86 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



A paper on "Hives" was read by R. 

 Bacon, Esq., of Verona, as follows. We 

 quote the concludijg portion : 



I do not propose to discuss the merits of this or 

 that hive, such a course would only result in a 

 buzz about my ears, without, as I think, leading 

 to any good results. It is with hives very much 

 as with mowing machines, the farmer often view- 

 ing and reviewing the different machines is puz- 

 zled to determine which is the best, yet, no doubt, 

 some are preferable to others. So it is with hives, 

 We see in market tall hive.s, short hives, narrow 

 hives, wide hives, two story hives, one story hives, 

 bar hives and box hives, and many other hives, 

 and men ready to show you the good qualities of 

 one hive over the other, and, when you have gone 

 the rounds, if you have hud no practical experi- 

 ence in bee culture or have no judgment of your 

 own, you may be led to believe the poorest hive 

 the best. I would advise the beginner in bee- 

 keeping to use discretion in this mattf^r and take 

 the middle ground. He should choose hives con- 

 taining frames of convenient size, and safe to 

 handle, for general use. They should not be com- 

 plicated or costly ; they should be capable of con- 

 struction by any man who is handy with tools. 

 The bee-keeper who does not depend on his bees 

 for support may lay out money for costly and fan- 

 ciful hives ; but the majority of bee-keepers want 

 a cheap, practical hive. I have had rough, cheap 

 hives, and elegant, costly hives, and I have found 

 in every case, all thinge being equal, bees have 

 done full as well in my rough hives as in the more 

 costly ones. The wants of bees are few, and they 

 are not partial to fancy hives, and all variations 

 from their wants are to benefit or gratify the taste 

 of man. Give the bees a proper-shaped hive, 

 and sufficient amount of room in the hive, and 

 good care, and they will give ample returns. Now, 

 there has been much said and written on what 

 constitutes a proper size and shaped hive. Home 

 contend a hive should be large. Others say twelve 

 inches square is the proper dimensions for a stan- 

 dard hive. Now, my experience with large hives 

 has been anything but salisfactory; tliev neither 

 gave new swarms uor a large amount of surplus 

 honey. Of course I speak of working these hives 

 for box honey. I think an extractor would show 

 better results, but my experience in the other ex- 

 treme of hive has been no better. A hive twelve 

 inches square is too small for bees in any place. 

 The swarms from such hives will be small and 

 generally inferior compared with swarms from 

 larger hives. There is but little room for surplus 

 bees, and therefore not a very large amount of 

 honey can be expected, and with the best of care 

 in two or three years, the bees will be gone. Be- 

 tween these two extremes, I believe is found the 

 correct medium. A hi e sixteen inches long, 

 twelve inches wide and twelve inches deep, and 

 frames to lit, and have it so constructed that side 

 boxes or extractor can be used, if the season re- 

 quires it, conies nearer to what 1 think is the hive 

 for general use. The frames are of convenient 

 size, and safe to handle for either extracting or 

 other uses. The size of the hive is simple for'the 

 wants ol the bees, either in summer or winter, and 

 I think we will hear of less mortality among the 

 bees wintered in this hive than in our shallow 

 ones, and I think for surplus honey will be satis- 

 factory. Of course 1 am speaking of raising bees 

 in the North. If we were in the Southern .States, 

 no doubt a diflerent hive would be required. I 

 believe it is often the case that localities cause 

 very much contention about the style of hive and 

 the management of bees, and were we to consider 

 from each other's standpoint, and rea-ion accor- 

 ■dingly. it would save us many jangles in bee 

 culture. 



Mr. Alexander asked whether a frame 

 13 inches deep and 10 inches long, would 

 sustain the comb. 



Mr. Bacon— My frames fit a 16 inch 

 liive and are not more than 14 inches long 

 and less than a foot deep. These held 



the comb perfectly and had no difficulty in 

 breaking down. I have two reasons for 

 this size. You will get more surplus hon- 

 6}^ from this depth of hive and the bees 

 winter in them better. 



Mr. Hetherington — Combs can be held 

 in the long frames by putting the thorns 

 of the red haw through the frame and 

 into the comb. 



Mr. Seely — Do not the bees try to eat 

 out the thorns, 



Mr, Hetherington — Yes, but only a 

 trifle. A soft wood pin they will eat at, 

 but one of tliese thorns with a glossy sur- 

 face they will trouble very little. The 

 thorns should be put in when the bees are 

 gathering honey in abundance. 



Mr. Betsiuger — Thorns are good in 

 large frames, but in small frames they are 

 a nuisance. A frame ought to be the 

 size of the brood chamber. This is rare- 

 ly over nine inches in width. In the large 

 frames the best honey is placed around 

 the brood chamber and this honey is lost 

 to the bee-keepers. I believe that for box 

 honey the frame should be only the size 

 of the brood chamber. For extracting, 

 a larger frame could be used to an advan- 

 tage. 



Mr. Alexander — The insertion of the 

 thorns requires time and trouble. What 

 I wish to gain is a frame which will hold 

 the comb without them. Mr. Bacon says 

 his size will do this. Mrs. Tupper recom- 

 mends twelve inches square. If it can be 

 lengthened to 14 or 15 inches it will be a 

 great advantage. It seems to me that a 

 shallow hive like Mr. Betsiuger's is incon- 

 venient and not good for wintering. 



A. L. Fish — Has there ever been a bead 

 placed on the inner side of the frame to 

 hold the comb steady. Would this be 

 practical ? 



Mr. Root said experiments had been 

 made in that direction, but they had not 

 beecn found practical. 



Mr. Nellis wished to know how many 

 frames could be spread laterally to the 

 best advantage in extracting. 



L. C. Root — I would not have more 

 than twenty-four frames in any hive. The 

 queen is apt to move to one side, and the 

 bees on the other side thinking they have 

 no queen will proceed to rear one. I be- 

 lieve that the two-story arrangement, get- 

 ting the frames into as near a spherical 

 position as possible, is natural and best. 

 If I have twenty-four frames I would 

 have twelve above and twelve below. 



A. L. Fish — A queen will work in the 

 warmest part of the hire. I find that in a 

 sixteeuframe hive, when a new swarm is 

 put in, it is a good plan to put in a center 

 board, confining the swarm at first to 

 eight frames. If they afterward require 



