730 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15. 



that day or the next? This is important, if 

 true. But I am very sure it is not true. 

 Dayton, III., Aug. 24. J. A. Gkeen. 



After receiving the communication we wrote 

 friend Green, inquiring if the cut, which we liei'e 

 reproduce, was correct, and asking for more in- 

 formation on points suggested in his article. 

 The nature of the questions will .be readily un- 

 derstood from the reply, which is of so much 

 interest we give place to it below, with the cut. 



.T. A. green's fixed FRAME. 



The engraving omits the central tin-bar, 

 which is a necessity with a thin top-bar. and, 

 In a sectional brood-chamber, the top-bar must 

 be thin so as not to make too great a division in 

 the brood-chamber. The brood-chamber is in 

 two stories, and the frames are pressed togeth- 

 er with screws as in the Heddon hive. The 

 frames are much more easily handled than 

 frames that fit close to the ends of the hive, 

 while the hives may be just as readily handled. 

 Bees may be shaken out. and. in fact, every 

 thing in the way of " handling hives instead of 

 frames " done with this hive as well as with 

 any. The ends of the frames, fitting closely to- 

 gether ?^ of an inch away from the end of the 

 hive, form a double wall with dead-air space 

 between, which is of considerable value for pro- 

 tection. By laying a sheet of enameled cloth 

 over the frames, the bees are in a hive as tight 

 as a box hive, and in the best possible shape for 

 breeding up in the spring. 



My hives are made with a shallow rabbet on 

 the lower edges. By turning the hive over 

 and putting the frames in from that side, the 

 frames are flush with tiie top of the hive and 

 the bee-space below. The hive may now be re- 

 versed as a whole, to get the frames solidly 

 filled with comb, or for any other purpose for 

 which inversion is desired. Screws can not be 

 depended on to sup])ort the frames when in- 

 verted, so 1 use strips of heavy tin slipped be- 

 tween the ends of upper and lower stories. If 

 it is desired to invert the lower story, it is push- 

 ed back a little on the bottom-board, which 

 supports the back ends, and the frout ends are 

 held up by a strip of tin with two or three small 

 blocks under the middle. Your Hotfman frames 

 might be reversed in the same way. Inversion 

 is seldom profitable except for ' getting the 

 frames full of comb. For this purpose it is al- 

 most indispensable. __j ^ J "^ 



In the brood-chamber, 8 frames occupy a 

 space 1] inches in width, measuring to the out- 

 side of frames, the hive being ;^^ inch wider. 

 For extracting, 7 frames fill the same space. 

 All transferring is done into extracting-frames. 

 After these thick combs have been extracted 

 from two or three times, the crookedest combs 

 are straight. 



I made my frames iS;?^ deep in order to tise a 

 lot of combs I had. If I were to start over 

 again I would make them only 5 inches deep. 



Dayton, III., Sept. 1. .1. A. Green. 



[I have read your article with more than or- 

 dinary interest, perhaps because it is one of my 

 hobbies. I fear that, if you don't change your 

 mind, our friend C. P. Dadant will have to la- 



bor with tjou on the undesirable features of 

 fixed frames (see page 703). 



I was not certain that compression was nec- 

 essary with fixed frames; but that uncertainty, 

 in the last few days, has changed to the con- 

 clusion that I want compression, and I am rath- 

 er inclined to the belief that Manum's thumb- 

 screws are the best for the pui'pose. As I have 

 explained elsewhere, wedges do not give suffl- 

 cient compression. 



In handling Hoffman frames I use both meth- 

 ods of adjusting them to position; i. e., sliding 

 them against each other as you explain, and 

 crowding them up together. The proper use of 

 the smoker just before closing them up will 

 drive the bees all, or nearly all. out of the way. 



I have practiced reversing the Hoffman 

 frames this summer on the plan you describe, 

 and I believe I have explained it somewhere in 

 Gleanings. I agree with you that the chief 

 object in reversing is to "get well-filled-out, 

 straight combs; and with all frames that ad- 

 mit of compression we can accomplish this very 

 nicely. 



You were right in deciding on a bee-space 

 back of the end-bars. Full-depth closed-end 

 frames without the bee-space have been any 

 thing but satisfactory, on account of hitching in 

 in withdrawing. If every thing is made perfect, 

 and moisture doesn't interfere, they work well.] 



RAMBLE NO. 45. 



AT THE AV. T. FALCONER MANUFACTURING CO'S. 



After leaving Onondaga Co. we cross the out- 

 lets and catch views of nearly all of those beau- 

 tiful lakes which make Central New York just- 

 ly famous. The many thriving towns in their 

 vicinity, and the tidy farmhouses thickly dot- 

 ting the landscape, is an evidence of the fertili- 

 ty of the soil and of the thrift and prosperity of 

 the occupants. These lakes, though separated 

 from each other by only a few miles of laud, 

 have characteristics peculiarly their own. Sen- 

 eca Lake is peculiar from the fact that it is 

 very seldom frozen over. Like a large spring 

 welling up from unknown depths, it is proof 

 against the congealing effects of frost. Lake 

 Keuka is also peculiar, from the fact that the 

 influence of the water, and the contour of the 

 surrounding country, make it a very paradise 

 for the grape-grower, and over 40,<K)0 aci-es of 

 vineyards greet the eye as we float over its wa- 

 ters in one of the many pretty steamers in con- 

 stant use. Whenever we ride upon these steam- 

 ers upon any of our inland lakes, the price is 

 much more per mile than railroad fare ; but 

 what was oui- surprise when charged the ridic- 

 txlously low amount of 10 cents for a 22 mile 

 I'ide! We felt just like spending a whole week 

 riding back and forth. In consequence of these 

 low rates, picnics and pleasure-parties of all 

 kinds are on the lake everyday; and even at 

 these low rates the traffic is I'emunerative. In 

 addition to passenger traffic thei'e is much mer- 

 chandise cairied; and in autumn the boats are 

 loaded to theii' utmost capacity with the lus- 

 cious products of the vineyiirds. There are not 

 many bees kept in this locality, and con.sequent- 

 ly there is not much conflict between the fruit- 

 grower and the honey- producer; and the fruit- 

 men with whom we conversed, we were happy 

 to find, were enlightened enough to know that 

 the sin of grape destruction is not altogether 

 the fault of the bee. 



In the vicinity of the lake we found Mr. Beck- 

 with, with 50 or (50 colonies of bees, but they 

 were evidently not doing much, and his busi- 

 ness of handling supplies was also suffering 

 from the same cause. A drouth prevailed to 



