1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



931 



•were too big and ungainly for any thing. I 

 began to looiv around for a suitable hive; and, 

 .as I stated in Gleanings of Oct. 1, I ran across 

 an eight- frame portico hive, sold by a Western 

 manufacturer, and thought it all right when I 

 got them: but the frames being very light and 

 nari'ow it giv<s too much room between the 

 top-bars. and I have as miserable a lot of combs 

 in my hives now as you ever saw. All braced 

 together as they are, I can hardly lift one with- 

 out lifting all together. After getting these 

 hives I found that Koofs Dovetailed hives with 

 thick top-bars were sold in tny city — a fact I 

 had not found out before I purchased. I went 

 •and examined them, and Thompson >t Neill 

 showed me the points of advantage in them, 

 and cited me to some of my neighbors who were 

 using them. I immediately went to examine 

 them, and found all combs made as true and 

 regular as if a division-tin had been between 

 all the frames. There were no burr nor brace 

 combs to be found in the hives; no queen- 

 excluders had been used, and no brood was in 

 the supers, either in the sections or extracting- 

 super. 



So now. friend Baird, I don't see why you 

 should look any further for a hive when Root's 

 Dovetailed hive has gained such a reputation 

 as it has. For my part I have not heard one 

 word of dissatisfaction in regard to it here in 

 this country. I am going to use it in my Platte 

 Valley apiary hereafter. My opinion is. that 

 any one can use them, and not live in ft^ar of 

 any one hinting kindling-wood after a use of 

 five or six years. And I have an opiuion. also, 

 that the best results are gained by putting 

 nearly full sheets of foundation in both sections 

 and brood-frames, and using the Keeney meth- 

 od of wiring. 



Now. I may be a little enthusiastic over the 

 ■question of "bee culture; but I, too. have got 

 far enough on in the business to know it has a 

 lasting fascination foi' me. Theo. V. Jessup. 



Greeley, Col., Nov. 2. 



[The above may sound like a big pufT for the 

 Dovetailed hive: but we can only say that it 

 came unsolicited. The thick-top frame, on 

 account of its freeness from burr-combs, can 

 not help being liked. Friend Jessup's experi- 

 ence with them is quite in line with that of 

 hundreds of others who have tried them.] 



THE AUTOMATIC SWARM-HIVER. 



:mk alley explains: the dibbern swarmek. 



I have just finished reading Mr. Dibbern's 

 interesting article descriptive of his self-hiver 

 •and method of using the same. His article has 

 been a long time in coming since first promised. 

 1 have tried in every way I could think of to 

 get Bro. D. to send me one of his swarmers, but 

 have not succeeded up to date. I am now glad 

 he did not comply with my request. Well, if 

 the bee-keepers of this country have an idea 

 that I have tested but one style and but one 

 way of using the s warmer, they are mistaken. 

 Now I will surprise Bro. D. by telling him that 

 the first time the swarmer was tried it was 

 arranged above the hive as he now uses them; 

 and, what is more, the drone and queen trap 

 did the business in fine shape. The trap was 

 placed on a hive in the usual way; a decoy hive 

 was placed on the top of the hive from which 

 the bees were expected to swarm, and the two 

 hives connected by a wire-cloth tube. Two 

 hives were so arranged, and two swai'ms were 

 successfully hived when they issued. 



You will now want to know why I abandoned 

 a successful self-hiver for one that has proved 



unsuccessful. My reasons are these: I did not 

 consider placing one hive above another, as 

 described by Mr. I)., in order to catch a swarm, 

 at all practical; and I still hold to that idea. 

 I have found, by actual experiment and experi- 

 ence, that a self-hiver will work successfully 

 when the bees are obliged to run to the right 

 or to the left of the entrance when they swarm. 

 This arrangement seems a good deal better 

 than the one of Mr. Dibbern. 



With the present arrangement as now used 

 in the Bay State apiary we have hut little 

 trouble in glutting the -^ueen and all (or nearly 

 all) the bees, that issue with the swarm. If 

 catching a few drones and qneen is considered 

 successful automatic swarming, our swarmer 

 has long been a success. I will say to those 

 who purchased the swarmers sent out last sea- 

 son (IS(il). that the only thing to make them 

 perfect, so that the queen is sure to be trapped 

 without a failure in any case, i.s to make as 

 large a hole as possible directly over the tube 

 which conducts the queen into the long box B. 

 The queen could not seem to find her way out 

 of box A till the light was let in as described. 

 Since this improvement was made, the swarmer 

 has not failed to catch a queen in every case 

 when a swarm issued. The more bees, espe- 

 cially young bees, that can be induced to go up 

 into and out through the metal in box B. the 

 more successfully the hiver is likely to work. 

 When the bees that pass out through the metal 

 in box B return in search of their queen, they 

 generally try to enter the hive by the same 

 passageway they went out. When they do this 

 they find theii- way to the old hive blocked by 

 the cone tube, and are obliged to stay with the 

 queen, and other bees are sure to join the queen. 



There is no doubt that the swarmer not only 

 retards but actually breaks up the swarming 

 fever in huudreds of cases. It i-educes the 

 number of drones, and this is one of the princi- 

 pal things that discourage swarming. 



Some people have entertained an idea that, 

 where the drone and queen trap is used, the 

 bees gather and store less honey. Experience 

 has proved the fallacy of this belief. I am sure 

 that, instead of being a detriment to a colony, 

 the trap greatly aids the bees in all their work. 



Speaking of the success of the swarmer as 

 now used, I will give one testimonial that came 

 to hand to-day: 



Friend AUcy:^lM i-egnrd to my experience with 

 tiie swarmer, I will say I don't think j'nu need liave 

 any fears but that It will worli wlien treated and 

 made as I have mine. Tlie actual number of swarms 

 it has hived was nine, without counting tlie one. It 

 didn't hive all the swarms I had after g-etting- tlie 

 sample from vou. E. A. Bool. 



Hinchman,"]\ticli., Nov. 1.5, 1891. 



Mr. Bool gave a description of his way of 

 using the swarmer in Gleanings, p. 706. 



The first ideas of an automatic swarmer were 

 suggested to me by an experiment I tried with 

 the drone and queen trap. One day when a 

 swarm issued through the trap. I saw the queen 

 had been caught. I then put an empty hive at 

 the side of the colony the bees came from, and 

 placed the trap with the queen at the entrance 

 of the new hive. In a few minutes the bees 

 returned and entered the new hive — not a part 

 of the new swarm, but all of the bees that were 

 on the wing. Now, it was not the queen alto- 

 gether that attracted the bees to the new hive. 

 It was taking the trap from the old hive and 

 placing it on the new one, thus giving the front 

 of the new hive the same appearance that the 

 bees had been accustomed to when returning 

 from the field. 



No one has ever questioned the practicability 

 of the trap as a swarm -catcher, and soon the 

 reputation of the automatic self-hiver will be 



