1SS(J 



GLEANINGS IN 13EE CL'LTIHE 



4-> 



place. If tliere are some lionest men doing 

 business in seed wlieat or bee-supplies at 

 New Carlisle, we would caution them about 

 letting their name be mixed up. or their cir- 

 culars, with F. E. Fross & Co. If they 

 want a hearing, we shall be glad to give it. 



1 should have said in the outset, that tlie 

 directions for using this Acme penetrative 

 tell us we must wait two months and a half 

 after putting it in the stump, before the 

 stump is readj^ to burn ; so you see they 

 have two months and a half to run their 

 advertisement before any one can gainsay 

 their claims. 



HEDDON'S NEW BOOK. "SUCCESS IN 

 BEE CULTUKE.^' 



ALSO SOMETHING AIIOUT HEUDON 8 NEW HIVE. 



fllE book in question is paper boimd, 

 128 pages. It is profusely illustrated, 

 but we are sorry to note that a good 

 many of the new illustrations are not 

 engraved as they should be ; in fact, 

 the book explains that the engraver did not 

 do his duty. Friend I led don has evidently 

 had experience in trying to make engravers 

 picture things as they are, instead of some 

 heedless plan of their own. It is an excel- 

 lent plan to have the engraver make a draw- 

 ing first on the block, a"nd don't let him en- 

 grave it until the drawing is as you want it. 

 The book contains many terse and valuable 

 thoughts, characteristic of friend Heddon's 

 vigorous brain. And novv^, however much we 

 may lind in the book to criticise, it is well 

 worth half a dollar. The food for thought 

 that it gives to every bee-keeper, young and 

 old, it seems to me, is well worth the cost of 

 the book. I think, however, it should be 

 read in connection with other works on bee 

 culture, as so many things are passed over 

 in a brief w^ay, from necessity, on account of 

 the size of the volume. The principal fea- 

 ture of the book is, to me. Ileddon's new 

 hive. The hive we talked so much about a 

 year ago is described in the book; but the 

 new one is to throw the old plan entirely 

 aside. The principal feature of the new 

 hive is in making the brood-apartment in 

 two stories. Eacli story contains frames 

 only 5| inches in deptli. "These frames are 

 closed-end frames. On account of their 

 shallowness this will probably be no great 

 obstacle in the way of manipulation, and 

 friend Heddon claims that almost all neces- 

 sary operations can be ])erformed without 

 i-emoving these shallow frames at all. To 

 facilitate this, the top and bottom bars are 

 made only 13-1(5 inch wide— a little narrower 

 than I, you will notice. Years ago I thought 

 of making a hive without frames, somewhat 

 on this principle, having the combs shallow, 

 and pretty widely spaced with narrow top 

 and bottom bars. ]\Iy plan then was that 

 we could reach down between these narrow 

 top and bottom bars, widely spaced, so as to 

 cut out queen-cells, or see lirood, even to a 

 depth of two or three inches ; turn the hive 

 over, and a depth of two or tluee inches on 

 the other siile would put all the combs mi- 

 <ler our control or under our eye— at least 

 without taki'ig the combs put. Two of these 



shallow brood-nests give a capacity of an 

 ordinary lower stoiy. The sectionsare put 

 in shallow wide frames. It is a little amus- 

 ing to see friend Ileddon go back and de- 

 clare in favor of wide frames, and separators 

 also, after the way lie h;is denounced both 

 for a year or two back. Jf I were he, L 

 would bealittie mild in denouncing any 

 thing, esi)e('ially if I expected to change my 

 plans within a year or less. It is true, how- 

 ever, that a very progressive mind must 

 change in opinion as it explores new and 

 different llelds. The wide frames, with sep- 

 arators to hold the sections, ai'e exactly the 

 same as the case for three section boxes, 

 which has been for so many years illustrated 

 in our price list, only it is made to hold four 

 sections instead of three. IJoth the brood- 

 frames and wide frames are closed-end. and 

 rest on a strii) of tin at the bottom of tlie 

 hive or case. Like C^)uinb> "s closed-end 

 frames they have no projecting arms, ])ut 

 are alike either side up. This makes the 

 frames reversible, and the hive is also re- 

 versible. Of course, you can not get the 

 frames out of any hive or section unless it is 

 a certain side up. The ends of these closed- 

 end frames come close against the ends of 

 the hive, for the frames themselves, outside 

 dimensions, are only 1-1(> inch less than the 

 inside of the hive. 



A good many things may be accomplished 

 by dividing a liive horizontally into two sets 

 of shallovv frames. It occurred to me at 

 once that this shallow hive would be a si)len- 

 did thing for shipping bees, especially so 

 since friend II. makes the whole thing solid, 

 and lixed by a wooden thinnbscrew to put 

 through the hive at the proper i)lace to 

 screw up the frames tight, the screw strik- 

 ing the middle of tlie end-bars of the frames. 

 In this shape it is reversible at pleasure. 

 The bottom-board is cleated around its out- 

 side edge so as to give the necessary bee-space 

 when the first story is placed on the bottom- 

 board. Friend Ileddon enumerates a great 

 many advantages to be secured by this shal- 

 low frame. 1 believe he has not mentioned, 

 however, whHt seems to me to be a great 

 and serious disadvantage. It is this: lie is 

 dividing the brood in every coml) right 

 through the center, or heart of it, and inter- 

 posing two sticks and the |-inch air-space. 

 It is true, the queen may be made to do 

 very fair work in a comb only five inches 

 deep ; but from the way in which queens 

 seem to prefer to lay their eggs in a circle, 

 say from six to eight inches in diameter. 1 

 can not think you can get this circle down 

 to less than live inches without loss. It is 

 true, she may make the circle embrace the 

 combs in the upper story as well as the 

 combs in the lower story ; "but then we have 

 this division above spoken of in the heart of 

 the brood-nest. 



Friend II. has a patent on the hive. Of 

 course, he has a perfect right to have a pat- 

 ent on it if he thinks it is the better way ; 

 but in view of the fart that so many of the 

 features of his new hive have been in com- 

 mon use. if I were in his place I think I 

 would not have had a patent on it. I hope 

 he will excuse me for venturing to give my 

 Hdvice when it has not been asked. ^V^e have 



