THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 415 



re-queened from the same breeder and otherwise treated alike. The 

 season has been the poorest on record. 



The greatest yield and the poorest yield from a single colony of 

 the two types of hives were as follows: 



The "l6"xl0"— highest, 81 lbs., lowest, 4:2 lbs.; Langstroth— 

 highest, 56 lbs. ; lowest, 36 lbs. 



This bears out my experience in the Argentine. 



Now the question is: "What is the cause of this difference?" 

 Here I must challenge a "Stray Straw" in Gleanings, by that veteran 

 bee-keeper. Dr. C. C. Miller. He has given the outside areas of the 

 frames correctly, but do the bees measure up in that way? It is 

 not the practice of the bees to build to within about ^" of the bot- 

 ton bar only, and in this is probably part of the explanation. In 

 the case of the 16"xlO"' frame there is an effective comb area of 

 130.37 square inches, whereas the Langstroth, on account of its 

 extra length, gives only 1.27.50 square inches of comb area. This 

 gives 28.70 square inches more comb in a ten frame hive. This in 

 itself would hardly account for the difference. It is probably to be 

 found in the distribution of the comb-space. I noticed in the 

 Argentine that w^hen bees were kept in box hives of greater cap- 

 acity than the ordinary skep, or box hive, which only give sufficient 

 room for an ordinary sized brood nest, and they were able to arrange 

 their brood and stores to their own satisfaction, the proportion of 

 length to depth of the brood nest was almost invariably in the pro- 

 portion of 8:5, or, what is the same thing, 16:10, consequently as the 

 bees extend the brood nest in the 16'''xlO''' they can maintain these 

 proportions till the hive is filled, whereas the Langstroth restricts 

 them as to depth, necessitating more bees in proportion to amount 

 of brood, there being a greater length at the bottom exposed to the 

 cold. 



Some may say that the Jumbo has the same proportions as the 

 16"xlO", but the fact should not be lost sight of that the length and 

 depth of the Jumbo is not in proportion to the width of the brood- 

 nest unless 12 frames are used, which few queens, if any. can fill. 



"Selva," Halfway Tree, Jamaica, B. W. I. 



[It would require quite extensive experiments to prove conclusively that 

 there is as much advantage in the 16x10 frame as Mr. Eddowes gives in his 

 returns from colonies in these and the Langstroth frames. His frames have an 

 advantage of 17 pounds per colony average over the Langstroth which if it should 

 be the rule would warrant a change. Experiments along this line are the prov- 

 ince of our Experiment stations and not for the bee-keeper who has to make a 

 living producing honey. The Langstroth is the most workable hive for the 

 business bee-keeper, and will be the standard for a good many years, unless the 

 facts alleged by Mr. Eddowes are found to hold true throughout all American 

 bee-keeping conditions. — W. F.] 



Make your Plans to Attend the Cincinnati National Convention 

 February 12th and 13th, 1913. 



