100 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Nov., 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



The Adair New Idea Section Bee Hive vs. Old 

 Pogyism and Empiricism. 



Although Mr. Adair does not seem to relish 

 criticism in regard to his hive, it strikes me 

 that it does not deserve much praise. But let 

 us discuss its merits. 



First, what is the Section Bee Hive ? It is a 

 box containing a hive formed by close fitting 

 frames or sections. It is the " Huber Leaf 

 Hive" with this difference, that the frames or 

 sections project one over another at the top and 

 bottom. These hives look well when empty 

 and new, but let us consider their management 

 when occupied by bees. 



To open the hive and visit it, you must re- 

 move the box from the hive by sliding it out on 

 a board ; then you must remove the wires that 

 hold the sections together. If it is a newly 

 hived colony, you must be very careful, for as 

 soon as the wires are removed, the sections 

 come apart and fall on each side, breaking the 

 glasses of the ends. If, however, there is 

 enough of propolis the sections will remain to- 

 gether until you pry them off with a chisel. 

 Take off the first section, there, — place it 

 against this tree — take off the next — here comes 

 a lot of young bees falling on the ground — let 

 some one hold that section — take off the third. 

 If you are looking for the queen, you may have 

 to take them all of — but what are you going to 

 do with your sections ? You cannot set them in 

 any place, for there are bees under and around 

 them. You cannot hang them in any place, for 

 they have no projecting ends. Now let us 

 close it. Bring me a section — brush the bees 

 from under it, brush them from the sides, at 

 the top — now at the bottom, bring them togeth- 

 er — look out, you are crushing bees on this side 

 — hadn't you better brush them all out ! Now 

 fasten them together with the wire — look out, 

 there is a section out of place — push it back — 

 there, now we are ready to put the hive back 

 in the box. Lo! what a quantity of bees in 

 that box ! — they are running all over it — brush 

 them out — now push the hive in. AVell, if we 

 did not crush more than a pint of bees we are 

 quite lucky. 



O ! beekeepers, disciples of Laugstroth ; you 

 who use the Langstroth pattern, the Quin- 

 by hive, the Thomas hive, the American hive, 

 the Triumph hive, you old fogies, you empirics, 

 such is the Adair Section Bee Hive. Compare 

 it with yours. 



If anybody has used the section hive and 

 finds it of easy management, let him come for- 

 ward and explain to us the proper way of hand- 

 ling it. 



But here comes an improvement, the " New 

 Idea." What is that ? If I understand it right, 

 the " New Idea" is a hive containing four thous- 

 and cubic inches or more in the brood chamber, 



with an entrance in the side instead of in the 

 front. Is that all ? 



Mr. Adair, I beg your pardon, but if that be 

 the New Idea, then " old fogies" have new 

 ideas also, for Messrs. W. H. Githens, John 

 Wheeler and Ch. Dadant, in Hamilton, and J. 

 D. Kruschke, in Berlin, Wis., have been trying 

 and using hives containing four thousand cubic 

 inches for the last six years, and they have all 

 come to the conclusion that they were too large. 



What advantages do you claim for your 

 " New Idea Section " ? That it is the only non- 

 swarming hive ever constructed ! But does 

 not Gallup acknowledge that out of twenty- 

 two non-swarming hives that he had, three cast 

 swarms this season. Does it prevent drone 

 raising ? How ? Does it produce more bees 

 than ours ? Not more than a hive of 2,000 

 cubic inches, for no queen can occupy more 

 than 80,000 to 85,000 inches of brood at one 

 time. It is very well to speak about prolific 

 queens, but we must bear in mind that a queen 

 that will lay 4,000 eggs in one day, is doing an 

 extraordinary business. The best queens that 

 I ever saw occupied about 3,500 cells in one 

 day. Such queens are scarce, however. 



I think that Mr. Adair claims that his hive 

 will bring more honey, because bees will work 

 easier in the sides of the hive than in the top. 

 I do not know what Mr. A.'s experience is in 

 side boxes ; but I can say that in my father's 

 apiary, out of sixty hives containing both side 

 and top boxes, not separated from the brood 

 chamber by any partitions, not one colony was 

 found that worked in the side boxes half as 

 well as in the top boxes. 



Mr. A. also says that the " Extractor has been 

 overrated," that " If beekeeping is to be made 

 a success, it will not be accomplished by the 

 use of the Honey Emptying Machine." Mr. 

 A. is prompt in changing his mind, for in the 

 previous year he said, sjDeaking of the same ma- 

 chine : " This is one of the most important ap- 

 icultural inventions made in a number of years. 

 It enables the beekeeper to realize more than 

 double the quantity of honey he did without 

 it. Every beekeeper should have it. If he has 

 only two or three stocks, the surplus honey ob- 

 tained by its use, &c . . . . will pay for the appa- 

 ratus in a single season." (Outlines of Bee Cul- 

 ture.) 



Now, sir, what is it that you offer to sell for 

 the loWj^sum of .$10? Is it the improvement of 

 the old Huber hive under the name of Section 

 hive? Is it the New Idea (?) of making a hive 

 containing 4,000 cubic inches, or more ? Or is 

 it the side entrance, or is it a combination of 

 these three ? 



We old fogies and empirics are very much in 

 the dark about all these things, and would like 

 a little more light on the subject from your in- 

 ventive experience. 



C. P. Dadant. 



Hamilton, III, Oct. 8, 1873. 



