Vol. XIV. 



MARCH 15, 1886. 



No. .6 



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SECTIONAL BROOD-CHAMBERS. 



Also Some Other Matters Pertaining Thereto. 



DR. 



SUGGESTIONS 

 G. 



AND DEDUCTIONS FROM 

 L. TINKER. 



fHE extensive discussions of the past year in 

 the bee-journals on the modes and advantages 

 of reversing- brood-combs, as well as the re- 

 sult of trials, has proved that thei-e is no 

 profit in reversing- combs singly, because of 

 the labor required, not that there is no advantage 

 to be g-ained from the practice. Like many other 

 discussions in our journals, truth that we had 

 sought— the g-erin of wheat sifted from all the chaff 

 — is quite unlike what we had been seeking or had 

 anticipated. 



It is no new idea, by any means, that the getting 

 of the brood close up to the sections in working for 

 comb honey is a measure of great value. As the 

 outcome of all the in\'ention and discussion, we have 

 discovered, perhaps, all of the plans by which the 

 brood can be brought near the sections, so that we 

 may now point out the one plan most practicable 

 and valuable. And right hei'e I wish to say that no 

 one man is entitled to all the credit of the discover- 

 ies made, because all, or nearly all, bee-keepers 

 have had a part in making them, and have prepar- 

 ed the fraternity for an innovation in our methods 

 that, without this i)rcparation of the apicultural 

 mind, would have been impossible. The credit, I 

 boldly assert, is due rather to the great fraternity 

 of bee-keepers who have not only made discovery 

 possible through their united labors, but now make 

 the introduction of the new appliances and meth- 



od certain. As one who has done most to favor in- 

 vention and the evolution of new ideas on this 

 subject, the editor of Gleanings should take a 

 just pride in the work accomplished; but as the 

 matter stands, one bee-keeper is as much entitled 

 to the benefits of the work as another; and I trust 

 and believe that all will look upon it in this light, 

 and hesitate not by virtue of a just right to adopt 

 the improved methods as soon as convenience will 

 warrant, and the revolution in the construction of 

 brood-chambers and in our methods of manage- 

 ment will demand. Rut 1 am strongly convinced 

 that nothing has yet been pi-oduced that will ena- 

 ble, to the fullest extent, the practical advantages 

 that are to be derived from our new discoveries. It 

 is my object, however, in writing this article, to 

 throw some light on the subject. 



But first, what is the most practical and advanta- 

 geous method of disposing the brood near the sec- 

 tions at will? Beyond question, it is the proper 

 management of the shallo\y sectional broodcham- 

 ber. Has it any disadvantages? We assert fear- 

 lessly that it has not, neither in wintering the lay- 

 ing of the queen, norinthe manipulation pfhivesor 

 combs. 



Until about five years ago, a hive,thebrood-cham* 

 ber of which was in three shallow sections, each .514 

 inches deep by 12 x 16 inside, has stood in this town, 

 and contained bees uninterruptedly for ;J0 years. 

 The colon J', in its thin walls of walnut, had resisted 

 the cold and the buffeting of the storms of 30 win- 

 ters, and it at last succumbed to the depredation of 

 robber-beeS which gained entrance through its many 

 rotten corners. It had always done well, was ^en- 



