1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



',•7 



are left -/^ of an inch apart, or we can't get 

 them quite close enough. If left apart, the bees 

 inuiiediateh- fill the space with bee-glue: and 

 after repeating this a few times, the apiarist 

 will have tostop manipulations, and scrape bee- 

 glue before his frames will tit and give the 

 propel- bee-space. 



I have used the hanging frame, made of Js 

 lumber, top, sides, and bottom; and from actual 

 experience I am fully satisfied they are far su- 

 perior to a closed end in many respects. Before 

 discarding (four years ago) the closed ends I ex- 

 l)erimented with colonies of eciual strength and 

 working qualities: also with the two frames in 

 the same colony: and eveiy time the hanging 

 frame gave the best satisfaction. There are 

 many reasons I might write why I favor the 

 hanging frames, small in themselves: but bee- 

 keeping is made upof small things: and he who 

 overlooks the small things will come far short 

 of being successful in this world, whether it be 

 bee-keeping or other business matters. 



In regard to buri'-conibs. I have used both 

 thick and thin top-bars, and can see no differ- 

 ence. I am of the impi'ession that burr-combs 

 are due largely to the race of bees, and the right 

 bee-space above the frames. I find \\itli me 

 that I4 inch, scant, isabout right, and with that 

 bee-space I should prefer a frame just heavy 

 enough to prevent sagging, as I like to get the 

 sections just as near the brood-nest as possible. 



A. E. WOODWAKD. 



Grooms Corners. N. Y., Jan. 1~'. 



[I am glad to get your testimony, friend W. — 

 not that it proves that the closed-end or Hoff- 

 man frames are impractical for the uiajoritii of 

 bee-keepers, but because it shows that there are 

 some bee-keepers like yourself, who. after try- 

 ing them, would discard them for the hanging 

 frames. Bee-men can not all be induced to use 

 the same kind of frame, by a long way; and. if 

 my judgment is worth any thing. I should say 

 that neither the loose hanging nor fixed-dis- 

 tance frame will be u.sed exclusively. Both will 

 be used, and have their firm adherents. But 

 your testimony, friend W.. is diametrically ojt- 



Fosed to that of a good many bee-keepers whom 

 know — those who have tested both the fixed 

 and the unfixed, and have finally decided most 

 emphatically in favor of fixed frames. I feel 

 pretty sure that the difficulty you speak of. 

 about combs not being interchangeable, must be 

 due to some fault in your manipulation. Capt. 

 Hetherington,Mr. Elwood.and Mr. Julius Hotf- 

 man. do not experience this trouble— to say 

 nothing of the hosts of the smaller following. 

 While I watched ]\Ir. Ehvood manipulate his 

 frames, he alternated them as much as you and 

 I would the loose hanging frames; and. remem- 

 ber that these gentlemen own something like 

 an aggiegate of 5000 colonies. There is a gieat 

 deal in getting used to a thing. Although your 

 article above shows that you have had consider- 

 able experience with fixed distances, there is 

 possibly some factor that does not appear on 

 the surface, and yet nevertheless is the cause of 

 youi' trouble. Perhaps ]\Ir. El wood will enlight- 

 en us on this point a little, later on. 



In regard to thick and thin top-bars, your ex- 

 perience is also diametiically opposite to our 

 own. as well as to that of a good many othfrs 

 who have sent in reports. It is one of the 

 >^tr((vge things in bee culture, why good compe- 

 tent bee-keejjers should have (experiences so 

 different, and it is not much wonder tiiat it does 

 confuse beginners. Mr. A. says he has had such 

 and such expei'iences with a certain devic<'. 

 Mr. B. has had just the opposite. But that does 

 not prove that the article in question is value- 

 less. 



You are correct about the right bee-space. It 



should be a scant (juarter inch. and. by the by. 

 this may explain why you say you see no differ- 

 ence between the thick and thin top-bars. This 

 small bee-space, I know from experience and 

 observation, makes a good deal of difference in 

 the matter of burr-combs.l E. K. 



JlETIDg 0F Sl^^I]^ 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



WHY THE QUEEX.S WEKE CAKIUEI) OUT. 



I introduced two queens into hives in Octo- 

 ber. In about a month after they had been in- 

 troduced I found them both in front of their 

 i-espective hives, almost lifeless. They were 

 straight and plump, but their bodies were not 

 distended. The colonies had natural stores 

 and granulated-sugar syrup; The queens were 

 reared elsewhere. What cotild have been the 

 trouble? J. C. Atkinsox. 



Nelsonville, O., Nov. 28. 



[No one can give the reason, any more than 

 to conjecture: but my impression is, there was 

 a queen already in the hive when you intro- 

 duced one: and if you are only a novice, friend 

 A.. I should not wonder if they were not queens 

 at all. but simply bees with elongated bodies. 

 I once mailed such a bee to father Langstroth, 

 saving that I had lost my twenty-dollar queen. 

 But I was greatly r(>joiced when he wiote back 

 that it was not a quei>n at all. but only the body 

 of a distended bee. I found It outside of the 

 hive, as you did. and warmed it up. and it came 

 to life a little. J 



SEf'TIOXS SOLD BY THE PIECE; WIDE AXI> 

 THICK TOP-BARS A SUCCESS. 



I have been back East through York State 

 and Connecticut. I have read about selling 

 sections of honey by the piece. Now I will tell 

 you about what I know. I sent 823 lbs. to Con- 

 necticut. I had one crate of 1.5 boxes, of 12 lbs. 

 each. It was hard work to get rid of them, a.s 

 they wanted about 10 lbs. to 12 sections. I did 

 not find one man that sold honey by net weight, 

 always by the section. 



I have tried seven different kinds of brood- 

 frames. The best I have tried is with top-bars 

 lis in. wide and K inch thick. They give the 

 best results, for there are no burr-combs be- 

 tween frames. I space just I'^s inches from cen- 

 ter to center. I will take wide and thick top- 

 bars every time. A. N. Whiti.ock. 



Dovt-r. Mich.. Dec. 15. 



WIXTERIXG in an OUTKIJ CASE A SUCCESS: A 

 DEAD-AIK SPACE SATISFACTORY'. 



I never could see wiiy burlap or cushions were 

 better above the brood-nest than a boai'd that 

 the bees could seal down air-light, or why saw- 

 dust-packed hives were better than double- 

 walled hives \\ ith a dead-air space. I winter 

 on summer stands, and still have five different 

 hives for expei'iment. The hive I principally 

 use is the Heddon (for want of a better) with 

 an outer case of K lumber. In these hives I 

 rarelv lose a colonv (I lost one out of twenty in 

 three years). Ifl'should happen to loosen the 

 cover after being glued. I use a paste to make 

 It tight. Mv bees bi'eed up fast in the spring, 

 and are readv for business when the honey-flow 

 comes, and I always get the best-iipened honey 

 from those hives, selling my honey as fast as 

 taken from the hives, in my town. 



In expei-imenting with double-walled hives, a 

 hive with a one-inch dead-air space all around 



