1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



45 



I remember one said, " My father kept bees 

 as long ago as I can remember, and I have 

 kept them for thirty years, and I never heard 

 before that they Hve only ten weeks. Why ! 

 I now have a swarm that grandfather gave my 

 father fifty years a,i.o, and they are alive yet, 

 and it is the best swarm I have get. They 

 have swarmed every year except one, and that 

 was the year father died. That year they 

 neither swarmed, nor made any honey; there- 

 fore your theory that bees don't know when 

 there is a death in the family is all bosh. 

 Whv ! the summer that father died, our bees 

 all died except this one swarm, and I suppose 

 they too would have died, only that they were 

 once grandfather's." 



I was obliged to listen to such talk by a few- 

 old-time bee-men . Not all were as wise. Very 

 many seemed interested in my talk, and in 

 the course of two or three years were induced 

 to adopt improved hives and new methods. 

 But, oh how wise / was ! Surely, Mr. Editor, 

 I knew four times more about bees then than 



THE BEE-SPACE. 



Is the Box-hive Better for the Farmer? Closed-end 

 Frames for Wintering. 



BY K. GREINER. 



It is now forty-five years since father Lang- 

 stroth in America and Baron von Berlepsch in 

 Germany, unbeknown to each other, invented 

 and gave to the world the hanging frame with 

 the bee-space around its different parts. This 

 bee-space is rather the most important part of 

 the invention; no other has so revolutionized 

 bee-keeping as that. By it we have gained 

 control of our bees in a measure not dreamed 

 of before. It is true, the well-known and still 

 living Dr. Dzierzon invented his bar-hive sev- 

 enteen years prior; but, although Dzierzon ac- 

 complished with his bar hive wonderful things, 

 the bee-keeper of the present day can hardly 

 afford to use it. When the reader imagines 

 that each and every comb will have to be cut 

 loose on both ends before it can be moved, I 



I do now, viewing the past from my present 

 standpoint. 



In April my two swarms were set out under 

 an apple-tree in my garden ; and many a day, 

 after dinner, I would go out and watch the 

 bees until the afternoon was well advanced, 

 and I would often find customers waiting for 

 me ; but in those days my bees were of more 

 consequence to me than were customers — at 

 least they were uppermost in my mind. In 

 due time they were transferred into movable- 

 frame hives of the American pattern. Were I 

 to tell you, Mr. Editor, of m}' experience in 

 transferring my first swarm you would laugh 

 yourself hoarse, but I will not take up space 

 to relate that try ing experience. In my next 

 I will tell you of my first crop of honey, which 

 netted me in Boston, Mass., 33 'j cts. per lb. 

 Continued. 



[When an old-timer comes around talking 

 about the " king bee," and how wax is carried 

 on the legs, and not secreted from the wax 

 rings, or pockets, it is almost impossible for 

 me, at least, to give him a respectful hearing, 

 much less answer. — Ed.] 



am sure he will not want to try it. Even in 

 the hands of many of the more experienced, 

 many combs would break down, especially the 

 heavy and newer ones. And, after all, Dr. 

 Dzierzon clings to that bar hive of sixty-two 

 years ago with great tenacity ; and while he 

 tolerates and uses the swinging or hanging 

 frame in the supers for extracting, he has con- 

 demned it again and again for use in the brood- 

 chamber. He holds that it is not conducive 

 to the welfare of the bees, and especially det- 

 rimental during our long severe winters. 



In a recent issue of the A. B. J. I notice 

 this same idea expressed by C. E. Mead. He 

 goes so far as to call the bee-space " the detest- 

 able bee-space." 



Now, I want to object very seriously to such 

 nomenclature. To say the least, it is next to 

 an insult to Rev. Mr. 'Langstroth. I will not 

 deny that the bee -space between and around 

 the brood-frames is in a large measure to blame 

 for our losing thousands of colonies of bees-— 

 at least, I had long been .convinced of this 

 when, a few j-ears ago, I recommended (thovigh 

 timidly) in an agricultural paper a hive with- 

 out frames for farmers and others who do not 



