1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



949 



HANDLING HIVES INSTEAD OF FRAMES. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE SIFTS THE MATTER. 



I have been somewhat amused over some of 

 the ideas advanced by the advocates of the 

 •■ short-cut" plan of handling hives instead of 

 frames, in order that we may in the future pro- 

 duce honey more cheaply than in the past. If 

 I am correct. Gleanings has never advocated 

 the handling of hives instead of frames, but. 

 rather, advocated " handling hives more and 

 frames less." This will do very well: yet. as a 

 whole, it has. in my opinion, the element in it 

 of impressing the beginner that a careless style 

 of bee-keeping will accomplish as good results 

 as will one of push and energy, which is incor- 

 porated in the handling of frames. '"Old 

 heads " can be trusted better to (/ut'.s.s at the 

 inside conditions of a colony from the outside 

 appearances of the same; but I contend that, 

 in order for any person to become an accom- 

 plished apiarist, he must, in his initiatory steps, 

 become thoroughly acquainted with the inside 

 workings of a colony of bees by actiuil inspec- 

 tion of the frames of brood, honey, and combs. 

 Handling hives, in the abstract, admits of no 

 suitable knowledge of the inside workings of a 

 colony equal to even a fair guess: hence I claim 

 that the ideas advanced along that line are 

 only a step toward the " dark ages " of the past, 

 when our beloved pursuit was pretty much 

 shrouded in mystery. I find the following in 

 one of our bee-papers: 



■■ We have lost sight of the advantages of 

 judging from outside appearances in our use of 

 the frames. If an experienced bee-keeper places 

 his ear against the side of the hive, and raps or 

 jars, he can tell by the sound, pretty well, the 

 condition of the colony inside of the hive. Dur- 

 ing the early spring, in cold storms, when there 

 are colonies in the apiary that are liable to 

 starve, if the apiarist will go from hive to hive 

 every day and place his ear on the side of the 

 hive, and rap, he can tell by the sound whether 

 all are fed. If the response is weak, a little syrup 

 given immediately will soon restore the strong, 

 vigorous response to the rap," etc., on to the end 

 of the chapter. And what is all this for? 

 Simply to forward on the craze which has 

 stolen the heads of somc^ of our bee-keekers, so 

 that no amount of work is considered too menial 

 so long as the handling of frames can be avoid- 

 ed, in tills great strife in producing honey 

 cheaply, so that apiarists can live by raising 

 honey at the present and fast becoming de- 

 pressed prices of the same. Just think of a 

 sleek, high-toned apiarist going out every day 

 in slush and cold storms, getting down on his 

 knees in the mud and snow, placing his ear to 

 the side of the hives, and rapping on the same 

 to know whether any of the colonies are going 

 to starve, when once handling of the fi'ames dur- 

 ing the first flight of the bees in the spring 

 would place them where the apiarist would 

 positively know that no colony need starve dui"- 

 ing the next month or six weeks to come I 

 Think of a woman going out every week, turn- 

 ing a hive bottom side up, and, with smoke, 

 driving the bees down among the combs, peer- 

 ing in as best she can. setting the hive back on 

 its stand again, removing the covering from 

 the top. smoking again, and looking down into 

 the hive that way, all for the sake of gnessiwi 

 at what is inside, when once handling of the 

 frames the fore part of June would give this 

 lady bee-keeper a perfect knowledge regarding 

 all that would be necessary to know about that 

 colony for the next six weeks to comel If this 

 is to be the advancement (?) of the future decade 

 of our bee-keeping history, I am heartily glad 

 that my apicultural life was cast among those 



of the past decade. Gentlemen, the whole 

 thing is a step in the wrong direction. Teach 

 the beginner that it is an <iI>solute necessity 

 that he fully understand all of the minutia? of 

 the inside workings of a colony of bees: and, 

 after he has this fully learned, frames are to be 

 handled only where a" gain can be made by han- 

 dling them. "Work in the apiary is re(juired only 

 where a profit is to come from that work: and 

 that this handling and work must be done at 

 the right time, in the right manner, and in the 

 right place, if he or she would become a suc- 

 cessful apiarist. 



It is with pride that I look at our achieve- 

 ments in apiculture during the past quarter of 

 a century: and shall we disgrace ourselves and 

 our nation now by going back to the guesswork 

 of our forefathers? No! a thousand times no'. 

 Let us keep climbing the hill of scientific api- 

 culture till we shall have reached the loftiest 

 tablelands of the highest peak, and from there 

 shout forth the victory which a thorough un- 

 derstanding of the inside of a bee-hive, ac- 

 companied with a moderate use of the same, 

 has led u-; to. Let the watchword be ever on- 

 ward, onward, till the unfathomable depths of 

 the present are reached in the future: till the 

 human mind has grasped all that the mind of 

 the Infinite has intended that we should take in 

 of this our beloved pursuit. If any one sees 

 only /un in handling frames, and playing with 

 and searching out the marvelous things which 

 are seen on the inside of a colony of bees, as 

 does your humble servant, then let him set 

 apart one or two colonies for this purpose, and 

 consider the fun as the profit from these: but 

 only work or play with the rest of the apiary, 

 where it is seen that an actual profit in dollars 

 and cents is to come fi-om such work. In this 

 wav. neither "all work" nor "all play" will 

 "make Jack a dull boy." G. M. Dooijtti.e. 



Borodino, N. Y., Nov. 28. 



[If you will follow carefully all that has been 

 said, you will see that Gleanings does not dif- 

 fer very much from your views. It has never 

 advocated that beginners should diagnose colo- 

 nies without handling frames. The policy that 

 it has and does advocate is that, after the 

 beginner, by much handling of frames, has 

 grown to be almost a veteran, he should no 

 longer handle frames separately, but learn to 

 diagnose and almost get along with handling 

 only one frame to a colony. A beginner must 

 go "all through a colony. But it would be bad 

 policy for him to continue this practice all his 

 life a"s a bee-keeper, as you yourself would quite 

 likely admit. We quite agree with you that 

 we could not depend upon the hum or z-z-z-p of 

 a colony, nor would we care to get down on our 

 knees in the wet to do it. There are othei' 

 cheaper and more reliable methods.] 



BEES AT THE BIG FAIB. 



DR. MASON AND THE OHIO EXHIBIT. 



Dr. A. B. ^lason. of this city, who is probably 

 one of the best-known bee-keepers of America, 

 has just returned from Chicago, where he has 

 been to confer with Mr. W. S. Buchanan, the 

 chief of the departmeiit of agriculture for the 

 Columbian exposition, in regard to the prepara- 

 tion of an exhibit of bees and honey, and every 

 thing used by the bee-keepers in increasiag the 

 number of colonies of bees, and securing the 

 products of the labors of the bees that " work 

 all day and never sleep nights." 



The doctor has been recommended for ap- 

 pointment as superintendent of the apiarian 



