1886 



GLEANIjS'GS in liEE CULTUJiE. 



IT.") 



Glean iNOS in due time the i-csult of my experi- 

 ments, when j'ou will be able to judge for your- 

 self whether the plan is a good one or not. 



IIEVEHSIBLE FRAMES. 



Speaking of reversible hives, page 771, Nov. 15, 

 why not use the Quiuby eloscd-end frame, and use 

 no outside shell at all for the hive, but simply fast- 

 en the required number of frames together with a 

 clamp, and when you want to reverse just turn the 

 whole thing bottom up? M. Broeks, 2'.). 



Gonzales, Texas. 



Friend B., instead of liaving the \vl\ole 

 bottom of the liive open, I would suggest 

 that it be contracted; and if this contraction 

 be done so as to make a sort of hopper below, 

 at the same time it lets in the air, it will 

 tumble out all the dead bees that drop down 

 from any of the combs. When 1 lirst in- 

 vented tlie Shnplicity hive, I suggested that 

 they could be set on four half-l)ricks, with- 

 out any bottom-board ; bank up the sides to 

 keep out robbers, and to keep out too much 

 of a draft of air when the weather is cold. I 

 have had very good success with working 

 hives in the summer witli nothing but the 

 ground for a bottom. 



THE FIRM OP JANE MEEK & BKOTHER. 



A Serial Story in Ten Chapters. 



nv KEV. W. I). RAI.STDN. 



CHAPTER J II. 



FAMILY TALKS ON BEES, COXTINCEI). 



■jr-. NOTHER day at dinner, Mr. Meek said: " If 

 iff*;, your bees live until spring, and then swarm, 

 1^ hives will be needed in which to hive your 

 "•■^ swarms. It is now an important question to 

 decide what kind of a hive you will adopt. 

 IJee-keepers tell me it is a great advantage to have 

 all the hives in an apiary of exactly the same size 

 and pattern, and to use on all I he same kind of fix- 

 tures for obtaining honey. It is very annoying to 

 the keeper of a large apiary to have a great variety 

 of hives and fixtures. I would merely say, that 

 now, as j'ou are maki-jg a beginning, be sure j'ou 

 make a rinlit beginning." 



Jane replied, "The great difficulty I .?ee is, the 

 firm has no money with which to purchase hives, 

 and therefore I think we shall l)e compelled to hunt 

 up old boxes and kegs for hives, as Mr. Brown does. 

 .\s I have been reading about bees, 1 have learned 

 about several things we shall need, and I have been 

 wondering how we shall obtain money to buy them." 



"1 know very well," said her father, "you can 

 not buy without money; but if you and Tommy 

 keep up your interest in j'our apiary, I will lend you 

 what money you need, and will wait oti you until 

 you have honey to sell. I will do so, not because I 

 approve of going in delit, but because I desire the 

 firm to start in business right, and I sec you can 

 not do that without some money. Therefore I will 

 lend you money to buy whatever J feel will be 

 needed. Now let us decide what kind of a hive we 

 shall use." 



Tommy then gave his views. "I did think we 

 could use nail-kegs for hives. I think we can get 

 them for nothing. Then I thought we would call our 

 apiary the 'Nail-Keg Apiary;' but lately J have 



thought I should like nicely painted hives. I want 

 a hive from which we can take honey without kill- 

 ing the bees. I guess we can not do that with nail- 

 kegs. Besides, nail-kegs are not very pretty bee- 

 hives." 



Here Jane asked,hcr father, " What are movable- 

 frame hivcsV In both the book and magazines I 

 read much about them, and it seems all bee-keepers 

 are using them; but I do not know what they are." 



Mr. Meek replied, " I am glad you asked that 

 question, because movable-frame hives are the 

 kind I prefer, and the kind I want the firm to use. 

 Bee-keepers often want to open their hives and ex- 

 amine them, or thej' would like to take a comb fill- 

 ed with honey or young beesj'from one hive, and 

 give it to another. In the old-fashioned box hives 

 they could not do this. At length some men who 

 had given much study to bee culture conceived the 

 idea cf compelling the bees to build each comb in a 

 neat little frame. We can handle that picture on 

 the wall easily, because that and the fjlass protect- 

 ing it are held securely in a frame. Suppose that, 

 instead of that picture, there were a comb of honey 

 in that frame, we could handle it as easily as the 

 picture and glass. Bee-men now have all their 

 combs built in frames, and such hives are called 

 movable-frame hives." 



Mrs. Meek here asked, " Are these Iraraes any ad- 

 vantage to the beesV" 



Her husband replied, "No. The bees would pre- 

 fer a clean empty box to a box filled with frames; 

 and if a person docs not intend to handle the frames, 

 it is a needless expense and trouble to have them. 

 A mere box would be cheaper, and would suit just 

 as well. Now, do you expect to handle your 

 frames?" 



"Oh, yes," said Tommy. 



His mother laughed, and said, "Wait, Master 

 Tommy, until you receive a few stings, and see how 

 you stand them, before you talk about opening a 

 bee-hive and taking out the frames." , 



" But, mother," said .lane, " I have been reading 

 in Mr. Langstrotlfs book, and also in the magazines, 

 that we can (juiet bees by blowing smoke upon 

 them; and I also learned that we can buy a little in- 

 strument for this purpose, called a bellows smoker, 

 which is very useful to any one handling bees. I 

 suppose the smoke makes them stupid." 



Mr. Meek said, "That is not the reason. A bee 

 that is full of honey is not apt to sting, unless hurt. 

 They have an instinctive dread of fire. When the 

 smoke is blown among them they seem to think, 

 ' Our house is on lire and will be burned up, honey 

 and all, and we be turned out to hunt up another. 

 We must save all we can;' so each bee runs to where 

 there is some honey and fills its honey-sac, and thus 

 becomes good-natured. If you close a hive and 

 drum on it, the same rosult-takes^ place. The bees 

 think from the noise, 'Our home is being pulled to 

 pieces; we shall surely be robbed;' and so each bee 

 loads up, saying, ' We shall at least save all we can 

 carry.' As you have been"^reading Langstroth's 

 l)Ook, and hence know something 'about his hive, 1 

 think you had best adopt it. When in town one day 

 last summer I saw Mr. Woods, a carpenter, making 

 Langstroth hives for sale, and I think the best plan 

 would be to buy some hives of him. When Tommy 

 is older I think he might make his own hives; but I 

 do not think he could at present. As you have only 

 the one hive to provide for, we need not buy any 

 thing for next summer until spring, and we see 



