106 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Nov., 



bees. Perhaps we shall get along without seri- 

 ous difficulty this fall, and wo won't borrow 

 trouble. I will tell the story in the A. B. J., 

 and it may be that some one of our good broth- 

 er bee-keepers will be kind enough to tell us 

 how we may keep our bees at home, or at least 

 prevent them from preying upon our friends at 

 the village. We will not, ju-t now, think of 

 tlie desjDerate alternative of giving up bee- 

 keejDing. It has in itself given us so much 

 genuine pleasure, and despite mistakes and 

 blunders, it promises to prove so satisfactory 

 an investment!" 



" Provided," said Nellie, " that our bees sur- 

 vive the coming winter." 



Cynla Linswik. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Eeport of the Jurors on the Exhibition of Arti- 

 cles in Class 20. 



Bee Hives with Becs^ Honey Rxiraetors and Apiaries at 

 the Fourth Annual Exposition at Cincinnati, O., 18^3. 



To THE Board of Commissioners — Gevtle- 

 men: We having been appointed jurors in 

 Class 20, have examined the different articles 

 entered for competition in that class, and now 

 report as below : 



No. 342. Bee Hive and Bees entered by G. 

 W. Townley, of Mt. Auburn. 



This is what is generally called a box hive. 

 It is about 14 inches square and 12 inches 

 high, with glass sides, so that the outside 

 combs can be seen when desired. It has an 

 addition above for honey boxes, in which what 

 is called box hmiey is placed by the boes, and 

 which constitutes the surplus taken off during 

 the honey harvest. This particular hive has 

 the combs arranged in a peculiar manner. Or- 

 dinarily the combs being parallel, the observer 

 can see the edge of the combs at the back of 

 tlie hive, and the sides of combs at the sides 

 of hives, but in this one, edges are shown all 

 around. This is an oddity produced hy intel- 

 liucnt management, but of no benefit, econom- 

 ically or ])ecuniarily It is a curiosity only. 

 The l)ees are fair Italians. As it could not be 

 opei ed, we did not see the queen. 



No. 1261. Bee Hive and Bees. Chas. F. 

 Muth. 



This is a frame hive of the particular shape 

 an<l size known as the Langstroth. It contains 

 ten frames, each one about 9x18 inches outside 

 measure, in which, by careful management, 

 aided by the peculiarities of the frames, the 

 bees arc induced to build the combs within the 

 fj-ames. When thf combs are once built prop- 

 erly within the frames, all care on tliat part of 

 the .subject is enled. By the use of the frames 

 the bee-keeper is enabled to thoroughly in- 

 spect all the inner workings of the swarm at 

 any time, which renders the bu.^iiness of the 

 beekeeper a certainty, and a subject of exact 

 calculation. A bee-keeper can now be rarely 



found who continues the use of the box-hive 

 beyond the time of absolute necessity. All 

 changes are made to frame hives. The bees in 

 this hive are claimed to be Egyptians, and to 

 be superior to the Italians in several points. 

 Mr. Muth, the exhibitor, being on hand, open- 

 ed the hive and showed us all its internal ar- 

 rangement, and the queen also. The queen is 

 dark, well sliaped, and from the number of 

 eggs and brood in capped cells, appeared to be 

 very prolific. The bees differ from Italians in 

 appearance. They have the three yellow 

 bands, but the bands on the hinder part of 

 the abdomen are bluish white, and give them 

 quite a different look fromltalians. They were 

 very quiet and easily handled. 



No. 314. Two Honey Extractors. J. W. 

 Winder. 



These are two varieties of the same machine. 

 It is an apparatus brought into existence by 

 tlie use of frame hives. Many bee-keepers 

 have adopted it because by its use they can 

 furnish honey free from comb, and also return 

 the comb to the hive for the bees to refill, thus 

 securing a much larger yield. By the use of 

 the frame hive the bee-keeper can easily exam- 

 ine and ascertain the amount of honey ready 

 for extraction. When the proper time has ar- 

 rived, he opens his hives one after another, se- 

 lecting those combs which are properly filled, 

 replacing them with combs from which the 

 honey has been extracted at a former time. 

 After shaving off the caps, he places two in 

 the machine, selecting those which balance 

 best. A few turns of the handle, say ten to 

 twenty, at a moderate speed, will expel every 

 drop of honey from the outside cells. The 

 combs are then reversed and the other side 

 emptied. These machines are a very important 

 addition to the tools of the beekeeper. 



No. 1259. Apiary. J. S. Hill & Sons, Mt. 

 Pleasant, Hamilton Co., Ohio. P. O. Mt. 

 Healthy. 



As this could not be brought into the Expo- 

 sition building, a visit to it was necessary, 

 which was accordingly made. Messrs. Hills' 

 apiary is at the farm, about one mile beyond 

 Mt. Pleasant. He has eighty-six swarms at the 

 present time, all Italians, scattered around over 

 a level lawn, averaging about eight feet apart, 

 all beinjj frame hives, and all or nearly all of 

 the Langstroth pattern. They began the sea- 

 son with seventy-nine swarms and consequently 

 have only made seven new swarms. They have 

 about as many as they care al)out attending to, 

 and therefore have not endeavored to increase 

 their number, but have directed their efforts 

 to the production of both extracted and box 

 honey. They have used the extractor on twen- 

 ty-one hives, obtaining therefrom three thou- 

 sand five hundred and seventy-seven pounds 

 (3,577), or an average of one hundred and sev- 

 enty and one-third (170 1-3) pounds per swarm. 

 They have set apart sixty-five (65) hives to 



