176 



Feb 28, 1907 



American He^ JoarnaJj^^^^^^^fc 



means ot a wooden gauge which allows them 

 to be driven only to a fixed depth, they are 

 driven in to such a depth that the head re- 

 mains projecting out a fourth of an inch. 



"Each frame has 4 spacing-nails. A nail 

 is driven into each end of the top-bar on op- 

 posite sides, the nail being about an inch and 

 a half from the extreme end of the top-bar, 

 and a fourth of an inch from its upper sur- 

 face. About two and a fourth inches from 

 the bottom of the frame a nail is driven into 

 each-bar, these nails being also on opposite 

 sides. Hold the frame up before you in its 

 natural position, each hand holding one end 

 of the top-bar, and the two nails at the right 

 end will be on the side from you, while the 

 two nails at the left end will be on the side 

 nearest to you. 



" The object of having the nails so heavy is 

 so that they may not be driven farther into 

 the wood when the frames are crowded hard 

 together. Once in a great while the wood is 

 split by having so heavy a nail driven, and if 

 such a nail could be obtained it would be bet- 

 ter to have a lighter nail with a head a fourth 

 of an inch thick, so that it could be driven 

 automatically to place without the need ot a 

 gauge, and without the possibility of being 

 driven farther in by any amount of crowding. 



"The end-spacing is done by means of the 

 usual frame staple, about ■'« of an inch wide. 

 The staple is driven into the end-bar, imme- 

 diately under the lug of the top-bar. This 

 lug being only half an inch long, there is 

 room for a bee to pass between the end of the 

 lug and the upper edge of the hive-end, so no 

 propolis is deposited there." 



2. I prefer what is the usual way at the 

 present time, as suggested in the foregoing 

 description, the foundation being received in 

 a saw-kerf and wedged there ; but it can be 

 fastened in any other way. 



3. Strictly speaking the frames are never 

 held solidly together. They are crowded close 

 together against one side, but there is left a 

 loose space at the other side between the 

 dummy and the side of the hive. No possible 

 harm can come from this except that it allows 

 a little movement when hives are hauled over 

 very rough roads, but I have never had any 

 trouble in that way. Thfs dummy is 5-16 

 thick. 



4. I think some are, and some not. If you 

 say in ordering that you want the same as 

 mine, I think you would get them. 



5. Any super consisting of 2 sides and 2 

 ends without top or bottom can be made into 

 a T-super, the difficulty of adapting it de- 

 pending upon its measurements. A super 5 

 inches deep would be for sections i^^ inches 

 in height; but it might be cut down to lit a 

 shallower section, and strips could be nailed 

 on to make it fit a deeper section. 



m ai 



Starting With Bees 



In July, 1903, while we were drawing in 

 hay, our mother called to use that a swarm of 

 bees had settled on the end of our old barn 

 used for an implement house. Our uncle had 

 left a number of bee-hives in it the winter be- 

 fore, and it was these that attracted the bt es. 

 When we came up from the field we exa u- 

 ined them as best we could, and found th-^y 

 had settled in one of the boxes. We left the-m 

 alone until next day, when one of us wei.t 

 over for our uncle, who came and brought i' 

 veil, smoker, and all necessary things with 

 him. We then got the bees out ot the barn 

 into our orchard. This was our start in bee- 

 keeping. In the fall of 1903 we began feed- 

 ing the bees, and in this way we succeeded 

 in wintering them all right. L 



In the spring of 1904 we took thera out of 

 winter quarters, and during that summer our 

 apiary increased to 2 colonies. We got no 



honey that year, but the bees had plenty to 

 keep them over winter. 



In the spring of 1905 we again moved them 

 to the summer stands. On examination we 

 found them in pretty bad shape. The hives 

 had been too damp, and the bottom of the 

 hives and some of the combs were blue- 

 molded. Nevertheless, the bees were alive. 

 We now began to enquire about how to han- 

 dle bees. Before this we had acted on our 

 own judgment, but we knew very little about 

 that kind of business. That summer our api- 

 ary increased to 3 colonies, and we got enough 

 honey for our own use. We thought we were 

 doing not too badly. We did not have to 

 feed them that fall. In the spring of 1906, 

 when we examined them we found them all 

 right, but very cross. We were beginning to 

 learn a little about them now, and that slim- 

 mer we increased our apiary to 5 colonies, 

 and got about 60 pounds of honey. We sold 

 about 30 pounds and left them enough to win- 

 ter OD That fall we bought 6 colonies and 

 an outfit for $22. We had to feed the new 

 colonies. We doubled our old colonies down 

 to 3 colonies, and so this winter we have 9 

 colonies. Ltnn Bros. 



Molesworth, Ont., Jan. 23. 



much in love with whiskey, or anything of its 

 nature as a beverage; but honey is a No. 1 

 medicine for that kind of trouble. 

 Gait, Ont., Jan. 19. W. D. Harris. 



[We will have to refer the above request to 

 Dr. Miller for an opinion.— Editor.] 



Bees Did Fairly Well 



My bees did fairly well last summer. I 

 started in with 6 colonies, increased to 12, 

 secured about 300 pounds of comb honey 

 (about half will grade " strictly fancy "), and 

 my hives were put into winter quarters very 

 heamj (55 to 65 pounds per colony) . 



One colony in particular did what I con- 

 sidered extremely well, filling 6 supers (24 

 sections each) and working a little in the 7th 

 super. Besides being such great workers, 

 these bees are very beautiful and gentle. I 

 tried hard to rear a few queens from this 

 particular queen, but succeeded in getting 

 only one hatched, and she was lost while 

 taking her flight from the hive. If 1 can keep 

 the orignal queen through the winter, I am 

 going to try again. E. H. Upson. 



Noble Co., Ind. 



Hardest Winter Years 



The bees seem to be all right in the cellar. 

 The winter was very severe up to the last few 

 days— the hardest one »e have had for years. 



The American Bee Journal comes very reg- 

 ularly, and 1 can not say too much in its 

 praise for the helpful information it brings. 

 I feel that I would be nowhere in bee-keep- 

 ing without it. RoBT. McCradie. 



Hendrum, Minn., Feb. 13. 



Very Cold Weather-Need Faith 



We are having very cold weather here at 

 this date, the mercury having dropped below 

 zero. In some parts of Pennsylvania it has 

 dropped 26 degrees below, which is very hard 

 on bees in this part of the country, and I fear 

 there will be some very severe losses around 

 here. 



My bees, so far, are wintering nicely, both 

 in the cellar and outside. My honey crop for 

 1906 was not extra good, although I got more 

 than my neighbors did. They seem surprised 

 that I get more honey than they do, and ask 

 me how I do it. I tell them to subscribe for 

 the American Bee Journal, as I n-edit my suc- 

 cession. But they say it is useless to sub- 

 scribe for a bee-paper, for they know all 

 about bees '. So I let them alone in their Igno- 

 racoe. 



I am in great hopes we will have a good 

 season this year, for a bee-keep'er must never 

 lose faith. William H. Boeckel. 



York, Pa., Jan. 29. 



Honey for Curing Bronchitis 



We found out last year that honey is a 

 first-olaes article to cure bronchitis. During 

 the last 2 years my father and mother have 

 suUered greatly from bronchitis. They spent 

 considerable money doctoring, and the truth 

 is our family doctor was at his wits' end to 

 know what to do for them, and matters looked 

 pretty blue until a neighbor came along and 

 told father to take every night, before going 

 to bed, 3 good tablespoons of honey ; add 2 

 tablespoons of whiskey, and put into a good- 

 sized tea-cup and till with hot water, and 

 drink it hot before going to bed. 



Well, in 2 nights he commenced to feel 

 much better. He kept it up for S or 10 nights, 

 and the bronchitis was settled. When he had 

 it worst he could gel no sleep at night, and 

 mother was as bad off, but now both ot them 

 are well. 



As soon as father got well, he went down 

 to the doctor and told him what he had done. 

 The doctor had another patient who had 

 bronchitis very badly, and he was not mak- 

 ing any headway towards curing him. He 

 was an honest doctor, so he told his patient 

 how sick father and mother had been ; that 

 he did not know what to do for them, and 

 what they had used to cure themselves; that 

 this patient should try honey for his bron- 

 chitis. He did so, and a dollar's worth of 

 honey consumed in the family and used as a 

 medicine put their bronchitis out ot business. 

 I do not think they had to use the whiskey 

 the same as we had to. I would very much 

 like to see this thing tried further, with the 

 honey alone, without the addition ot any 

 whiskey whatever; but as I have no more 

 bronchitis around, I can not do any more 

 toward trying its virtue, but it may be the 

 means of helping some other afflicted person. 

 I would like very much to know if honey 

 alone would have as good effect in most eases 

 as the honey and whiskey, because I am not 



Home Hive-Making 



I have read with much interest the different 

 articles on hives made from '■ store " boxes. 

 You will notice that I have used the word 

 " store " instead of •' dry-goods " boxes, and 

 now comes the reason : 



Nearly all dry-goods boxes are made from 

 lumber from 3 to 8 inches wide, and all 

 tongued and grooved together like flooring. 

 Such lumber is not suitable for hive-bodies or 

 supers, but it is good for bottom-boards and 

 covers'when well dried and tirmly nailed to 

 cross-pieces at each end ; and they are not so 

 apt to warp and get out of shape as when 

 made from a single board. 



Now for the hive-bodies and supers : The 

 boxes I am about to describe are sometimes 

 hard to get by any one living in the country 

 or small towns, but in a town of 4000 or 5000 

 or more, one should be able get all he wants 

 by keeping his eyes open. 



The boxes in question are known as " hat- 

 cases," and will be found in gent's furnishing 

 stores. These boxes are always white pine, 

 the sides of 38-inch stuff, planed on one side, 

 and are often as much as 12 inches wide, and 

 come in tor a great many uses in the apiary 

 or chicken-yard. The end-boards are one- 

 inch boards from 36 to 45 inches long, snd 

 from 12 to 16 inches wide, and are usually 

 quite free from knots, but I always look the 

 boxes over and reject those that are detective, 

 i pay from 10 to 15 cents each for such 

 boxes, and by a little watchfulness can get all 

 I want. I made U 10-trame Langstroth hives 

 last winter at odd times from such boxes, and 

 after they are painted they look just as good 

 as any factory hive. 



Last week I made one 14-frame hive after 

 the Ferris plan, for 2 queens, and I got it all 

 but the top out ot 4 end-boards. The cover 

 will be made later as stated above. 



This article is intended only for those who 

 have plenty of time, and are handy with tools. 

 I will tell later how I made an outside case 

 for a super-cover from the '9 -inch boards of 

 the hat-cases. F. 0. Fowler. 



Marietta, Ohio, Feb. 10. 



