1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



87 



even though the proximity of your several 

 apiaries must cut otf. to a certain' extent, your 

 earnings from each apiary. When we get our 

 apiaries down on a map we find out for the 

 first time, perhaps, iiow close we ai'e together. 

 Say, Dr. Miller, what would you do in such a 

 locality '? Would you preach bee legislation. 

 prioritV claim of "localitv. or would vou move 

 out?] ■ " E. R. R. 



THE DOVETAILED HIVE. 



SUGGESTIONS AXD CI5ITICISMS. 



Friend Root: — I have studied your Dove- 

 tailed hive well. I think, especially in connec- 

 tion with the subject of frames, i. e., thick top- 

 bars, closed ends, etc.: and since you ask for 

 criticisms and suggestions, and I have some to 

 give, here goes: 



I am thoroughly dissatisfied with the hive I 

 have been using. I think, after nine seasons' 

 experience, together with my study of hives 

 through the medium of books, journals, etc., I 

 have a pretty good idea as to what kind of hive 

 I do want. Your Dovetailed hive comes nearer 

 to that idea than any other now on the market, 

 so far as I know. I have had a few in use the 

 last year similar to it. and, after a year's trial, 

 I am sure I have not miscalculated my prefer- 

 ence, unless it may be in the matter of a brood- 

 frame. But I do not like your iiive in the fol- 

 lowing particulars: 



1. I think that, although I have never used a 

 closed-end frame, it is. nevertheless, the style 

 of frame I want. But in two i"espects tlie com- 

 bination of that fram(> with the Dovetailed 

 hive is faulty. 



{a) If I understand your description of the 

 hive, the frame is of the same length as the 

 "swinging" frame, having a bee-space at the 

 end. I don't know what anybody wants of a 

 bee-space back of closed -end frames. To me it 

 would be a most prodigious nuisance. The 

 frame should be about j^^ of an inch shorter 

 than the brood-chamber inside, leaving ^v of a" 

 inch play at each end. This would insure ease 

 in manipulation where there is apt to be slight 

 irregularity in length. 



2. When you have a hive and frame so nearly 

 adapted to reversing, either in part or en- 

 tirely, why not have them quite so? The hive 

 would be made with the ends rabbeted so that, 

 if any one wanted to hang a frame in the hive 

 he could do so. but have a stick of the right 

 size to fill it up if desired. A single wire nail 

 would hold it in place, and it could thus be eas- 

 ily removed. I would not make the frame to 

 hang, but to sit on rests fixed on the bottom- 

 board. Either one of two devices would do well 

 for rests. One would be a tin T. % of an inch 

 high, tacked on to the bottom-board, front and 

 rear. The one in front would have to sit back 

 about an inch flora the entrance. The other 

 device would be a metal strip at each end, ,V 

 inch thick, by ?^' wide, set its thickness in 

 notches in theside cleats of the bottom-board, 

 and just inside the ends of the brood-chamber. 

 If there should be any danger of these strii)S 

 bending from the weight of the combs, about 

 two small blocks could be placed under each 

 for props. We should thus have a brood-cham- 

 ber and a frame, either one of which could be 

 easily reversed. To reverse the entire hive we 

 could simply turn it upside down, loosen the 

 wedge or screw, press the frames to their place, 

 and then key up again. Top and bottom bars 

 should, of course, be the same thickness, and 

 that not more than -^ of an inch, perhaps less. 

 Secondly, you make your top-bar 1^ inches 

 wide, leaving only I4 inch between them. Is not 



that rather close? I should think one would 

 frequently want to take out a fi'ame without 

 moving other frames or wedges. There would 

 be a poor chance to g<'t a finger-hold. I know 

 the object of such a top-bar is to pievent burr- 

 combs. This brings nie to my '" thirdly." 



I am not pr(> pared to give up the honey- 

 board. I have worked several years without it 

 and a few vears with it. and I am quite in love 

 with it. That, you know, will go fai' toward 

 preventing burr-combs. But, aside from that, 

 the honey-boai'd has three valuable features: 



{(() I would have it queen-excluding always. 

 It is comparatively seldom, it is true, that a 

 queen will go into section boxes. Still, she is 

 liable to go with a cluster anywhere when the 

 brood-chamber is crowded, especially when 

 there is a paucity of drone comb below in 

 swarming time, as I desire there should be. I 

 have known it to happen half a dozen or more 

 times a year, and that is often enough to spoil 

 considerable honey. When working for ex- 

 tracted honey especially, the queen will always 

 go into the upper story unless prohibited, and 

 I do not want her there. 



(5) When hiving in contracted brood-cham- 

 bers, much pollen is carried into the sections 

 unless something is done to prevent it. A 

 queen-excluder reduces the quantity to such a 

 minimum as to;amount to practical preven- 

 tion. 



(c) Bees will often gather up the cappings 

 of honey or brood as tliey are gnawed off the 

 combs below, and work them into the combs 

 above, which mars the honey greatly. I have 

 never heard any complaint of this from others, 

 but I have often noticed it. But I have never 

 known it to happen above a queen-excluder. 

 The young bees are also less prone to travel 

 over and stain the lower part of the sections. 

 Wide and thick top-bars, of course, will have 

 the same effect to some extent, but I think the 

 honey-board is better, 



(d) I would have the depth of the frame re- 

 duced at least two inches. This would be too 

 great an innovation to urge upon you; but I 

 wish the standard frame were not more than 

 seven inches deep. 



There, you Jhave my idea before you. Intro- 

 duce the modifications I have given, and I be- 

 lieve yon will have the model hive for comb 

 and extracted honey. Geo. F. Robbixs. 



Mechanicsburg, 111., Jan. 10. 



[If yon will refer again to our description and 

 engravings of the improved Dovetailed hive, 

 shown on page 74.i, Oct. 1.5, last year, you will 

 see that, where the closed-end frames are to be 

 used, the ends are to be enough thicker to take 

 up the extra space, but leaving a playjsufficient 

 to remove the frames. Note carefully the sec- 

 tional drawings on 74.5. No, it would not do to 

 leave the usual ^4 inch between the closed ends 

 and the end of the hive. As we construct them 

 for the Dovetailed hive, they can be used eith- 

 er to stand or to hang. A hanging closed-end 

 is a little better for the ordinary hives in use. 

 It will not topple over, and will kill fewer bees. 

 Of course, if it is desired to make it reversible, 

 all you have to do is to draw the nails, or. bet- 

 ter, leave them out and use instead the bottom- 

 rests. 



In regard to queen-excluding honey-boards 

 for comb honey, you are against the great ma- 

 jority of comb-honey producers, who say they 

 do not want the excluders. For extracted hon- 

 ey they are a good thing. 



Are you sure you are right about the exclud- 

 ers keeping pollen from the sections? Of the 

 great representative^ bee-keepers that I visited 

 last summer, not one, if I remember correctly, 

 used excluding honev-boards for comb honey. 



