260 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Apr- 29, 



thing a good deal handier and more perfectly adapted to the 

 instinct and other conditions of the bee's nature, and here is 

 the secret of the matter with my solution of the same : 



The bees cannot work in any part of the hive where there 

 is not heat enough to keep the wax sufficiently soft to make it 

 weld readily when they wish to work it ; hence they will not 

 store honey nor make comb till the heat in the upper part of 

 the hive can be maintained up to a certain degree. Now 

 watch out, for we are approaching the reason why bees will 

 do better sometimes in a box-hive than they will in a hive with 

 bee-spaces all through it, because the heat to soften the wax 

 must come from the brood-chamber, in the early part of the 

 reason, at least. 



Now notice that when the heat commences to rise in a 

 hive fully provided with bee-spaces, it is carried up by the 

 draft through and around the brood-nest, even when the 

 brood-nest is not warm enough to spare it, and is taken by a 

 side draft through the open spaces above to the vacant cor- 

 ners of the hive where it cools, condenses, and falls, and re- 

 turns in the circuit to continue the same cooling process on 

 the brood-nest, and to retard both the warming of the brood- 

 nest and the sections. So that the booming of the colony in 

 the spring is by this means deprest, and the storing of the 

 honey kept back, until the lateness of the season will furnish 

 heat to help the colony to overcome the chilling influence of 

 the bee-space ; but by that time, in many cases, the flow of 

 honey is past, and the poor bee-keeper wonders why his bees 

 did not give him a nice yield of surplus honey, without even 

 guessing that the handy bee-space was largely to blame for 

 his failure by opposing the centralization of heat at a time 

 when and in the place where surplus honey should have been 

 put. 



Another barrier against the centralization of heat in the 

 sections is that form of section which has all four sides cut to 

 admit of the passage of the bees from one to the other all 

 around, for it also admits of the passage of the heat away 

 from where it should be retained to encourage the bees to 

 work at the warmest point in the sections. 



The writer employs a hive with closed-end frames, full 

 depth (similar to Heddon's frame, but not the same in several 

 respects), which excludes the side bee-space. The frames 

 have %-inch top-bars and ?i-inch space between them on pur- 

 pose to obliterate as much as possible the distinction between 

 the brood-nest and the sections, for the bees like to store 

 honey as near the brood as possible, and it is an outrage of 

 their nature to force them to do otherwise. 



Then the pound sections are tightly bound together and 

 rest flat on the top-bars of the brood-frames to the utter ex- 

 clusion of every crack of bee-space above the bees. These 

 sections are wedged in a case which is built to prevent the 

 escape or distribution of the heat from directly over the 

 frames from which it comes. This is accomplisht by arrang- 

 ing the sections so that they will set, respectively, crosswise 

 of the brood-frames, so that it will be readily seen that their 

 communicating together will form several tunnels ^\-s.'^'^i 

 inches large, and extending lengthwise along the top-bars, 

 which will retain the heat that gets in them and directly in- 

 duce the bees to come up there and work. 



Sooner or later I have used several of the leading kinds 

 of hives in America, and I believe that this plan more nearly 

 approaches the compact solidity of the box-hive to accommo- 

 date the instinct of the bees, than any other. And while it is 

 just as easily opened, and the frames just as easily separated 

 as with the hives where the hanging frames and the bee- 

 spaces are employed, I believe it is equal to the superior box- 

 hive in three particulars where the hanging-frame and the 

 bee-space hive come far short of it, viz.: 1st, in successful 

 wintering; 2nd, in booming the colony In the spring; and 

 3rd, in the early storing of honey in the top of the hive. 



Pennsylvania. 



ImprovemeHt on the Hive-Cortier, Etc. 



BY GEO. W. BBODBKCK. 



The one weak point in the construction of the Dovetailed 

 hive is quite noticeable In this country, due to the extreme 

 heat warping any part that is not securely nailed. The old 

 method of construction, where the end-piece at the top corner, 

 forming the rabbet fails to Join on to the sides, consequently 

 warping, and resulting In a small bee-entrance at the corners. 

 To remedy this defect I devised an extension of the end cor- 

 ners as per Illustration, which permits proper nailing. All 

 California hives are now patterned after this improvement. I 

 have never applied for a patent on this, consequently all are 

 free to use it. 



FOLLOWER AT THE END OF THE SUPER. 



This will be the third season that I have used a section 

 super with a follower at the end of the sections in addition to 

 the one on the side. This permits wedging from the end as 

 well as the side, and aside from lessening the possibility of 

 propolizing the edges, the sections are perfectly true. To 

 wedge up I cut two V grooves in the end-piece and side of the 

 super, using a V wedge. I use pattern-slats without the cus- 

 tomary end-pieces, and can thus handle them readily, and, 

 whenever they sag, simply turn them over. 



EASY WAY OF TRANSFERRING BEES. 



I have used various methods of transferring, but have 

 given the following the preference, but these directions will 

 only be applicable to those who have bees in frame hives : 



If the bees to be transferred are in a common box and the 

 combs have not been built down to the bottom, cut the box 



An Improved Dovetailed Hive-Comer. 



down to the depth of the comb, then turn the box bottom side 

 up, and put spacing-sticks between the combs to prevent con- 

 tact with each other, then place one of the standard hive 

 bodies on top, closing up all surplus openings on the sides or 

 ends. Now go to a colony of bees and remove a frame of 

 honey, and one containing eggs and larvaj, placing this in the 

 vacant body over the box, filling up with drawn comb or foun- 

 dation. In a few days, if you keep watch, you will find the 

 queen in the upper story, when you quietly slip a queen- 

 excluder between this part and the old box, and in 21 days 

 you can remove the lower part and dispose of the comb as you 

 see fit. 



As a precautionary measure, I would advise one not to 

 fail to cut a bee-entrance in the old box before reversing, so 

 that the location will be in the same place as the previous one. 



I also find this a 'very simple method to make use of in 

 transferring from odd-sized frames. You avoid exciting the 

 bees (and yourself as well), prevent any likelihood of robbing, 

 and, in fact, dispense witli everything that makes transferring 

 disagreeable. Los Angeles Co., Cal. 



#«es 



Report of the Illinois Bee-Keepers' Convention 



BY JAS. A. STONE, SEC. 



(Continued from page 246.] 



The committee on State Fair reported as follows, which 

 was adopted : 



REPORT OF THE STATE FAIR COMMITTEE. 



To the Illinois State Bee-Keepers^ Association : 



We, the Fair Committee, hereby submit the following 

 report : 



The committee met in December, 1895, and drew up a 

 premium list aggregating $284, an increase of !531 over that 

 of the year before. This was presented to the Board of Agri- 

 culture at their meeting early in January, IS'.Ml, and was 

 adopted. In September we met the Committee of the Board 

 to apportion space for exhibits in the Dome Building, and 

 secured the northwest corner of the gallery. This space was 



