1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



473 



most a?Ti/ climate. The outer-case boom is on 

 now. and I predict it has come to stay. Coolc's 

 outer case clamps together at the corners, and 

 is very handy to store away if not needed. 



The absence of Mr. Cook from the ofifice was 

 regretted; but a very pleasant half-hour was 

 spent with his partner. Mr. Irving J. Stringham. 

 I suppose Mr. Copk manages outside affairs, 

 and Cooks "em, while his partner stays inside 

 and Strings "em. 



A new-fangled reversible honey - extractor 

 was hinted at, and we hope it will soon make 

 its appearance, and beat the record. We re- 

 viewed extractors generally, and finally decided 

 that the most " un-eek " extractor on the mar- 

 ket is the one advertised by Rev. Mr. Seaman. 

 We put our heads together, and made an im- 

 Ijrovement in the center-post, which can be 

 run by electricity. See illustration, no patent. 



CENTER-POST FOR A SEAMAN HONEY-EXTRAfT- 

 OR— ?:i.ECTRir APPLICATION. 



Having considerable interest in the wax-bus- 

 iness just now. and knowing it to be used to a 

 great extent in the arts. I naturally drifted into 

 the "Eden Musee,"' where we beheld the fa- 

 mous personages of the world in wax; and as 

 we pass the various groups they seem like so 

 many living tableaux, representing historic 

 scenes of the past. Though the artist in wax 

 makes a figure appear very natural, there is an 

 tmreal fixedness to the features that it has been 

 impossible to overcome. The use of wax for 

 this purpose dates back to a remote period. 

 Not only is the human face divine divinely 

 beautiful, and also fiendish, represented in wax. 

 but the most delicate flowers are fashioned, and 

 seem to be in perpetual bloom. In using wax 

 for all of these purposes there is more or less 

 admixture of other ingredients, as plastic or 

 liard qualities are required. So. while we woi'k 

 with our bees and see them fashion the beauti- 

 ful waxen cells, we little think of the many 

 uses to which it is to be put by the busy human 

 toilers of the world. I shall speak a favorable 

 word for the Eden Mus^e. and the world in 

 wax; and it will doubtless be of interest to oth- 

 er wax-producers as well as to the 



Rambler. 



THE SIMPLICITY HIVE AND METAL-CORNEK- 

 ED FRAME. 



.T. .\. GREEN REVIEWS THEIR GOOD ANT) BATI 

 FEATURES: FIXED DISTAXCE.S. 



Friend Root:— You say, on page 378. that the 

 Simplicity hive was planned with the idea that 

 the bees should never have a chance to propo- 

 lize the inside of a cover. Now, that is all right, 

 and easily accomplished as long as there is no 

 tiering up or interchanging of stories. If the 

 bees are always kept in one story of the hive, or 

 if they are never allowed access to the joints of 

 the upper story or cover, one might keep :bees 



for years in Simplicity hives, and never suspect 

 the existence of their worst fault. But when 

 hives are tiered up two or more stories higii. as 

 in extracting, so that the bees can get at the 

 joints between the hives, they proceed at once 

 to fill up the joints with propolis. This softens 

 and runs down by the heat of the sun; more 

 propolis is added every time the hives are sepa- 

 rated, until finally the whole of the beveled sur- 

 face, top and bottom, is more or less propolized. 

 and nothing short of a wagon-jack arrange- 

 ment will separate the parts of the hive without 

 tearing them to pieces. Then when what was a 

 lower story is put on top the propolis is commn- 

 nicated to the cover, which becomes stuck al- 

 most as tight. The beveled stoi'ies do not fit to- 

 gether with as close a joint as a well-made 

 square joint, so they are stuck together with so 

 much more propolis, and in such a way that, in 

 time.it becomes almost impossible to separate 

 them safely. 



METAI.-CORNERED FRAMES. 



These are very well for those rearing queens, 

 or who have only small apiaries, and who nev- 

 er expect to move their bees. But with strong 

 colonies devoted to honey production they will, 

 if not carefully looked after, and kept trimmed 

 off, become so attached to each other and to the 

 sides of the hives, that they can not be handled 

 a particle easier than all-wood frames. I have 

 just looked over a lot of colonies on iianging 

 frames, a large proportion of them metal-cor- 

 nered, which required just about twice as much 

 time to manipulate as those on closed-end 

 frames. Fixed-distance frames are almost free 

 from brace-combs (mind. I say hrace-comhs. 

 which are built between frames, and not Inirr- 

 combs. which are built on top): and on this ac- 

 count, as well as others, they are easier to 

 handle, and kill fewer bees. My frame is a 

 combination of the Hoffman and Heddon. It is 

 a hanging frame, with wide-end top-bars, like 

 the Hoffman: but the end-bars fit closely all 

 the way down, and are held together l)y a 

 screw, as in the Heddon hive. 



My bees wintered in the cellai' did not do 

 nearly so well as those outside. More died: 

 they used more honey, and came out weakei- in 

 numbers. But the cellar was very warm. .")0 to 

 <)0°, and they were considerably disturbed by 

 the settling of the roof on them. 



The paving-brick which Ernest inquires about 

 weigh about Hi lbs., which is about I'ight. 



Dayton, 111.. May i). J. A. Green. 



[You have stated pretty fairly and accurately 

 the faults of the Simplicity hive and metal-cor- 

 nered frame: and mainly for these reasons we 

 decided to abandon them for a hive and frame 

 for the general bee-keeper. You are correct re- 

 garding fixed frames, and their immunity from 

 b?'oce-combs: and with the right kind of top- 

 bar, a good big inch wide. ^ thick, there will 

 be no bitrr-combs. Your distinction between 

 the two kinds of nuisances is well drawn. Say I 

 I am very anxious to know more about that 

 closed-end frame with Hoffman top-bar. You 

 know Dr. Miller is leaning pretty strongly to- 

 ward such a frame. I hope you will tell us 

 more about it, and the reason why you decided 

 to adopt such a frame. As many of our readers 

 may not know exactly what it looks like, if you 

 will send us a sanipre by mail we will have it 

 engraved. The Hoffman top-bar is a good thing. 

 I am satisfied, either with partly or fully closed 

 ends; and, to adopt a favorite expression of Mr. 

 Heddon (although he may not adopt the arti- 

 cle), I believe it has " come to stay."' You did 

 not say whether the closed ends mentioned were 

 to be close-fitting, or to have a bee-space back of 

 them — that is, between them and the end of the 

 hive.] E. R. R. 



