210 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Distance of Combs from Centre to 

 Centre. 



IH the June JorrKNAL, S. K. Marsh "won- 

 ders how a bee-keeper could be so exact as 

 to adjust the combs to the exact 1-1 6th of 

 an inch every time they were talten out 

 and replaced, or put into another hive with- 

 out using a rule to measure every time." 

 It seems there are still a great many "bee- 

 men" who fail to get the full advantage of 

 the movable comb system, and Bro. Marsh 

 may be one of them. If he leaves the ad- 

 justment of his frames to guess woi-k he 

 certainly is. Not one "movable comb hive" 

 in ten that 1 have ever seen is really mov- 

 able in a practical sense. Most of them are 

 movable enough when new; but after they 

 are full of bees and the bees have been in 

 them a year or two they are more properly 

 pullable and prizable hives. To be a mov- 

 able comb hive worthy of the name, the 

 frames must be held both at top and bot- 

 tom, the proper distance apart— for there is 

 a proper distance notwithstanding that bees 

 will " adjust themselves to the circum- 

 stances" of an illy arranged household. 

 The frames must be so that they can be 

 lifted out at the top of the hives without 

 pressing or jarring or disturbing the bees 

 In the least— so arranged that they cannot 

 be glued fast. The combs must be so 

 straight that one will fit anywhere in any 

 hive in the apiary without crowding or 

 leaving too much space between them. If 

 bee-keepers would have their hives thus 

 perfect they would save themselves and 

 their bees much work and annoyance and 

 find the care of an apiary much more pleas- 

 ant than it generally is. It may be nothing 

 new, but let me tell Bro. Marsh how to 

 make such a hive. He may make the body 

 of his hive any size or shape he chooses— 

 can reconstruct the ones he has if he 

 wishes. The top bar of his frames must be 

 bevel edged on the under side the entire 

 length including projections. A piece of 

 board % inch square cut through from cor- 

 ner to corner makes two bars. The top end 

 of the perpendicular stiles must be cut V 

 shaped to receive the beveled bar, and said 

 bar is nailed to the stiles with two long, 

 slender finishing nails without much taper 

 to them. The nails should be driven in at 

 different angles to hold the better. The 

 bottom bar is %x% in. and is nailed on to 

 the lower end of the stiles with the same 

 kind of nails, one at either end. The lower 

 end of the stiles must be chamfered off 

 taperingly to the bottom bar so the frame 

 may slip gently down between wire staples 

 that are to hold the frames the right dis- 

 tances apart near the bottom. If they are 

 thus tapered off at the lower end and the 

 staples give just the proper amount of play, 

 3^ inch, there never will be any trouble in 

 "jogging" in letting the frames down. The 

 top bar, beveled edged on the under side, 

 must rest on hoop iron in saw-tooth notches 

 cut exactly 13^ inches apart. The frames 

 will then hang, as it were, stationary, made 

 so mostly by their own weight, just IJ^ 

 inches from centre to centre, and wlien that 

 distance apart the bees will always begin 

 their combs on that beveled edge. If the 

 frames are further apart than that or nearer 

 together they will not begin the combs 

 there every time. Now bear in mind there 



are no clap traps nor inconvenient and cum- 

 bersome triggery about all this, simply an 

 inch hoop iron with saw-tooth notches cut 

 1J< inches apart and a frame made bevel 

 edged all the entire length on the under 

 side; these staples say % of the way from 

 the top down giving >^ inch play, with 

 lower end of the frames' stiles trimmed off, 

 so as to enter without difficulty. Every bee- 

 man knows the necessity of having every 

 frame and comb so that it will fit every way 

 and everywhere in every hive, and in this 

 way this great convenience can be obtain- 

 ed. J. W. Greene. 

 Chillicothe, Mo. 



[We insist always that every frame shall 

 be movable and go in any place in any hive, 

 but we confess that we have not yet been 

 able to have all combs built exactly alike. 

 As they now are, we are obliged to vary 

 somewhat the distance of top bars.— Ed.] 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Some of My Experience. 



Bees are doing splendidly here this spring, 

 have several stocks that I estimate have 

 put up 80 lbs. of white, box honey to date; 

 have taken off some finished. My bees 

 were wintered and springed in packing 

 boxes on summer stand, and were strong 

 early; many of them commencing in boxes 

 on apple-tree bloom. Have had but 8 to at- 

 tempt swarming out of 35, thus far. Have 

 tried some of John Long's white founda- 

 tion, in the brood chamber. I judged it 

 was mostly parafline, and so was unfit for 

 box honey, and I find it was also useless 

 for the brood; as queens refuse to brood in 

 it, the bees draw out the cells quickly and 

 put honey into it after a while; but I have 

 tried 10 or 15 queens and found only one 

 that would lay m it at all, and I could not 

 get her to brood it more than half of what 

 she would the natural comb. I estimate 

 that the pound of foundation that I used 

 has done at least $10 damage to me. 



Have also tried the plaster cast founda- 

 tion, by filling small frames about 5x6 in. 

 full of the foundation. I put in three stocks 

 a box of ten small frames each, filled with 

 plaster cast foundation (Mr. Cheshire's 

 plan) ten days ago, and there isn't a particle 

 of honey in it yet; the bees have built and 

 filled combs on each side of these boxes, 

 since they were put on, starting on a piece 

 of drone comb '2J^ in. long and as wide as 

 your finger, although these boxes of founda- 

 tion occupied the position on the hive that 

 the bees generally work in most freely. 

 And now, as far as I have tried it, I con- 

 sider this whole artificial foundation comb 

 business an unmitigated humbug, and I 

 have tried it all that I care to. I would like 

 to have you put this conclusion in the Jour- 

 nal, over my signature. J. P. Moore. 



Biughampton, N. Y., June 28, 1876, 



[If we could have 80 pounds of honey 

 stored by June 28, on each of several 

 colonies, we don't believe we should care 

 much to fuss with foundation. Will Mr. 

 Moore kindly tell us what means, if any, he 

 uses to have* so little swarming in such 

 strong stocks?— Ed.] 



