THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



13 



For the American Bee Journal. 

 improvements. 



Frames. — Much has been said about 

 frames ; they should be made of % lum- 

 ber, top and end bars about % an inch 

 thick, bottom }^ thick. 



Guides. — Beeswax guides properly put 

 on are the best, (except comb guides.) 

 "Novice" will say, don't use such clum- 

 sy things; but the tact is the "metal 

 corners" are nice, but in practice they 

 are not so nice. " Novice " harps much 

 about killing bees, and cutting them in two, 

 with ccmimon frames, and frames sinking 

 into our metal support. I would say to 

 the inexperienced that there is but little 

 danger of cutting bees in two. Of course 

 an occasional bee will be killed, but you 

 kill more bees at the end of your frames, 

 in the hive. I use a strip of tin \\^ 

 inches wides, with one edge folded over to 

 present a straight, smootli edge, so that 

 the frames are as easily handled as those 

 with " metal corners," besides the advant- 

 age that we can shake the bees off with 

 some degree of satisfaction ; while with 

 the "corners" you must brush off, per- 

 haps one-fourth of the bees. If " Novice" 

 can shake off very nearly all the bees 

 from his combs, "just as easy as can be " 

 (" Gleanings'' page 142), then his bees are 

 different from mine. 



Quilts. — Some use quilts; others think 

 they are too bothersome and expensive. I 

 find that it don't pay to use either, alone. 

 I have used a quilt with a board on it, the 

 past season, and like it a great deal better 

 than either, alone. So you see my quilts 

 are easily made to fit. My bees do not 

 build an inch of comb under the quilt as 

 they used to do. In October I took off 

 the boards, opened the hives, took out all 

 unsealed stores and cut winter passages 

 through all the combs, took out two 

 combs, leaving eight spread with about 

 25 lbs of honey. 



I think quite favorably of the house 

 apiary, but you don't find me making any 

 more complicated fixtures, such as di- 

 vision boards between hives, room for 

 one or two hundred pounds comb-honey, 

 etc. I think our hives should be made 

 especially adapted to the use of the ex- 

 tractor, and then if I can engage comb- 

 honey at 25 cents gross, I may run a part 

 of my force to comb-honey. All the ex- 

 perience I have had with tlie apiary 

 house, was in carrying my bees into my 

 bee-house, this fall, to take out the un- 

 sealed honey, and see that they had not 

 less than 20, nor more than 30 fcs of 

 sealed stores. Sometimes I find that they 

 are rather bothersome, crawling over the 

 edge of the hive. To obviate that trouble 

 I shall make my in-door hives with rab- 

 bets three inches deep. I shall use 20 

 combs 13^x11 inches. 



I find there is but little danger of sting- 



ing in thf house. I was stung but twice 

 in handling 70 stocks, and then they flew 

 into my face when I raised the quilt be- 

 fore they knew they were in prison. The 

 house must be kept light or there is dan- 

 ger. I never found it necessary to extract 

 after night. I thought I would try it, but 

 soon got enough of it. There are a great 

 many drones in most of my hives now, but 

 thej^ will soon be nearly all killed. 



On page 140 of Gleanings, " Novice " 

 says there are about 10 sheets of comb 

 foundations 6x16, in a pound. I bought 

 one pound, 8 sheets 6xi;>. I think they 

 are just what we want, provided they are 

 not too costly. If Mr. Long could make 

 the foundations 10 inches wide and sell 

 them for 75 cents, or less, by taking say 

 f50 worth or more, it would be a good in- 

 vestment. 



I had 50 stocks one year ago in rather 

 poor shape, as many of them had more or 

 less unsealed stores. 1 lost in March and 

 April, 25, 80 I had but 25 weak stocks left. 

 I increased to 70 — 50 good stocks and 20 

 rather weak. The weather was so very 

 unfavorable in September tiiat I could not 

 build them up as strong as I expected to. 

 I did not extract any till July 25, and since 

 that I did not get a very good yield of 

 honey, yet I averaged 150 lbs extracted 

 honey, and have 300 extra combs built. If 

 I should have 50 strong stocks next April 

 and a little better season, I think I could 

 average 300 fts. 



"Novice" does not tell us why honey 

 flies over the top of the can. In revolv- 

 ing the comb frame the air flies upward 

 in a circle, and if the honey is thick, as it 

 sliould be, at a temperature of 75 or 80 <=• , 

 the honey will be thrown upward in fine 

 particles, or threads, by the rising current 

 of air. R. S. Bkcktell. 



New Buffalo, Mich., Nov. 8, 1875. 



For the American Bee Journal. 

 Housing Bees. 



In our northern climate, the protection 

 of bees, through the winter, by some 

 means or other, is a matter of the greatest 

 importance. Bees, like any other stock, 

 if well wintered, are ready in spring for 

 a good summer's labor, and if poorly 

 wintered will take the best part of the 

 season to gain suflacient strength to even 

 sustain themselves. The United States 

 comprise such a variety of climates, that 

 the same means would not answer in all 

 sections. Having wintered my bees, the 

 last two winters, in what Mr. Langstroth 

 terms a clamp, I feel confident that it is 

 the safest and best plan to winter them 

 here in the far north, at least, where 

 the soil remains frozen from November 

 until April. I placed 40 stocks in a 

 clamp the last winter, (which was a se- 

 vere one for bees) and they remained in 



