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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



which might have done in an open winter; but that 

 winter seemed to have no mercy. Out of my 80 col- 

 onies, but 15 got through, and none of them occu- 

 pied more than one or two combs before the first of 

 May. at which time brood began to hatch. These 

 few little squads of bees were increased thai season 

 toTOheavy colonies, and a few hundred pounds of 

 surplus honey. 



And now comes my first experience with reversed 

 frames. When these 15 weak stocks occupied to the 

 full capacity the brood department, I filled the sec- 

 ond stories with frames of brood combs, placing 

 these upside down, letting the top-bars of upper and 

 lower frames come close together, thinking by this 

 arrangement the queens would more readily go to 

 depositing eggs in upper frames. These frames were 

 held at a proper distance apart by a device similar 

 to that used on frames when shipping colonies, and 

 the frames covered with quilts. About all of these 

 combs placed in this position lacked from !4 to ^ of 

 an inch of touching the bottom-bar of frame. After 

 the bees had gathered honey pretty freely for a few 

 days I examined them, and was surprised and pleas- 

 ed to find the new order of affairs within. The 

 combs were all built up solid inside the frames, and 

 well fastened. All were now divided, making 30 full 

 stocks, at once, and again these were treated as be- 

 fore, to a full set of frames of comb, and soon built 

 up, and in a short time again divided, giving me 60 

 full colonies. By taking frames of brood and bees 

 from these as they grew strong, another ten colonies 

 were created, and about all my combs built up solid 

 in frames. By this process it is an easy matter to 

 get all your combs attached to all parts of the frame. 



I like this order of things, but I am not certain 

 that it will ever pay to make the expense of arrang- 

 ing the frames with reversible projections. The ad- 

 vantage supposed to be gained by this up ending 

 business might be more imaginary than real. True, 

 all the honey, or almost all, could be forced into the 

 surplus boxes; but suppose it was (by all this un- 

 timely disturbance of the bees while they are busy 

 at work in the sections, tending to check work and 

 confuse for a time), would the loss In honey, loss In 

 time to the bee-keeper, and all, more than balance 

 the little gain? That is, suppose you did induce 

 them all to store the honey above, and take it off and 

 get your money for it, is that all the use you ever ex- 

 pect to have for these bees? What will they do for 

 stores to winter on? fill up with fall honey? Yes; 

 but in most places none is gathered. Feed sugar to 

 all that pile of bees? Why, that is too much work 

 for me, and it will pay no man. Besides, if you were 

 seen feeding so much stuff, people would get an Idea 

 that you make your own honey. Some claim that, 

 by reversing the frames, pure Italians are induced 

 to put their honey in boxes. Well, I will say to you, 

 if I.have got to hang about a hive of bees that must 

 be "upset" every few days, in order to get any 

 honey out of them, you may count me out. I don't 

 want any of that kind of stock; but I am aware of 

 the fact, that all lovers of bright, quiet bees have 

 the kind that take coaxing to get them to put haney 

 in sections, and, for that matter, anu place else. If I 

 had a strain of bees that was backward about stor- 

 ing in the upper stories, I would set about improv- 

 ing its "higher" intellectual power (if by no other 

 means), by infusing a little black or German blood 

 into its make-up. This process is inexpensive, and 

 it will " fetch 'em " every time. I like real improve- 

 mants that will pay; but when I see so much re- 



versing and revising in our business, and useless de- 

 vices that are only notions of improvements, and 

 causing beginners and the uninitiated and unwary 

 to "fool away" their hard earnings, I feel like 

 sounding the alarm of caution. J. A. Buchanan. 

 Holliday's Cove, W. Va , March 13, 1884. 

 Why, friend J3., you do not seem to be 

 aware that you have struck upon a big thing. 

 You have told us how we can use the frames 

 we have got, as reversible frames, without 

 doing a thing with them, or without add- 

 ing a copper in the way of expense. After I 

 I read your letter I went and got some Sim- 

 plicity hives and frames, and found they 

 would go in upside down as well as in any 

 oilier way. Another thing, putting the top- 

 birs tight together gives us one great sheet 

 of comb, 17 5-8 X IS l-l. You see, the queen 

 when she gets under way can just swing in 

 I a great big circle, skipping over double top- 

 ' bars when she comes to them. The only 

 I trouble is in getting the upper story on with 

 I the frames all in. We can put in about half 

 i of them without any trouble, by just turn- 

 ing them diagonally as we set them down, 

 and swinging them'around into place. Your 

 idea of the spacing-boards (tigured in our 

 price list) solves the problem, however, 

 , Take a spacing-board, and, with a saw, cut 

 ! it up into strips so that each strip contains 

 i notches to slip over and space the frames. 

 : Now put the upper set of frames on with 

 top-bars down; slip on enough spacing strips 

 to keep them in place ; now slip down your 

 upper story, and there you are with the' up- 

 per set of frames reversed. When you want 

 to get them out, you will have to cut the at- 

 tachment all around where the combs come 

 next to the hive, and slip the hive off ; then 

 I we can put them back, right side up if you 

 choose. Now, friends, all of you can test 

 reversible frames, without making anything 

 different. If a crate to hold sections is put 

 i over them, it will have to be made so as to 

 : drop down a little, because the bottom- 

 bars are a little lower down than the top- 

 bars usually are, the bee-spaces being tilled 

 tight between the upper and lower stories. 

 i The spacing-boards tigured in our price list 

 are not the thing, how^ever, for they are 

 made to hold nine frames instead of ten. If 

 you have nine combs in the brood-chamber, 

 however, it will woik all right. 



BUYINCi BEES IN THE BROOD, VS. BV 

 THE POUND. 



fjj HE convenience of receiving live bees by the 

 pound, where a person has combs on which to 

 — ' place them, can not be denied; and where a 

 person has a weak swarm with a valuable queen, a 

 pound of bees, more or less, turned in with them 

 just sets them booming. But as transporting bees 

 In that way is almost unavoidably attended with a 

 groat deal of suffering on the part of the bees, and 

 consequent loss to the shipper, a more natural way 

 of moving them becomes very desirable. 



The beauty of sending bees in sealed brood, esti- 

 mated by the thousand, is apparent to any one; and 

 in pleading for this method of estimating and ship- 

 ping bees, I have not overlooked the "important 



