l88(5 



GLEANIKGS in bee CULTUilJi. 



2oa 



If, however, we arc to uirtrt the sections, then a 

 wide frame, constructed exactly like the brood- 

 frames, but a little wider, and to be held in the ^u- 

 per in the same manner, seems indispensable. For 

 1 believe that, under many circumstances at least, 

 it is impracticable to invert whole cases of sections 

 at a time when any advantage is to be gained from 

 the practice; but if the sections are iu wide frames 

 we can usually invert them, one or more at a time, 

 as maybe safe to do, the danger being that the 

 combs will lop over sidewise, as they tire exceeding- 

 ly tender before they are capped over. My ojanion 

 is, that it will never pay to invert sections. ]f a 

 case is made to hold wide frames, it will require to 

 be just '2 inch longer than the case described, and 

 the cases to hold the brood-frames, as well as the 

 frames, will require to be li inch longer. 



G. L. Tinker. 



New Philadelphia, O., Feb. 20, 188(5. 



The sliallow bvood-eliambers sent us by 

 Dr. Tinker are of siicli extremely nice work- 

 manship, we have taken pains to have cuts 

 of them made. By the way, the doctor's let- 

 ter is a consideration of the principle sug- 

 gested bv friend Heddon, though he doesn't 

 say so. 'You will notice he suggests making 

 the hives still narrower than eight frames; 

 in fact, so narrow as to contain only seven. 



A HIVE COMPOSED OF N.\KKOW, SH.VLI.OW BUOOD 

 CHAMBEKS. 



The brood-chambers shown above are 10| 

 inches wide, outside measure. As the boai ds 

 comprising the sides are I inch thick, tliese 

 chambers are tii, inside measure. The 

 frames are about If from center to center, 

 therefore seven fill the chamber. The end- 

 pieces are f inch thick. The frame shown 

 is composed of strips i x f . The end-pieces 

 are i x ]g. The doctor thinks they do iiot 

 need nailing. We would nail tliem both 

 ways with slender nails, securely, in order 

 that they may never pull to pieces, for we 

 may have considerable trouble when the 

 time comes to take these little frames out, if 

 such time ever does come, after they once 

 are nicely tilled with combs. In the figure 

 on the left, the frames are shown flush with 

 the top of the hive. The figure on the right 

 sliows the same inverted, where the frames 

 are i inch below what is now the top edge 

 of the hive. They are held by a little strip of 

 iron driven into a saw-cut in the usual way. 

 Whether or not these arrangements are ever 

 going to be used in place of inoval)le frames, 

 is the question. 1 suppose there is no fur- 

 ther necessity of debating whether any one 

 has a right to use tliis arrangement, after 

 reading the letter on page 211. And while 

 we are about it, perhaps it may be as well to 

 say there seems to be no useMn discussing 

 the matter any further. 



REPLY TO G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



SEPARATORS, .4NI) WIDE FRAMES TO HOLD SECTIONS. 



T HAVE read Mr. Doolitlle's quctations on page 

 ||f 171. My correspondence is so great that I must 

 111 be excused from replying, sentence by sen- 

 "*■ fence. Mr. Doolittle's quotations are all con- 

 fined to 1881, except the last two, to 1886. He 

 will find just the reasons he asks for, in my writ- 

 ings, between those dates. I have before explained 

 fully how I made my mistake in my first experi- 

 ments with separators. 



Many of Mr. Doolittle's questions are answered in 

 my chapters on hives, and again by him in the fifth 

 paragraph in his article in .4. B. J. for >[arch 10, 

 1886. He says in one place I lay the blame to glue; 

 and in another, to two -story wide frames, and 

 wishes to know which is correct. I answer, both; 

 two-story wide frames are glued much worse than 

 those one story deep, especially when tightly 

 pressed with our thumb-screws, as we describe in 

 our book. But for my desire to reverse my sec- 

 tions, I now thinli I wouldn't use wired frames, 

 whether I used separators or not. 



We overcame the propolis question by using 

 shallow Avide frames tightly pressed with thumb- 

 screws. I made some mistakes regarding separat- 

 ors in 1881, and tlie same diligence with which Bro. 

 D. has found them will aid him in finding my ad- 

 missions and corrections, made long before I wrote 

 the book, " Success in Bee Culture." 



Friend Root wrote as though in my book was 

 the^)s^ place I had spoken in favor of wide frames 

 and separators. Fi-icnd Hutchinson corrected him. 



Dowagiac, Mich. .James Heudon. 



OUR OWN APIARY. 



Boiling-Point of 21L° Reached with the Solar 

 Wax-Extractor: Experiments with. 



WHY THE BEE HATCHKS WITH HIS HEAD TOWARD 

 THE CAPPING. 



0N page 226 of this present number I am asked 

 whether the bee larva absorbs its food, or 

 whether it receives it by means of a mouth; 

 also why the lee does not starve when it 

 hatches with its head toward the capping; 

 i. e., tui-ned from the t)ase of the cell where the 

 food is supposed to be. In answer to the first ques- 

 tion, 1 will say that a few of the lowest forms of an- 

 imal life receive their nutriment by absorption, and 

 are generally parasitic. The larva of the bee, 

 though by no means as perfect as the mature bee, 

 yet is possessed of a mouth, rudimentary digestive 

 organs, and a means of respiration. If you take 

 notice you will observe that the young larva will 

 consume a large quantity of food; and were it not 

 for the frequent visitations of the nurse-bees the 

 tiny grub would soon starve. Generally, as we 

 know by sending larvie by mail, the quantity of 

 bee-jell will not last tlie grub much more tlian 24 

 hours, if taken from the hive. The larva? of insects 

 iu general are voracious eaters, and the amount of 

 food that they will consume in proportion to their 

 size, as compared with an ox, is enormous. The 

 larva of the bee is no exception to the rule. In- 

 deed, it is quite necessary that the grub should 

 gorge itself during the larval period; for, as we 

 shall presently see, it will need the nutriment de- 

 rived therefrom for a period of rest. 



