THE BEE-KEEERS' REVIEW. 



f43 



jectingtop bars) possessing many advan- 

 tages. But, before proceeding to enumer- 

 ate them, let me mention the importance 

 of preparation for the manipulation of 

 them, without which they are more or 

 less immovable. To illustrate I might 

 say that a bottle of ink without a pen is 

 useless; so closed end frames necessitate 

 an aid to manipulation. I herewith give 

 measurement of what I consider requisite 



to perfect success in handling closcil tnd 

 frames. With it I can manipulate them 

 two-fold fa.ster than the ordinary L. frame. 

 It can be made b}^ an ordinary black- 

 smith from an old ten inch file. One end 

 should be drawn thin and turned to a 

 right angle; making a blade ij^ inches 

 long by I'X inches wide, with a handle 8 

 inches long. It should be tempered rath- 

 er hard and dully sharpened. This 

 shaped lever when placed between the 

 projecting ends of top bars, and pressed 

 to one side, separates the frame ends with 

 perfect ease. It also serves equally well 

 for a scraper, being the best I ever 

 saw. 



Having considered closed end frames 

 relative to manipulation, let us briefly 

 note a few additional features essential to 

 an all-purpose hive. Having had experi- 

 ence with open end frames for years, I am 

 forced to the conclusion that bees not only 

 winter better in closed ends, but maintain 

 their strength, and breed up much faster 

 during the spring months; while the col- 

 onies are uniformly stronger. This one 

 feature transcends all others, and is the 

 essential element of success to be sought 

 for in the selection of a hive. It results 

 in bees for the harvest; without which the 

 largest yields of honey cannot be obtained. 



Closed ends, preclude the building of 

 burr combs a/ the ends most surely, and 

 with wide top bars, very little labor is re- 

 quired to keep the frames clean and mov- 

 able. Closed ends are favorable to trans- 

 portation. True, staples and spaces may 



be used on open ends to offset this advan- 

 tage, with a little additional cost. Closed 

 ends are self spacing, but staples and 

 spacers are used by many to secure this 

 advantage also. 



Properly constructed closed end frames 

 can be manipulated with less liability to 

 kill bees than those having open ends. 



That open end frames have been bol- 

 stered up, by making them self-spacing, 

 and consequently, more portable, needs 

 no comment. But there are two reasons 

 for it. Had there been an all-puqjose 

 closed end frame, and no great invest- 

 ment of open end frames to supplant, the 

 situation would have been widely different. 

 Nevertheless, there are a goodly number 

 of bee-keepers throughout our broad land 

 using closed end frames. They seem to 

 be making a still hunt, something like 

 the advocates of plain sections. 



In view of the many advantages pos- 

 sessed by closed ends I am inclined to be- 

 lieve the time will come when the major- 

 ity of our bee-keepers will adopt them. 

 JACK.SON, Mich. April 13, 1S9S. 



A Condensed View of Current 

 Bee Writings. 



" I'll trace the garden o'er and o'er, 



And modi tate on each sweet flower.'" unknown. 



w 



ND .so friend Daggitt, in Review 113, 

 sends in another request for my "half- 

 tone," Since I've been giving him my 

 whole tone so long and faithfully 'pears 

 like he might be "asy." I quit off from 

 having my picture taken some twenty or 

 thirty years ago. My pictures always 

 used to look sleepy, and I got mad about 

 it. Not for me to say the camera lies; but 

 leastwise that is one of the very few truths 

 which I am not willing to aid in circula- 

 ting. But, say, there is a time to be born 

 and a time to die; and when the time 

 comes to close these papers — either by 

 reason of advancing infirmity, or intense 

 preoccupation with things still dearer to 

 me than apiculture, or any other reason — 



