division-boards a little, and spread the 

 frames so as to admit an empty comb in 

 the center of the brood-nest ; this the 

 queen will at once occupy with eggs. 

 This should be repeated every few days 

 until it is necessary to remove the 

 division boards entirely. 



This arrangement keeps the bees in 

 a condition to be able to reach their 

 honey without chilling in winter and 

 promotes early spring breeding, so that 

 they will be strong when the first bloom 

 appears. 



I prepared 48 colonies in this way in 

 the fall of 1878, and they gave me 220 

 gallons of surplus honey in 4 weeks. 

 Some of my neighbors had 240 colonies 

 wintered unprotected, and they only 

 obtained 130 gallons. 



I prevent swarms from going to the 

 woods in this manner: If they settle 

 before leaving, it will be difficult to 

 hive them, though it can be done. If 

 they still intend to leave, they will 

 crawl out in front of the entrance, and 

 hold their wings so close to their bodies, 

 that they will become shiny. This I 

 have found to be a sure indication, and 

 so I watch them, and just as soon as 

 they commence to leave, I close the 

 entrance until the queen and what bees 

 are out leave for the woods. When 

 they are out of sight I open the 

 entrance, and if the others come out, 

 they either settle or go back to the hive. 

 If the former, I hive them giving them a 

 queen , an d some brood from other hives. 

 This I have often done with success. 



Poplar Bluff, Mo., Dec. 27, 1879. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Hives made of Wood and Plaster. 



ALEXANDER K. FINDLAY. 



I desire to bring before the readers of 

 the American Bee Journal two in- 

 ventions of Mr. Patterson, of Struan. 

 I am so satisfied as to the superior in- 

 genuity of our American friends that I 

 do this in the assurance that they will 

 improve on them. They go so far as to 

 solve two very difficult practical prob- 

 lems in bee-keeping. 



The following descriptions were pub- 

 lished in the Journal of Horticulture : 



Mr. Patterson, well-known in Perth- 

 shire as a skillful apiarist, has for 

 several years spent most of his spare 

 time in devising means for overcoming 

 some of the practical difficulties con- 

 nected with bee-keeping. Of late his 

 attention has been especially directed to 

 two points — 1st, The material of which 

 his inner shell of the hive should be 

 constructed ; and 2nd. The best form of 



frame, keeping especially in view the 

 increase of his stock, and this with a 

 view to the subsequent increase at the 

 proper season of available super honey. 



1. As to the first, Mr. Patterson found 

 that neither of the old materials in gen- 

 eral use — viz., straw and wood under 

 any arrangement could be managed so 

 as to exclude damp, and mould in conse- 

 quence, especially in long-protracted 

 and wet winters. This the experience 

 of nearly every bee-master amply con- 

 firms, it then occurred to him that, if 

 any moisture-absorbing material could 

 be employed instead, the end would be 

 secured. His attention was called to 

 plaster of Paris, and after a series of 

 experiments, &c, by means of tin 

 moulds, made an oblong hive entirely of 

 this material, formed round it a pro- 

 tecting wall of brick, placed in position 

 the ordinary bar-frames, and then in- 

 troduced his colony of bees. The 

 covering was temporarily made of a 

 miscellaneous collection of old cloths 

 and flannels, protected overhead by a 

 waterproof tarpaulin. The bees took 

 to their new abode at once, and their 

 progress was such as to excite the ad- 

 miration of all who were taken to in- 

 spect them. The honey harvest came, 

 and it far exceeded that of any other 

 hive in his apiary. But winter drew on, 

 and day by day, the result of each visit 

 was increasingly satisfactory. He 

 found that the plaster of Paris walls 

 which in summer were not only per- 

 fectly dry but also comparatively cool, 

 were in winter comparatively warm and 

 as dry as a bone. When spring arrived, 

 he found the whole colony in excellent 

 condition, and not a single inch of 

 mouldy comb to be found. On examin- 

 ing the other hives he found them as 

 before ; damp and mould more or less 

 prevailed. Another season passed over 

 with even better results. Winter came 

 again, and personal inspection includ- 

 ing thermometrical observation, was 

 kept up, and he found no occasion to 

 alter his original opinion. The hives 

 had been put to even more serious tests 

 than he had designed, in the upland 

 region where he resides. On two 

 several occasions a terrific storm swept 

 across the district, and during the night 

 his temporary overhead protection was 

 swept away, and to his dismay he found 

 his little favorites next morning in a 

 most pitiable condition— drenched with 

 rain and paralysed with cold. They 

 were soon put to rights as far as possi- 

 ble. The worst was feared; but what 

 was Mr. Patterson's delight to find that 

 in the course of two days, such was the 

 moisture-absorbing powers of the 

 plaster, that no trace of the mishap 



