276 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[June, 



with the lioney extractor. Got only about 

 thirty pounds oi" box honey and ten pounds of 

 extracted honej^ and some unfinished combs. 

 As this does not "come up to the mark," I have 

 determined to curtail its name and dispense 

 with the "superfluous honey-producing" pai't, 

 ^hich I was led to give it J'rom the fabulous re- 

 ports of Mr. Hazen and others, as to what these 

 side- gatherers would do. But, seriously, I hardly 

 think it has had a fair chance, and I must defer 

 judgment until further trial. 



A TWO-STOKY LANGSTROTH HIVE, 



allowed to swarm once, together with its swarm 

 in the same kind of liive, gave me the largest yield 

 of honey, and more surplus honey in frames, in 

 new comb of this season's make, than any four 

 other hives with their increase, with only sur- 

 plus boxes on top. I also took some honey from 

 them with the extractor, late in the season. My 

 memorandum of weights I regret was lost. 



WINTER PREPARATIONS ON SDMMER STANDS. 



My hives are all wintering on their summer 

 stands, cloths spread over the frames, or over 

 honey boards with holes open, and the caps 

 filled with dry leaves. In some cases old bags 

 filled with leaves or feathers are jjressed down 

 in the caps over the covered chamber on the 

 frames. I have not seen leaves recommended 

 for this purpose, but should think they would 

 answer very well, as they are a good absorbent 

 and warm. The caps have a lid or cover fitting 

 like that of a bandbox, which makes them very 

 easy to fill. The double-cased hives have the 

 space filled with dry grass or leaves. With the 

 lioney boxes removed, and the space they occu- 

 pied filled in, my quinqueplexal, duplex hive 

 makes a fine wintering apartment ; so, I have 

 no doubt, does Mr. Alley's new hive. But when 

 Mr. Alley made that comparison of his new hive 

 with the fifty old Langstroth hives, and found 

 tiie brood more advanced in his than in any of 

 the others, I would ask him if those old hives 

 had the same protection as his new ones"? My 

 two-story "low flat hives" have an outer case 

 similar to his, with a space of four or five inches 

 between all round. For wintering, remove the 

 frames from the upper story, lay some inch 

 strips across the frames below, sju'ead a cloth 

 over, and fill the upper story with dry leaves ; 

 also fill the space between the hive and outer 

 case. These are now in proper condition to 

 compare results with his new hive. 



These winter coverings may be used to great 

 advantage, to retain the heat in the spring and 

 promote early breeding. When the spring ex- 

 amination is made, the honey-boards Avith holes 

 all closed are fitted tightly in their places ; the 

 cloths spread on top the honey-board, and the 

 cap filled with leaves, tlie same as it was in win- 

 ter. This prevents the heat from escaping, and 

 keeps the top of the hive warm, which may be 

 readily perceived by jjutting your hand under 

 the covering on top of the honey-board. 



STRAIGHT COMBS. 



I find a two-story hive convenient to get 

 straight all worker comb, in this way : after the 

 first swarm has issued, all queen cells but one 



are removed to prevent a second swarm. While 

 the young queen is maturing, the most of the 

 combs will be filled with honey, so that when 

 she commences to lay there will be but little 

 room for her to deposit eggs. Now. remove two 

 or three frames of honey ;o the upper story, and 

 supply their place with empty ones, putting 

 them near the centi-e, between combs already 

 containing some larvai. These frames will be 

 filled rapidly with all worker straight combs, 

 and filled with eggs as fast as made. The full 

 frames i^laced above, will induce the bees to 

 commence comb-building there. Combs made 

 in the narrow frames of my combination hive 

 were uniformly straight. 



I am greatly indebted to the Journal for the 

 receipt for making cement of lime and curd 

 from sour milk, for fastening guide combs to •. 

 frames and in surplus boxes. I never could \ 

 have any success with wax or resin that had to 

 be applied hot ; but with this cement, combs cut 

 into strips only two or three cells deep, may be 

 very rapidly and secui-ely applied to frames, and 

 are preferable to any comb-guides I ever used, 

 even when only every alternate frame is fur- 

 nished with them. Small pieces of comb, only 

 one or two inches long, can be used, and made 

 to answer as good pur^jose as any otlier. 



Thaddeus Smith. 



Pellee Island, Jan., 1871. 



[For tlie American Bee JDurnal.] 



John's "Pacts and Fancies" might be Improved. 



Page 232, Bee Journal, he says, "six years 

 ago I got Langstruth's book, and studied it 

 until I had it by heart." "Afterwards I got 

 Quinby's." "It was midnight dai'kness about 

 movable comb hives, and the modern improve- 

 ments in bee-keeping." Of course, this means 

 that I was then using box hives. Six years ago 

 would have been about lh6o. Quinby's book, 

 published in 1859, contained an appendix with 

 cuts describing fully a modified form of Lang- 

 stroth's hive; and had then (1805) been before 

 the public six years. A little obscurity here, if 

 not midnight darkness. He says further: "It 

 demonstrated this, that there never was a hive 

 to equal the common box of the Quinby pat- 

 tern." The first edition of the book in question, 

 was published in 1858. recommending the com- 

 mon box hive as superior to any other in use at 

 that time. In 1856, after reading Langstrotli's 

 book, and getting a favorable idea from him 

 personally of the movable frames, I adopted 

 ihem. A little experience convinced me of their 

 utility, and I have used them since. Langstroth 

 himself mentions my use of them in a note on 

 page 3ol of his work, (revised edition of 1859,) 

 a fact which should not have escaped "John," 

 with his intimate knowledge of that book. The 

 appendix, indeed, to my book in 1859, has gone 

 into the hands of thousands, and although it 

 was not the first step taken, it was an additional 

 oi.e ; and did, I trust, induce some to adopt them. 



Has ".John" done bee-keepers a service by 

 thus misrepresenting facts ? I would suggest 



