THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 175 



of the hives I have our dravman put up and takes down, as my 

 days for climbing trees are about past. 



Instead of giving exact measurements for a decoy-hive, I will 

 just say: make it of any kind of an old store box, let it be a little 

 longer and deeper, inside, than the length and width of the frame 

 you use, and allow two to three inches on each side of the frame, 

 or you may use more than one frame. A person can fasten together 

 two or more spoiled sections and put them into the top end of any 

 size box, or they can put a box full of sections up, allowing bee 

 ways of course. Use a little ingenuity, and any kind of a combin- 

 ation can be profitably made. 



The attached drawing shows the hive with sections in place, 



also the cover with its little sliding door which is held open or shut 



with a crate staple. I fasten on the covers of my decoy hives with 



screws, nails or crate staples, whichever comes handiest. 



Buck Grove, Iowa. 



(Here is a suggestion to the reader who is just starting in bees, and who is 

 anxious to get more bees than his pocket-book will warrant. Just how successful 

 you will be with this method depends largely on how many stray swarms there 

 are flying around. I should look for better success where there are more farmer 

 Ijee-keepers than specialists, as they are not apt to have the swarming problem so 

 well under control. It won't cost much to try a few deco\- hives this 3-ear and see 

 what success you have.) 



Transferring From Box Hives. Does It Pay? 



HARRY LATHROP. 



'^^2V ^rONG the questions propounded in the Review is the one 

 ^-^^. asking for the best method of transferring from box hives. 

 The simplest and best method is that of getting the 

 queen and most of the bees out of the box, by drumming or other- 

 wise, and then to place the box over a queen excluder until the 

 brood has hatched, when the box can be broken up and the coml)S 

 made into wax. 



But why transfer a box hive, seeing that it is good property 

 and will pay a better income from the investment than most any- 

 thing you can buy? Did you know that a big tall box hive that 

 you may buy of a farmer who never saw a queen in his life, will 

 winter better and throw off a larger swarm than the best of our 

 movable frame hives? Our hives are made for manipulation, but 

 when it comes to wintering and breeding up in the spring for the 

 early honey flow, they are not in it with the old-fashioned box hive. 

 So I say if you are in a locality where there is no foul brood to 

 bother, keep the box hives and I will tell you how I work them. 



ADVANTAGES OF A BOX KIVE. 



The box hive, if it is the right size and shape, will have an 

 ideal brood nest which the bees have fixed to suit tliemselves. It 



