(JLEANINCJS IN BEE CULTURE. 



275 



Uij R. C. Aikin. 



HIVK-CONSTKUCTION; 1'KESE?,T dischepanciks, 

 ANT) THEIR REMEDY: A DIVISIBLE BROOD- 

 CHAMBER HIVE. WITH SUPERS AND BKOOD- 

 CHA.MBER>! OF THE SAME DEPTH. 



In my article on "Sections; Size, Weight, 

 Shape, etc.." in the preceding number, I spoke 

 of our present hive system as being liki' trying 

 to build a nice tine house, but doing it a little 

 at a lime over a term of years. Langstroth in- 

 vented the movable frame— not to fit or work 

 with any system or set of fixtures then in use — 

 but a 7ictt; departure to facilitate handling 

 bees, and in a way altogether different from 

 any pr.-ceding method. He did not have the 

 two and one pound sections, but made a frame 

 that, in general shape and size, would be con- 

 venient and still make a hive surface on top, 

 giving large room for surplus boxes. 



In the course of years came the invention of 

 sections, or single comb boxes. They were a 

 grand step in advance: but both the frames 

 and sections were crude as in any new develop- 

 ments. Improvement has gone on until our 

 hives, in point of workmanship and finish, are 

 very fine. 



Having adopted the L. frame and 4}{x4:}{x2 

 section, many devices have been resorted to to 

 get the combination of brood and surplus 

 apartments in the most convenient working 

 order. We built a little at a time. As new 

 features were added, the difliculiy was to get 

 the new additions to fit on to what we already 

 hai, and at the same lime retain all the good 

 points. Any one who has built a house, adding 

 a room here, a porch there, at some iiiher time 

 a bay-window, etc.. knows how expensive^ and 

 unsatisfactory such a structure is. It seems to 

 me this is just where we are in the matter of 

 hives. The thing to do now is to commence 

 anew, make a thorough study of the old struc- 

 ture to find its faults, then form into a new 

 combination the valuable featiiies in one har- 

 monious structure. 



The L. frame, in general principles, is a guod 

 one. A deeper frame of the same length would 

 give too large a comb— more liable to break 

 with heat or handling. Its length, when used 

 in an eight-frame hive, makes the hive too long 

 and narrow. A square house both conserves 

 heai and save^ material. The L. frame takes 

 a chamber 183i inches long. B'our 4K sections 

 equal 17 inches: licnci;, when we put these sec- 

 tions over the L. frame we have IW inche> to 



lag up in some way. If wide frames or section- 

 holders are used we can fill the surplus room 

 with their ends. Wide frames are undesirable. 

 Holder-bottoms and pattern-slats must match 

 the section-bottom, and even then two difficul- 

 ties appear — saggingof the bottom, and slightly 

 out of-true sections. These two features make 

 a lot of room for propolis. The T super has 

 fewer objections on account of propolizing, yet 

 the sections are necessarily loose or wide apart 

 at the tops— corresponding to the thickness of 

 the T's. This super is better than wide frames 

 or holders. 



In the earlier days, the great ubject sought 

 after was a knowledge uf tl e habits of the bee, 

 and to cuntrol swarming. Our hives were con- 

 structed more for that than any other purpose, 

 the shape and appearance of the surplus honey 

 being a secondary consideration. Research 

 into the habits of the bee has brought that 

 down to a science, and in such shape that we 

 now can learn from books and journals what 

 then we sought by personal observation and 

 practice. Our great object now is to apply our 

 knowledge in such a way as to make it yield 

 financial returns. 



Since, then, we are not now keeping bees so 

 much to study their habits as to profit finan- 

 cially, and since this profit must come from the 

 surplus apartment, I deem it proper to put that 

 first. Instead of tilting the super to the brood- 

 chamber, I wo:ild fit tlie brood-chamber to the 

 best surplus fixture. Having arrived at this 

 conclusion, let us find out what is 



THE BEST SECTION AND SUPER. 



In the previous article I discussed sections at 

 length, and therein took my stand for a 4x5x1% 

 section, the sides 1% their entire length, and 

 the tops and bottoms a trifle wider, their entire 



i-IG. S 



c 



'jr 



Tl^4 SUPPORT. 



length, than the thickness of the./j?iii7iCfi comb. 

 If tije section be 1% thirk, the top and bottom 

 should be abour. two ben spaces less in width 

 than the sides, or IJ^ inches wide. Pour4-inch- 

 wide sections i qnal IG inches, the inside length 



