what he means by the "larvae" end of the 

 comb, I do not exactly know. If he intends to 

 say that they cluster at the bottom of the brood 

 comb, so that the heat will ascend and warm up 

 the upper part of the brood comb for the exten- 

 sion of brood, facts do not warrant the asser- 

 tion ; for it is well known that bees do not com- 

 mence breeding at the lower end of the comb, 

 except in a very rare case, when they have had 

 the hive full of honey and have consumed none 

 or only very little during the winter. As a gen- 

 eral tilling-, they commence breeding near tlie 

 centre, and frequently in the upper part of the 

 hive. I have known them, in the Thomas' liive, 

 to commence breeding within two inches of the 

 top bar, with plenty of honey at the sides. New, 

 when breeding is commenced near the top, the 

 extension of brood in a tall hive must be cliiefiy 

 downward — away fioiii the heat generated in 

 the cluster, instead of towards it. And for this 

 reason, as tlie warmth of the cluster will be dif- 

 fused laterally more readily than it will extend 

 downwards, more rapid breeding will be induced 

 in the shallow hive than in the deep one. This 

 accords exactly with the facts of the case. If 

 Mr. S. only means that the bees cluster on the 

 larvHi and around it, he is correct ; but this does 

 not alter the conclusion. In stating that the 

 bees will cluster and commence breeding in one 



end of the low hives, leaving the other end 

 empty and cold, Mr. S. does not fairly state the 

 case. They generally cluster near the centre of 

 the hive, and the heat will radiate towards both 

 ends. 



But, we have had enough of theory. How 

 stand the facts'? I have had Mr. Thomas' hive — 

 one of the best of the tall ones, and the Lang- 

 stroth hive, side by side, for several years. Last 

 winter I prepared eight of each kind for winter- 

 ing on their summer stands, somewhat similar 

 to the plan recommended by Mr. Langstroth. 

 In the latter part of the winter one colony in a 

 Langstroth hive was lost, not from any fault of 

 the hive, but from my carelessness. At the 

 opening of the spring, a thorough examination 

 was made of each hive, with the following com- 

 parison: First — loss of honey was about alike in 

 each kind ; some of each had nearly exhausted 

 their stores, while others of each kind had more 

 than enough, so that when equalized all had 

 plenty. Second— \o&^ of bees : In the Langstroth 

 hives this was light. In four of them a spoonful 

 of dead bees could not be found, The other three 

 had a few dead bees. In one of the Thomas' 

 hives no dead bees were found. In two others 

 not a great many, but more than in the worst of 

 the Langstroth hives. The other five had a great 

 many dead bees. The colonies were much reduced 

 — one to a mere handful, with frames and hive 

 badly soiled with their discharges, had to unite 

 it with another hive. The T. hive that had no 

 dead bees, was in a fence corner, nearly buried 

 in snow all winter. Third — mould on combs. 

 In all the Thomas' hives there was more or less 

 mould, except one. No mould in any of the 

 Langstroth hives. Fourth — quantity of brood. 

 Decidedly the most in the Langstroth hice% at the 

 time of the examination, and it increased faster, 

 and they swarmed earlier than the tall hices. My 

 first swarms came from the flat hives every sea- 

 son. It may be said that the colonies in the 

 flat hives, having lost only few bees in the win- 

 ter, were stronger and would generate heat and 

 naturally increase faster, and swarm earlier 

 from this cause. I grant it ; but one of the tall 

 hives lost no bees, and was very strong, and yet 

 did not breed as rapidly as the other. — I make 

 this statement without favor or partiality. I 

 expected a difterent result. I have no hives — 

 patented or unj^atented, no tei'ritoiy, or interest 

 in any patent, to sell. 



I have made a hive ou the plan of Mr. Gallup 

 and Mr. Truesdell ; which I believe possesses 

 many advantages, and is capable of being used 

 more ways, with the same size frame for all the 

 different styles, than any hive I have seen de- 

 scribed. The brood apartment is the plain box 

 of Mr. Gallup — eleven inches wide, fourteen 

 inches deep, eighteen inches long, or as much 

 longer as may be desired. The frames are hung 

 across the narrow way. I have given greater 

 depth and less width than my model, because 

 I wanted to winter out-doors, and because I 

 wanted to use the same frames in a non-swarmer, 

 with two tiers of boxes at sides. We can use 

 this hive — 1st. as a simple frame hive, with 

 large room on top for surplus boxes. — 2d. By 

 extending the length to any desired number of 



