1884 



glea:nings i:n bee culture. 



735 



about two months" time. Perhaps 220 lbs. 

 was your share, and your brothers had about 

 as much more, or did they take theirs in the 

 lioney they stored for winter? At any rate, it 

 seems to me it was pretty fair for an experi- 

 ment. 1 do not quite like your idea of using 

 rtrearms, even to frighten away thieves. 

 See what I have said in regard to honey- 

 thieves on another page. 



FRAMES TOUCHING THE BOTTOM- 

 BOARD. 



now IT CLIMES, AM 



KKMEHV |- 



S I W118 looking over my bees in a ehaff hive 

 boufe'-ht of you the other day 1 found that the 

 frames eame so near the bottom that the 

 liees had them stuck on so tight I found it al- 

 most impossible to remove them. Some of 

 the frames rested on the bottom-board, and di<l not 

 hany ill the hive; they had them stuck with gum 

 from both sides, which left a little space right un- 

 der the frames, where I found several worms about 

 'i inch long. Do you think the worms could do any 

 damage to a strong colony? Would it not be bet- 

 ter to have the board on which the rabbet is nailed, 

 9' ; or 10 inches wide instead of 9, as it now isV Then 

 the bees could get right under the frames, 

 and drive out Mr. Bee Moth. ] And in the hives of 

 my own make, exactly after your pattern, the same 

 trouble. Have you had any such trouble in your 

 aiiiaryV 



HIVES WITH TWO ENTKANCES. 



I have thought I would construct a hi\e this win- 

 ter (chafif pattern) with entrance on two sides, front 

 and back; did you ever try one on that plan? Do 

 you not think it would give better circulation in 

 hot weather? Adam Leistek. 



Brunswick, Ohio, Sept. :J8, 1884. 



Friend L., where you tind a trouble such 

 as you mention, first ascertain by measure- 

 ment whether the trouble be with the frames 

 or with the hives. The frames, as you will 

 notice by the price list and A B C book, 

 sliould be exactly 9i inches, outside measure. 

 If you find any of your frames that run any 

 more than this, fix them, either by driving 

 together or by taking off the bottom-bars 

 and shaving down the end-bars until tliey 

 are right. I would have the frames true to 

 a gauge, no matter how much time it takes 

 to fix them. After having done tliis, then 

 proceed to fix all hives that do not give 

 at Icmt i inch distance between the bottom- 

 bar, of the frame and bottom-board of the 

 hive. The A B C book gives measurements 

 so as to give full t ; but as all lumber 

 shrinks more or less, many hives become in 

 time so that the bottom-bars may kill bees, 

 or harbor worms. I would never continue 

 to use a hive that does either. A great 

 nmny times the trouble is caused by the sag- 

 ging of the bottom-bars. Wliere this is the 

 case, pare out a little strip of comb close to 

 the bottom-bar, then diaw the bottom-bar 

 up straight with one of our transferring 

 wires, leaving the wire on until the bees 

 fasten it. One reason why we use oidy 

 wired frames now is, that it absolutelv pre- 

 vents any possibility of sagging with the 

 bottom-bars. Where the bars are found to 

 be at fault, if they are chaff hives we vf'medy 



them by prying off the metal rabbet and 

 putting on a thin strip of w'ood, such as a 

 comb-guide. If it is a Simplicity hive this 

 plan will not answer, because raising the 

 frame would make it unsuitable if another 

 Simplicity hive should be placed over it. 

 Yon see.' raising the frames would carry 

 them too close to the frames in the story 

 above them. If Simplicity hives have 

 shrunk by use so as to be too shallow, the 

 only remedy is to brad thin strips of wood 

 clear around the bottom of the hive. 

 Where the corners meet, miter them as a 

 picture-frame is mitered. If you have bought 

 any hives of our make that cause trouble in 

 this way, set a carpenter to fixing them ; 

 and when he gets through, send me word 

 what the cost is, and I will pay it— that is, 

 where tlie expense is anywhere within 

 the l)ouuds of reason. If we have made any 

 hives, and sent them out, that pinch bees, 

 or harbor worms, w^e prefer to make them 

 good at our own expense.— Entrances on 

 two sides have been in use for many years 

 in many apiaries ; but 1 believe they have 

 been gradually discarded. During pretty 

 cold weather one of them will need to be 

 closed up, and this annoys and confuses 

 the bees ; whereas if your ventilation is giv- 

 en throngh one large entrance it can be en- 

 larged or contracted without any such in- 

 convenience. Proliably the entrance to the 

 Simplicity hive, witli the alighting-board we 

 always use. is llic simplest method yet dis- 

 covered of enlaiging, contracting, or closing 

 the entrance. With a strong colony in a 

 hive several stories high, the hive may be 

 slid forwaj-d so as to project two inches over 

 the bottom-board, if desired. 



HURRAH FOR FLORIDA ! 



KHOM SS TO IIT, AND a2,.T.">0 LBS. OF HUNEV. 



48 I suppose Harry has now taken about all the 

 honey that he will take this year, I will make 

 ourtlnal report. Our crop up to date con- 

 sists of tifty-flve barrels, holding 410 lbs. 

 each of e.vt racted honey, making about 22,.5.W 

 lbs. in all, or about :.'55 lbs. per colony, spring count. 

 My increase was fi-om 88 in the spring to 117 now. 

 There is a top section on nearly e\ery hi\-e, and they 

 arc well tilled with honey. 



The above is a gooil report, ami will bring a show- 

 er of letters from all parts of the country, so I will 

 say, right here, that T am so fortunate (?) as to hold 

 a number of offices that bring me neither money 

 nor honor, but thrust such an amount of corres- 

 pondence and other writing on to me that, for the 

 larger part of the past five years, I have had to give 

 all my leisure and evenings to it, or else take the 

 time of working hours. Add to this from two or 

 three to ten or fifteen extra letters per each mail 

 for months after each rejiort or letter that I write 

 for publication, and it is easy to see that my own 

 corresi)ondence, reading, and neighborly sociability, 

 is pretty well " knocked out of time." I have al- 

 ways answered every letter, and wish to do so in the 

 future, but propose to change the plan a little in my 

 favor, if possible; so, Mr. Editor, if you will give 

 me room in (Ji.eaninos I will send in a batch of 

 replies every letter while to the (nicstions that are 



