150 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Jan., 



years, coinpeting at times against six and seven 

 other patterns. 



Mr. Cork also gives a statement of his success 

 and the amount of surjihis lioiiey taken this 

 season, as proof, I presume, that the hive he 

 uses is superior to the Tliomas hive. But in- 

 stances of better resuUs from tlie Thomas hive 

 have already appeared in tlie Journal. I refer 

 to the case of Mr. McLatchie, of New Edin- 

 burgh, Ontario, who commenced in the spring 

 with fifty-seven stocks in the Thomas hive, seven 

 of which were very weak. He increased to 

 ninety stocks, and took over 2,500 pounds of 

 surplus honey. Also, Mr. O. Fitz Wilkens, of 

 St. Catherine's, took from one stock in the 

 Thomas hive, 223 poiind surplus honey. We 

 hear other similar reports. Will Mr. Cork try 

 again? Mr. Cork says he makes the frames in 

 liis hive 8^ inches deep. I suppose the thought 

 has never been begotten in his brain that the 

 Thomas hive may be made shallow : that the 

 depth or luimber of frames had nothing to do 

 with the advantages claimed for the Thomas 

 hive ! Those who prefer shallow hives, con- 

 strue tliem shallow ; and there are many shal- 

 low Thomas hives in use. I prefer a deep hive, 

 and build accordingly. 



Mr. Cork closes his article by giving a de- 

 scription of a smoke pipe, and is surprised to 

 see that so many bee-keepers still use a pan of 

 chips, rotten wood, &c. He thinks his smoke 

 pipe, for convenience, cannot be surpassed. 

 Wonderful discovery, Mr. Cork ! K. P. Kidder, 

 of Vermont, used a pipe made on the same prin- 

 ciple, ten years ago. Mr. Quinby gives a de- 

 scription of a similar pipe in his work published 

 in 1864. I liave made and sold a pipe on the 

 same principle (not costing more than one-lialf 

 of what Mr. Cork's jiipe will cost) for the last 

 seven years. Yet 1 dare say they are not as 

 convenient as a pan of chii:)S or a piece of rot- 

 ten wood lighted at one end and held in the 

 hand when required. And if Mr. Cork, or any 

 other man, will visit my apiary the coming 

 spring, I will convince him of the fact in one 

 hour's operations among the bees. 



J. H. Thomas. 



Brooklin, Ontario. 



[For the American Boe Journal.] 



The Hive Question. 



Under the above ht^ad, Mr. Thaddeus Smith 

 gives us a lengthy article in the Bee Journal for 

 November, page 103. As he very particularly 

 refers to my hive, I may be allowed to make a 

 few remarks. He says, " the frames are so 

 Itirge that, in very hot weather, where the hive 

 is exposed to the sun and the combs are full of 

 honey, they break down and fall out of the 

 frames," 



I have used these hives for the last seven 

 years, and the stocks in my apiary have num- 

 bered from twenty-five to one hundred. I have 

 opened hives and removed frames under all cir- 

 cumstances, and almost daily for weeks, and 

 during all this time, I have not had half a dozen 

 combs in frames melt down or break down. Mr. 



S. admits that the "melting down of combs 

 might be prevented by shading the hives," but 

 adds, " the best hive in America ought not to re- 

 quire this." Such a statement shows want of 

 knowledge in the science. The frames in my 

 hive contain about 13^ by 14 inches comb ca- 

 pacity. Now, more than two-thirds of the ordi- 

 nary box hives throughout this country contain 

 larger combs ; yet the number of combs that 

 melt down are very few, and in most cases where 

 they do melt down, the hives are exposed to the 

 sun. 



Again, he says, "no hive should claim perfec- 

 tion without being easily provided with extra 

 frames for surplus honey to be used in the 

 honey extractor." I would inform Mr. Smith 

 that just as many frames can be added to my 

 hive as to any other, and just as easily. Some 

 construct my hive with nine frames and some 

 witli ten. Tlie number of frames has nothing to 

 do with the advantages claimed for my hive. As 

 for two-story hives, Mr. Smith speaks as if it 

 were a settled fact that frames in an upper story 

 were necessary to a good hive, and necessary for 

 the purpose of taking surplus honey with the ex- 

 tractor, and adds, "no hive should lay claims to 

 being the most perfect hive, withotit being 

 adapted to such an arrangement." Mr. Smith 

 has an undoubted right to enjoy his own 

 opinions ; but with long exijerience and careful 

 observation, I have finally rejected two-story 

 hives, for any purpose whatever. Others may 

 Jike them ; I do not. This season 143 lbs. of 

 honey were taken from a stock in one of my hives 

 with the honey extractor, and the hive contained 

 only eight frames. The same stock stoi-ed eighty 

 jjounds in surplus boxes. When Mr. Smith will 

 beat that with his two-story hive, we will add 

 two more frames to the body of our hive, and try 

 him again, certain of success. 



Relative to the experiment in wintering, I do 

 not think it at all satisfactory. If it be a fact 

 that bees will winter outdoors in a shallow hive, 

 better than in a tall one, it is time that bee-keep- 

 ers knew it. Before making many remarks 

 relative to the experiment, 1 would ask Mr. 

 Smith how the hives were ventilated. Were 

 both the tall hives and the shallow ones ventila- 

 ted exactly alike? If not, state the difference. 

 One stock was lost in the shallow hive — careless- 

 ness on the part of Mr. S. There was a large 

 number of dead bees in some of the tall hives, 

 was this carelessness too ? Or was it a fact that 

 they contained far more old bees than the other 

 hives? Why should tall hives uKiuld mm-e than 

 shallow ones ? How is it that Mr. Smith says, 

 " I have no hives patented or unpatented," while 

 the next paragraph commences with, "I have 

 made a hive on the plan of Mr. Gallup and Mr. 

 Truesdell, which I believe possesses more advau- 

 tnges, and is capable of being used more ways 

 than any hive I have seen described ?" A very 

 modest way of saying the best hive made. How 

 is it that Mr. S. has made his hive a tall hive — 

 frames 14 inches deep — if tall hives do not win- 

 ter as well, do not increase in brood as fast ; and 

 do not swarm as early as shallow ones ? How 

 is it that he says, "I have given greater depth, 

 &c., because I wanted to winter out of doors," 



