1S84 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



741 



course, I shaved the combs down so the old top is '« • 

 It was an experiment, partly to see the effect of 

 brood-rearing and getting bees into sections, as 

 well as to have full combs. In each frame reversed, 

 where honey was above the brood before being re- 

 versed, the bees removed the honey and took it up; 

 but finding no room on account of brood, they were 

 obliged to go up into the boxes. If one has an ex- 

 tractor he can hasten the i-emoving. The comb 

 must be trimmed so as to uncap all sealed honey, 

 and must be only "a thick, so the bees will adopt it 

 at once as a bi-ood-department. 



I am so well pleased with reversing that I should 

 do so if I had hundreds of colonies. Friend Koot, 

 there is a serious trouble with the weak or thin top- 

 bars; although we use wired frames and braces, yet 

 when a frame is loaded for winter stores they do 

 sag badly. I have handled quite a lot of bees away 

 from home, and I very often meet the same trouble. 

 Often they touch the bottom of hive, and the poor 

 little bees sing out, " Oh, oh, oh I" I have been so 

 perplexed at such troubles that I almost think I 

 shall have all frames '2 in. thick inside end-bars, 

 then drive a wire nail into the frames so the corner 

 or brace wire will draw over these, then draw them 

 tight with a good center-brace, and see if we shall 

 have such sagged and bad frames. One bee-keeper 

 near me uses the Hofman frame; they have ' 2-inch 

 top-bar, and he has no such saddle-backed, awkward 

 work. Of course, a thin top-bar on thousands of 

 combs is a big thing; but still, would it not be better 

 to have full comb at the bottom, and use a good 

 substantial top-bar? 



"But," says one, "the bees will not take to the 

 sections as readily ov er thick bars;" but if he could 

 see the lurge lots of Aroostook honey that was all 

 " toated " up over thick top-bars, I guess theory 

 would all vanish. One party from there took 1' 2 

 tons of the nicest honey, all in one-pound boxes, 

 that was ever produced in this part of the country. 

 He used separators on all, so they could be placed 

 every way, and no breaking or bruising the beauti- 

 ful combs. He uses a full set of wide frames in 

 upper story, and one on each side of 7 brood-combs; 

 but we can not use so much surplus room here, be- 

 cause we do not get half the flow they do there in 

 the new place. 



But, again, I am back on the sagging question, 

 and here I had a good witness on my argument, 

 "for," said he, "the wide frames I dislike, because 

 they sag so badly. The cracks opened at top of 

 boxes are all filled with bee gum, and the bottom- 

 bars are glued to the brood-frames below." But 

 we can easily get over this by nailing a strip of tin 

 '.1 in. wide on to top-bar near end-bar, and then 

 down diagonally to center of bottom-bar, which I 

 did a few years ago, and it worked like a charm. I 

 used tin because it is thin; and when the frames 

 are crowded together we know no difference. A 

 number of fine wires would do, and be more conven- 

 ient. Just try it, friend R. 



I am going to tell you how I like a section-case. 

 Make frames to hold three 4I4 boxes, and a case 

 wide enough to fill inside of hive, or about ^i in. less 

 and ;>« deeper than the little frames. Now make a 

 division-board, same depth of case, with a few 

 thicknesses of cloth on the ends, and you have a 

 case to suit any number of combs. The under sides 

 are beveled from inside down to scant 'i, and up '2 

 or ?'8, so the bees can pass up from side of hive into 

 the case. I also tack ^, by 's strips on one inside of 

 case, so as to allow the boxes to rest against them, 

 then the bees have a full and free pass at the out- 

 side boxes. Now, with this case we can use separa- 



tors or not, and any width of box, for we can use as 

 narrow a frame for boxes as we desire ; and if we 

 use only a few brood-frames we can use as few 

 boxes as we desire. Of course, the case does not 

 cover the whole length of frames; but a cloth can 

 easily cover the ends, and the case can set at one 

 end of brood-f i-aincs, or over the center, and cloths 

 used at each end. Alter iiiakinu a nutiiber of dif- 

 ferent cases I am better pleased with this than all 

 others. I don't like a case the whole width and 

 length of a common hive; it's like a big hat on a 

 little boy. I think one .5 boxes wide is enough; for 

 more, use only 7 frames under a case than doja 

 whole set, then the wide case sets out over, and is> 

 real bother. It's much ease r to fix a narrow case 

 than one too wide, especially where a full one re- 

 quires '2 bushel to fill it. I am but one, and^only 

 give my ideas; and if of any good, I shall be pleased. 

 E. P. Chukchill. 

 North Auburn, Maine, Oct., ISS-l. 



Friend ('., your ideas are good; and one 

 reason yon give foi' using a reversible frame 

 I liad not tlionglit of before. It is this: We 

 have more cells" in a frame, or. at least, more 

 available cells, than we should like to have 

 without a reversing device. As once or 

 twice reversing will suffice, as far as this is 

 concerned, perhaps we can manage this 

 without any expensive device. In a chaff 

 hive we can very easily set all the frames of 

 fdn. upside down when they are first given 

 to the bees ; that is, put them upside down 

 in the upper story. After the combs are 

 pretty well built out, hang them in the 

 usual Avay. Won't this answer? One diffi- 

 culty in regard to reversible frames is that 

 it is scarcely possible to make as substantial 

 a top-bar without considerable additional 

 expense. I agree with you that top-bars 

 ought not to sag ; but I do not think we are 

 obliged to make them iuilf an inch or more 

 to accomplish this. Of late years our top- 

 bars have all been made full f ; and these, 

 sup])orted in the center by a tin bar with 

 diagonal wires foi- a brace." surely can not 

 sag unless the diagonal wire breaks, or the 

 tin bar doubles up. or something of that sort. 

 It is true, we want frames that will stay 

 right to the spot, no matter how much honey 

 the bees store in the combs, and at the same 

 time we want as much room inside the frame 

 as we can conveniently get. I have often 

 thought of a frame made entirely of folded 

 tin, but it would be much more "expensive, 

 and cold for the bees in cool weather. Aft- 

 er it becomes covered with wax, however, I 

 suppose the latter objection would not 

 amount to much. Frames have already been 

 used made of perforated tin, and these seem 

 to answer, so far as I know, with the excep- 

 tion of the expense. Several years ago there 

 was considerable said about bracing wide 

 frames with diagonal wires, as we do our 

 brood-fiames ; but since we have com- 

 menced making them heavier all around, lit- 

 tle or nothing has been said about it. I 

 hardlv think oiu- wide frames, as we use 

 themnow, will trouble in the way you men- 

 tion. The arrangement of three boxes in a 

 frame is like that shown on page 18 of our 

 price list, beside the portico liive. It is 

 used by some bee-keepers ; but as the ar- 

 rangement is more expensive, and more 

 trouble to manipulate, besides admitting a 

 less number of sections, it has been pretty 

 mucli discarded. I admit tliat the reasons 

 you give for its use are many of them quite 

 "important, friend C. 



