2C.4 



(J LEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apk. 1. 



Go SLOW on that 1,^8 spacing. With new 

 comb it leaves a passage of K inch, the space 

 becoming constantly less as the comb grows 

 older. I have combs an inch thick, and that 

 would leave only V space, too small for either 

 queen or worker to squeeze through. 



A MURMUR of disagreement as to the murmur 

 of bees is heard between Pettit and Doolittle. 

 Doolittle thinks it's a good thing sometimes in 

 the cellar, and Pettit knows it's always bad. 

 [This Straw would have been better if yon had 

 told what you think, know, or don't know, Doc- 

 tor, on this question. You can redeeni yourself 

 by dropping a Straw in the next batch.— Ed.] 



"Our first winter occurred Feb. 23. 7?ees 

 have flown lively all through the winter ,5 days 

 out of 6, and so their stores have disappeared,"' 

 writes Dr. W. S. Adams, from Guy, Md. It's 

 some comfort for us in the frozen regions to 

 know that it takes more honey for bees in a 

 warmer climate, but I believe I'd rather fur- 

 nish the honey and be pinched less with the 

 cold. 



A rabbet is cut in the end of a hive, then a 

 rabbet is nailed on that rabbet, the one rabbet 

 only being called a rabbet because it's nailed on 

 to a rabbet, for it wouldn't be a rabbet if the 

 other rabbet wasn't first rabbeted. There's no 

 confusion, but it seems just a little mixed. 

 [That's true; but even if mixed, the name an- 

 swers practical purposes. If we were to change 

 we'd be both mixed and confused.— Ed.] 



The Ontario convention emphasized the 

 point that, in summer, an opening in the upper 

 part of the brood-chamber gives downward 

 ventilation. I never thought of it before; but 

 you know when you put the back of your hand 

 at the entrance when bees are ventilating, the 

 blast always comes out of the hive, and so it 

 may be expected to come in at the top. [But 

 suppose the topis sealed up tight? — Ed.] 



Y. P. S. C. E. are initials I first saw in a 

 private letter from A. I. Root 1.3 years ago. I 

 hadn't the slightest idea what they meant then, 

 but now they're known all over the world. 

 " Christian Citizenship " has started in this re- 

 gion, and will likely spread the same way. 

 Look out for it in your neighborhood. [We 

 flatter ourselves that we have been among the 

 first to grasp new and practical ideas.— Ed.] 



Canadian bee-keepers are looking with 

 longing eyes in this direction, S. T. Pettit say- 

 ing in convention, " Across the line in the 

 United States is our best market." At thesame 

 time, England is kicking vigorously against our 

 sending any honey there. Well, that altitudin- 

 ous Canuck, Pringle, worked hard to esta,blish 

 a market at the big show; and if his compa- 

 triots can't eat all the honey they can raise, I be- 

 lieve in giving them an open market on this 

 side. [See Elwood's remarks on this point, in 

 this issue.— Ed.] 



THE EIGHT VS. THE TEN FRAME HIVE. 



AN interesting DISCUSSION BETWEEN B. L. 



tayi-or and dr. c. c. miller. 



Dr. C. C. Miller:— 



My Dear Friend and. Brother:— Yonrs of a 

 late date, "commending to my consideration" 

 the fact that you "don't remember" any prac- 

 tical proTfs that for comb honey eight- frame 

 hives are better than ten-frame ones, was duly 

 received. I suspect you want me to make an 

 experiment to prove or to disprove it. If so, I 

 want to express to you my thanks that you are 

 beginning to take a little interest in the "ex- 

 periment business." But won't you come to 

 my relief, and point out some method of exper- 

 iment, by pursuing which satisfactory results 

 may be obtained? I don't want to allow you 

 to get me started on a wild-goose chase. Don't 

 we know something about it now? I commend 

 to your consideration the following points: 



1. For the highest success in the production of 

 comb honey, we want plenty of bees in good 

 season. Now, other things being equal, in this 

 latitude more bees will be produced early in an 

 eight-frame hive because there is less space to 

 be kept warm. 



2. We want all the bees we can induce the 

 colony to rear, up to the point of time when 

 new bees will fail to return a profit. In o%ir 

 latitude we shall get more bees in the eight- 

 frame hive, because, having less space to keep 

 warm, the bees will increase faster early; and, 

 in 99 cases in 100, the eight-frame hive would 

 contain all the brood that can return a profit — 

 all that can be started, say, up to June ].5th; 

 and as the tendency Is then still to increase the 

 amount of brood, the colony in the ten-frame 

 hive will waste much more of the honey they 

 gather in rearing unprofitable bees than will 

 the one in the eight-frame hive. 



3. For the greatest success in the production 

 of comb honey, the bees must take possession 

 of the sections promptly, and all the bees not 

 required to care for the brood, destined to be 

 useful, must join. In securing this action, the 

 ten-frame hive, having more space below, and, 

 as a rule, more brood that will prove a damage, 

 and greater accumulations of honey in the 

 brood-chamber, all of which circumstances 

 have a powerfully restraining influence to keep 

 the bees from going into the sections in full 

 force, is manifestly at a great disadvantage. 

 Therefore — 



4. For comb honey, the eight-frame hives are 

 better than the ten frame. Q. E. D. 



For our latitude I can not see that the ten- 

 frame hive has a single point of superiority. 

 You may say this is all "circumstantial evi- 

 dence." Well, many a man has been justly 

 hanged on circumstantial evidence that was 

 less conclusive. Nevertheless, I shall be happy 

 to make the experiment if you can suggest any 



