214 



GI.EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mae. 15 



honey. For the latter he could get better 

 prices every time. 



I have shown that picture we reproduced 

 from the Review to a dozen or so persons — 

 people who do not know a bee from a mud- 

 wasp, much less the merits of the discussion 

 that has been going on ; and without an ex- 

 ception they have pronounced in favor of the 

 plain section. But Mrs. Doolittle does make a 

 point when she says the honey in the old-style 

 section will cut out in some cases without drip- 

 ping, when in the plain section the knife 

 would cut through the honey. This may or 

 may not have weight ; but if it does I will 

 guarantee that, by the change of the fence 

 slightly, we can cause the honey to be filled 

 out in the same way exactly, if it should be 

 thought desirable ; but the fact must not be 

 forgotten that the honey in the plain section, 

 as shown in the Review, would ship far better 

 than that in the old style. The great problem 

 for years back has been how to get the bees to 

 secure their combs to the sections better. If I 

 am any judge of what I have seen, the fence 

 goes a long way in solving this problem. 



Mr. Doolittle's closing caution, however, is 

 a good one. I have reiterated the same thing 

 in our own columns over and over again. I 

 know of one bee-keeper, for instance, in York 

 State who has changed his hives and his styles 

 of goods almost every two Or three years. He 

 is too independent to follow in the wake of the 

 svipply-dealers. and has, therefore, made things 

 to suit himself. He could show one piles and 

 piles of stuff he has discarded for something 

 he considers better ; but he has never made 

 the money that another man that I know of 

 has — Mr. Coggshall, for instance — who uses 

 all sorts of hives and frames. Almost " any old 

 thing " is good enough for him. He numbers 

 his colonies by the thousand, and his crops 

 of honey by the hundreds of thousands of 

 pounds ; and his bank account — well, most 

 men would feel independently well off. 



But there is a golden mean in all things. 

 When it comes to discarding hives we should 

 go slow ; but when, at a very slight expense 

 per hive — say 10 or 1-5 cents — it seems as if we 

 could get it back and more too then it is well 

 for us to consider and test. I firmly believe 

 that nothing in all beedom has yet been 

 brought out that promises as good returns for 

 the investment as the fence and plain section ; 

 for it is evident that plain sections will be and 

 must be sold for less money than the slotted 

 sections could ever be sold for. For years 

 bee-keepers have bee7i squandering money for 

 the bee-ways in their sections ; and if Mr. Doo- 

 little would consider this one point, he would 

 see that his big figures would in a year or so 

 go clear on the other side of the column. Sup- 

 pose next year plain sections are sold at 25 

 cts. less per 1000. One can readily see what a 

 saving it would effect in time. Let's figure : 

 If 100,000 bee-keepers, on the average, order 

 5000 sections, this would effect a saving of o>ie 

 ■million tzvo hundred thousand dollars per year. 

 Now, add to this the saving in the shipping- 

 cases, the saving effected by the better ship- 

 ping of combs built solid to the sections, and 

 the figures would be enormous. But a long 



array of figures is misleading. Let's test the 

 matter, each one for himself. — Ed.] 



DEEP VS. SHALLOW FRAME HIVES. 



BY J. E. HAND. 



While I am aware that the subject of deep 

 vs. shallow frame hives is a much-mooted ques- 

 tion, and while I do not wish to open a dis- 

 cussion on this subject, yet in an experience 

 of six years with a frame i% inches deep in- 

 side, side by side with deep frames, I have 

 been forced to the conclusion ( rather against 

 my will) that very many of the points of su- 

 periority set forth by the advocates of the deep 

 frame exist only in theory, and will not prove 

 out when put to the test side by side in the 

 apiary. Especially is this true of wintering. 

 The deep-frame advocate will bring forth 

 " bushels of theory," setting forth the supe- 

 riority of the deep frame and the cubical form 

 of hive which is so well adapted to the shape of 

 the cluster, and gives so much better protection, 

 etc. This has been harped on so much in the 

 bee-journals, and looks so reasonable, that 

 many have been led to follow this blind rea- 

 soning, to the detriment of their honey crop ; 

 and 1 must confess I have been one of this 

 number. I considered it a calamity whenever 

 I was obliged to winter a swarm in a single 

 section of my hive, which contains eight 

 frames, 4>4xl7 inches of comb surface. It 

 was so contrary to my preconceived ideas of 

 what the shape of the brood-chamber should 

 be to afford the best protection during winter; 

 but, contrary to my expectation, these swarms 

 invariably winter well, and after repeated suc- 

 cess in wintering in these shallow hives I was 

 forced to yield the point, and I intend here- 

 after to winter all my bees in these shallow 

 hives, on summer stands, with winter- case 

 packed with chaff. 



I have no theory to bolsl er up these facts, 

 nor do I wish any. Years of experience along 

 these lines have led me to the conclusion that, 

 all things being equal, it makes very little dif- 

 ference in wintering whether the brood-cham- 

 ber is deep or shallow, round or square. The 

 difference will be in the bee-keeper's pocket- 

 book at the close of the honey-flow. It rests 

 with every bee-keeper to decide for himself 

 whether or not this difference is in favor of 

 the deep or shallow frame. 



[The time was when it was thought that 

 deep frames would winter bees better than the 

 shallow ; but in late years it is getting to be 

 more and more apparent that, with the same 

 management and same protection, one frame 

 would give as good results as the other. I do 

 not believe there is any one with an}' kind of 

 frame who can show better results than we 

 can with our Langstroth ; and I see no reason 

 why we could not obtain equally good results, 

 even if we were using frames 4 % inches deep. 

 One trouble with the deep frame is that the 

 bees will eat away all the stores next to the 

 top where it is the warmest, and the bees 

 sometimes die because the clusters are left 

 high and dry. — Ed.] 



