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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL -AND GAZETTE. 



For the American Boe Journal. 



Editor Bee Journal : As I believe it to be the 

 duty of every person to contribute something to 

 the common stock of knowledge, I will endeavor 

 to do so by writing once in a while an article 

 for your paper. To commence, I will give a 

 description of the hive I use in preference to 

 others — (I have no patent to sell.) It is 12 

 inches wide, 12 inches deep, and 18 inches long, 

 inside measure, with cap for chamber on top, 

 seven inches high, and same size of main hive. 

 The top of the main hive is beveled, so that any 

 wet will not run into the the hive. The cap is 

 bevelled to tit. The honey-board consists of 

 three pieces of half an inch stuff, six inches by 

 twelve, with slats or holes in the centre, for the 

 bees to pass into the boxes; with two bits of 

 double tin or sheet-iron in each end of each 

 piece, cut the same as to tin in window-glass, 

 only larger. Then the honey-boards project 

 one-half into the hive, and one-half into the 

 cap, and rest on the tins. The cap is held in 

 its place oy hooks and staples, or wooden pins 

 or dowels in the top of the hive, and holes to 

 correspond in the cap. Three half-inch holes 

 in front for bees to enter, three inches below the 

 top of main hive. The bottom-board is 16 or 

 18 inches wide, and 24 inches long, with a chan- 

 nel cut slanting from the front side three inches 

 wide, for the bees to enter. This channel is in 

 the bottom-board, instead of in the bottom of 

 the hive. You can move the liive back, and 

 it closes the entrance, or move it forward, and 

 it enlargens it. 



I use thirteen frames, 11 inches wide and 10 

 inches deep, inside measure. Thus, you see, 

 the frames go the other waj' from Langstroth's 

 and others. The object of this is — first, by 

 hanging in a division-board in place of a frame, 

 you can contract the size of the hive to suit the 

 size of the swarm, and enlarge it as the swarm 

 increases. Second, you can coinmence a swarm 

 Avith one frame containing brood, larvae, honej^, 

 and eggs, and in ten days insert another frame 

 contaming brood, &c., to keep the bees from 

 leaving wiien the queen takes her flight. At 

 the time of inserting the first frame, you must 

 put in from three pints to one quart of young 

 bees; and, if you can give them a young fertile 

 queen, or a sealed queen-cell, all the better, as 

 there is much time gained. 



Now, you have a swarm of bees commenced 

 as soon as you have a fertile queen, in a very 

 few days, if the weather is all right, and 

 they are gathering honey, move along your 

 division-board far enough to have another 

 empty frame inserted between the two full 

 ones. In from four to six days you can in- 

 sert two more empty frames, always remember- 

 ing to insert the empty frame between two full 

 ones. Also recollect that you must keep the 

 animal heat concentrated in a compass small 

 enough to suit the quantity of bees, and you are 

 all right. If you hurry too much you spoil the 

 whole. 



I commenced last spring with one small 

 swarm, and transferred it in April — that is, I 

 transferred comb enough to fill two of those 

 frames, and all the bees, (the balance of the 



comb was sp^.ilod,) which was enough to 

 scarcely occupy the two combs. Built up a 

 strong colonj^ by the 8th of July, and after that 

 built up four from that one in the same wav; 

 a.nd to-day (March 10, 1867,) I have five good, 

 strong coionies, Avith abundance of honey to 

 winter on; and all of the comb is Avorkercomb, 

 except a small piece, about four inches square, 

 in one hive. I also bought tAvo Italian queens, 

 raised four more, tAvo of Avhich are hybrids; 

 sold my old black queen to a neighbor to sup- 

 ply a queeuless stock, A;c. To sum up — 



Dr. To old swarm presented by Uncle... $00 



5 hives, at $0 each 1.5 



2 Italian queens 10 



125 



Ces. By 3 Italian swarms $75 



2 hybrids 25 



Gross ...$100 



Nett profit $75 



(I forgot to mention in the description of hive, 

 that I do not rabbet out for the frames to rest in, 

 but tack in a small strip. The rabbeting is pa- 

 tented, but the strip is not.) 



After you have got ten or twelve swarms, 

 commence in the spring (as soon as you can 

 raise queens) Avith one frame as above for each 

 new swarm, and as soon as each has got a fer- 

 tile queen, set them to building ucav comb, and 

 take from your other hives frames filled with 

 mature brood, and strengthen them upas fast as 

 possible; but do not Aveaken the okl stocks. 

 Insert empty frames in place of the full ones 

 taken from the old stocks. Keep no queens 

 over tAvo years old, unless they are very fertile. 

 Empty frames filled Avhere there is an old queen, 

 are apt to be filled Avith too much drone comb- 

 but with a young queen of the same season it is 

 almost invariably Avorker comb. 



Here Ave Avill say you commenced with twelve 

 SAvarms in the spring. We have by the 20th of 

 June tAveiity-four SAvarms, all full of comb and 

 bees. NoAv, if your object is to raise bees in- 

 stead of honey, have twenty-four more queens 

 started, and commence tAventy-four more 

 swarms, and build-them up as before Avith the 

 assistance of the tAventy-four full stocks, and 

 you soon have forty-eight. After this, if you 

 wish to make more sAvarms, take thirteen 

 hives, and make up a full SAvarm at once. Those 

 frames should all contain brood in the various 

 stages. Take them out of the hives, Avith what 

 bees are attached to them, in the fore-part of 

 the day; but do not take any queen with them 

 By the next morning, all of the old bees have 

 lett, and you can then introduce a fertile queen 

 Avithout ceremony. I close the entrance with 

 Avire-screeniug for four or five first nights, to 

 keep out the miller. You ran keep makin,f 

 swarms here as late as the 10th of Septembei^ 

 and some seasons later. Last year Ave had na- 

 tural swarms as late as the 10th, and a natural 

 swarm is not to de compared Avith an artificial 

 one. The artificial is far supeiior, if i)roperly 



