344 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



cut away % inch, leaving it ^ deep, and you 

 say, " Oh ! you must cut away another Y^ and 

 make them build that yi over again or else 

 they'll finish it rough." That may be reason- 

 able, but it doesn't look so at the present 

 writing. 



I have often wondered how it is that combs 

 of full depth could be used for extracted hon- 

 ey, while the honey would sour, and all sorts 

 of things, if it were left in the comb. Mr. 

 Demaree refers to the matter, and says condi- 

 tions are different. " The bees instinctively 

 spread out the honey in the extracting-combs, 

 and thereby aid in the evaporation of the 

 excess of water in the nectar; while in the 

 section-cases the work is more concentrated, 

 and the drawn-out combs are sometimes filled 

 and sealed before the nectar is thoroughly 

 seasoned." Surely the bees don't know 

 whether the drawn-out combs are intended 

 for comb honey or the extractor; and the only 

 difference would be the greater amount of 

 room in one case than the other. But is it the 

 rule that honey in extracting-combs is more 

 liable to spoil if the room be limited ? and just 

 as much room can be given in section-supers 

 as in extracting-supers. 



I am inclined to believe that Messrs. Larra- 

 bee and Doolittle have more nearly the cor- 

 rect view. Mr. Larrabee wants just enough 

 cut away so the bees will finish out with white 

 wax and cover up combs that are stained, 

 although there might be some question how 

 much stain could be allowed, even if covered 

 up. Mr. Doolittle says, "There is only one 

 reason for a comb-leveler, and that is to get 

 rid of the thick edges to the cells (which gen- 

 erally are of a dingy colored wax), so that the 

 bees will lengthen out the cells with new wax 

 the next year, thus completing the combs so 

 that they will look equal to those built out 



entirely new from the foundation 



As I use sections whose combs are only iy% 

 thick, it is necessary to level them down to 

 about one inch to accomplish what I wish. 

 If I used two-inch sections then I would leave 

 the combs, after leveling, about 1 ^'2 inches." 

 Barring a slight inconsistency in his figures, I 

 believe Doolittle's head is, as usual, level; and 

 if there's any leak in his logic or mine, I'd be 

 glad to have it pointed out. 



Marengo, 111., Feb. 11. 



[I have spent a little time in looking up the 

 late B. Taylor's articles, but I do not anywhere 

 find that he gave a distinct reason 7uhy he 

 leveled his combs. He seems to have left it to 

 his readers to infer that it was for the purpose 

 of getting rid of the thickened and soiled 

 edges of combs as bees leave them before the 

 capping is put over ; and, incidentally, I be- 

 lieve he made the point that honey would 

 ripen better in shallow cells than in the deep- 

 er ones. 



When this question came up a few years ago 

 a good many reported that it was not profit- 

 able to use unfinished sections, because the 

 honey was more apt to candy ; and that, even 

 after they were completed, they did not look 

 as nice and clean as those built from founda- 

 tion ; but at the same time the idea of leveling 



down the combs, a la Taylor, was not, of" 

 course, taken into consideration ; but since 

 that time there seems to have been a general 

 testimony to the effect that such leveled 

 combs are not only readily accepted and filled 

 by the bees, hence finished sooner, but in ap- 

 pearance are fully equal to those built from 

 foundation. 



When the use of unfinished sections was 

 condemned in the first place, it is possibly and 

 probably true that they were not first extract- 

 ed ; or, if extracted, they had not been given 

 to the bees to clean out. 



Later on, Mr. Taylor brought forward the 

 statement that he considered unfinished sec- 

 tions his most valuable stock in trade for the 

 following year. He extracted them, and then 

 left them exposed where the bees could clean 

 the honey out. They were then leveled down, 

 put into supers, ready for next year's business. 

 If I remember correctly, he claimed that such 

 a procedure increased his honey crop by al- 

 most a half. — Ed] 



THAT LONG -IDEA HIVE AS POPPLETON USES 

 IT. 



The Advantages of Single-story Hives Over the 

 " Doubled-eckers." 



3Ir. O. O. Poppleton ;—Yla.\ir\g Mr. Doolit- 

 tle's "History of the Long - idea Hive," 

 Gleanings, page 634, and your reply, page 

 13, I have become somewhat interested to 

 know more of the particulars regarding said 

 hive. What size is your hive, inside measure? 

 What size is your frame ? Where do you 

 form the entrance, at side or end ? Do you 

 use a loose hive bottom ? What are the most 

 important advantages over the top super hive ? 

 Is it necessary, in this hive, to use excluders 

 between the brood-chamber proper, and the 

 surplus compartments ? D. W. Heise. 



Bethesda, Ont. 



[Mr. Poppleton replies to the above as fol- 

 lows: — Ed.] 



The hive I use is 36 in. long, I334 wide, 13 

 deep, inside measures. PVames are — top-bars, 

 14 in.; side or end-bars, 12 in.; comb-guide, 

 V2% in., and bottom-bar 13^'^, the last pro- 

 jecting about % in. outside of side-bars. (See 

 article on p. 517, Gleanings for July, 1897.) 

 Entrance is in the middle of the long side of 

 the hive. I use a tight bottom. This is more 

 necessary with me than with many, on ac- 

 count of my practicing migratory bee-keeping. 

 The principal advantage to me is that, with 

 my physique and temperament, I can do bet- 

 ter work with single-story hives than I can 

 with double-decked ones. Our Creator has 

 made us differ from each other in qualities of 

 both body and mind, and our success very 

 often depends somewhat on our adoption of 

 such methods and implements as are best suit- 

 ed to us. There are advantages and disadvan- 

 tages in both kinds of hives. With the sin- 

 gle-story hives I can always keep just the 

 right number of combs in the hive, according 

 to strength of colony, without having to add 

 or take away a full story at a time. This I 



