1S91 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



371 



and I visited the out-apiary. The colonies 

 were populous, and the hees were all at home; 

 in short, it was such a day as bee-keepers usu- 

 ally prefer to S])end in tlic shop. The smoke- 

 wood was damp, and the smoker refused to gi\'(' 

 out its usual volunn' of smoke until aft(>r we 

 had finished our examiuation of the bees, after 

 which it smoked exasperatingly well. Now, 

 had our hive been difficult to manii)ulate, those 

 hybrid bees would have stung us sev(>rely; 

 but Mr. R. has already testified to their good 

 behavior at this time. 



brood, requires more patience than the average 

 bee-keeper possesses. A single glance at the 

 bottom f)f the frames of the common swinging- 

 frame hive will convince anyone that its owner 

 should si)ealc authoritatively on jjroper si)acing, 

 for he has all distances, from U4 inches up. This 

 is tli(> man who says. " No fixed distances" for 

 him. Tliick irregular combs, of which he has 

 plenty, and knows no way of curing, except to 

 cut them down with a knife, he thinks best not 

 to crowd together, but will often take nearly 

 two inches to space such combs. He can do no 



FKJ. 3. — HOW THE (JUINBY FKASIE 



Our test of hives is very severe; for, during 

 the swarming season, we do not stop for weath- 

 er. No matter how threatening the weather, 

 we start off unless it actually rains. We seldom 

 start in a rain unless there is good prospect of 

 its soon stopping. When there we work unless 

 it rains too hard to safely open hives; and even 

 then, when hai'd pushed, we complete our work 

 under umbrellas. 



WHY QUEENS CAN BE FOUND KEADILY IN 

 QUINBY HIVES. 



It is well known, that, in finding queens, a 

 bright day is better than a cloudy one, and very 

 much better than if it is alternate sunshine and 

 shadow. That is, a uniform light free from 

 shadows is best. Our hive is so constructed, 

 that, when opened up. there are no sides to 

 cast shadows on the interior (see Fig. 1, p. 317). 

 When one comb is removed, the light striking 

 the exposed side of the next is uniform, and not 

 only less trying to the eyes, but queens are 

 found more readily. Of course, you sit with 

 your back to the sun. In the hanging-frame 

 hive, the queen often steps oft' from the comb 

 to the shell of the hive, and passes from there 

 to the combs already looked over, thus making 

 it more difficult to find them. At any rate, the 

 claim has been made and substantiated, that, 

 in the Quinby hive, queens are moi'e readily 

 found than in the hanging-frame hive. This 

 is an impoi'tant advantage; for. when queens 

 are hunted, time is usually limited. 



One morning, after Capt. Hetherington had 

 started oft' his men and wagons to the out-yards, 

 he jumped into a buggy and drove to a yard of 

 about 70 populous colonies. He clipped the 

 (lueens in this yard, and from there proceeded 

 to another yard, clipped the queens in this also, 

 and I'eturned home in time for an early supper. 

 This is not mentioned because it is tliought 

 rapid work, but to show that our hive is not a 

 slow one when worked by a fast man. Many a 

 man who calls our hive a slow one to manipu- 

 late would have taken twice this time with his 

 own. Of course, it takes time and practice to 

 learn how to manipulate any hive. 



ADVANTAGES OF CORRECT SPACING. 



One thing that does not have to be learned 

 with us is to correctly space frames, which re- 

 quires much skill and time; and to space loose 

 frames 1% inches or less, without destroying 



HOOKS ON TO THE BOTTOM-BOARD. 



better; for, if the honey is crowded together at 

 the top, it usually throws the bottoms apart 

 and against the next comb. 



CAN FIXED FRAMES BE AI/rEBNATEl) ? 



Neither j\[r. HofliiKui iior ourselves are trou- 

 bled in spacing Irreqular combs— he <%t \% inch- 

 es, and we (it II4 scant. With foundation 

 carefnlly placed, in the center of fxamcs, and 

 initJi combs (ilirays the S(tmc distdncc apar't, we 

 do not Jiitve so nutnn hnbjcd combs.* In the 

 spring, brood combs are oftener interchanged 

 than at any other time of year; and at this 

 time I have experienced no unpleasant results 

 from crowding honey up against honey, as oc- 

 casionally happens, for it gives the bees a 

 chance to cut down the combs to their proper 

 thickness at a time when they can use the sur- 

 plus wax to advantage. After swarming time, 

 the less the brood-nest is disturbed, the better; 

 for bees have a way of fixing themselves for 

 winter that man can not improve upon. 



CI,OSED ENDS FOR WINTERING. 



Mr. Quinby tested this hive for many years 

 in wintering, and was satisfied with it. For 

 several years before he died, his average loss in 

 winter was less than two per cent, and this 

 with the most disastrous loss around him. 

 Capt. H.. in his cold climate, also winters well 

 in it. With a bottom entrance (see P'ig. 1, p. 

 317) as I make it, this hive may prove also best 

 for wintering in the South. The trouble in the 

 South in winter is. that bees fly out, and many 

 are lost on stmshiny days, thus weakening them 

 too much. With a shade-board on top of our 

 hive, bees would not fly nearly as much as from 

 the hive in common use. Capt. H. prefers and 

 uses a front entrance, as did Mr. Quinby, and 

 this is undeniably better at certain times of the 

 year; but for winter, and also for hot weather, 

 i ijrefer the bottom entrance. 



HOW BEES ARE KILLED IX LOOSE-FRAME 

 HIVES. 



Mr. Root has already told you how few bees 

 are killed in worKing otir hive. There are some 

 killed with every hive, but in the hanging- 

 frame hive the killing and maiming take place 

 largely out of sight. When frames are not 

 raisedor lowered perpendicularly, either side- 



* Italics are mine.— E. K. K. 



