1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



755 



arranged the second slory, as it was a Lang- 

 stroth hive, so as to hold frames above as well 

 as below; third, the honey was removed by 

 the machine at intervals of from three days to 

 a week, or just before the bees were about to 

 seal it up; fourth, as the swarm soon became 

 very populous we were several times obliged 

 to remove comb from the center, and supply 

 its place with empty frames, to prevent their 

 clustering and 'loafing,' so that they have 

 in reality built several frames of comb, besides 

 yielding us "203 pounds of pure honey up to 

 this date, July 21, and from appearances we 

 think they are not nearly through yet." 



Now, what do you suppose the editor of 

 L' Apiculteur said in regard to this? He 

 sneeringly wrote: " This figure of Root's re- 

 minds us of another. We once read in a pub- 

 lication of the Roret editors, at the time of the 

 eiTervescence about the ' drawer hive of the 

 Englishman Nutt,' that an owner of this 

 marvelous hive had harvested 1100 lbs. (550 

 kilos) in one year from the same hive." 



So you see, friend reader, how the new 

 ideas were received by a class of men who 

 had been accustomed to consider themselves 

 as the leaders of progress in this particular 

 branch of industry. There was no progress 

 outside of them; no discovery had any value 

 which they had not made; and those who suc- 

 ceeded with improved methods and larger 

 hives were nothing but humbugs, " American 

 Barnums," as Hamet had finally named my 

 father. The honey-extractor was stamped 

 "joujou inutile" (useless toy). It was up- 

 hill work to get new ideas started with such a 

 light-extinguisher as the old Apiculteur was; 

 but, happily, men of progress were to be 

 found who were willing to listen to plain 

 sense. My father first found listeners in the 

 Journal des Fertnes, in which he had long 

 discussions on the size of hives with several, 

 and especiallv with Bastian, already mention- 

 ed in this article. Yet Bastian, who was very 

 fair in the discussions, acknowledged that the 

 hive should be large enough to accommodate 

 the laying of the queen, and funish room 

 enough for the provisions. But Berlepsch and 

 Dzierzon used small hives, and Bastian fol- 

 lowed them. In his book he supports small 

 movable frame hives. Later our good friend 

 Mr. Bertrand began the publication of his 

 most excellent sheet, the Revue Interuation- 

 ale, in Switzerland. Then the work of prog- 

 ress began to tell on L' Apiculteiir. Slowly 

 and steadily the opposition to movaVjle-frame 

 hives and to larger hivts than formerly used 

 had to be relinquished; and when Hamet, the 

 stubborn, sarcastic, and unprogressive editor 

 of this sheet died, that was the end of box- 

 hive methods. The Italian bee journal, L' Api- 

 coltore, also had entered the field for a better 

 cause, and the works of Dubini and of the 

 late De Laj'ens finished the work. 



Doctor Dubini, in his book, page 258, says: 

 " The Americans give preference to spacious 

 hives [remember that Europeans previously 

 used a smaller hive than the eight-frame 

 Langstroth]. De Layens uses a hive with a 

 capacity of 80 liters (80 quarts); many find 

 themselves satisfied with one of 75 quarts. 



This capacity may be varied by means of a 

 division-board, and thus diminish or increase 

 the numl)er of frames at will, which permits: 



"I. To wait till the weak colonies become 

 strong. 



"2. To diminish the hone)- consumption in 

 winter by reducing the room and keeping the 

 heat concentrated. 



" .'). To help the bees to defend themselves 

 better against their enemies. 



" 4. To increase the activity of the bees in a 

 good season. 



"5. To enable the queen to continue her 

 laying by being furnished with plenty of emp- 

 ty cells. 



"6. To agjilomerate a greater number of 

 bees for the time of blossoms. 



"7. To increase the crop, in complex pro- 

 portion with the space, the validity of the 

 queen, and the number of worker bees. 



" It is a grave error to believe that, in coun- 

 tries where the blooming season is short, 

 small hives are advisable. We hold that 

 small hives give small swarms, which can not 

 gather even the necessary food, much less the 

 surplus, in the short moments that hardly 

 ever fail in the worst seasons, in which the 

 flowering, though of short duration, still is 

 sufficient for strong colonies to harvest a plen- 

 tiful supply." [L'Apico/tore, Dubini, 1881.) 



De Layens also cites the Americans as using 

 large hives. His views of America are taken 

 from Mr. Dadant's writings and from those of 

 father Langstroth, whose book is now well 

 known in Europe through the translation 

 made by my father. The Dadant-Langstroth 

 and the De Layens hive are now about the 

 only hives sold in all the French speaking 

 countries; and the A'fZ'/i'c' Iiiicniationale ■gm- 

 odically publishes statements showing a great 

 difference in results in the comparison of 

 these hives with smaller types all over French- 

 speaking Europe. 



Hamilton, 111. 



[As I have several times said, history repeats 

 itself. As there were, j'cars ago, advocates of 

 small hives, and opposers of large ones, so we 

 have them to-day. I may, some time in the 

 future, change iwy mind; but I can not help 

 thinking that more money can be secured from 

 a large colony in a large hive. But a large 

 colony in a small hive or a small one in a large 

 hive, will accomplish little more than a big 

 cart-horse pulling a baby-cab, or a dog trying 

 to pull a lumber- wagon. The two " larges " 

 nnist be hitched together, and then we have a 

 team that will do some work. 



I note that Dr. Dubini says that "it is a 

 grave error to believe that, in countries where 

 the blooming season is short, small hives are 

 advisable." While I think there is a great 

 deal of truth in it, I do not go so far as to 

 deny or affirm the proposition. — Ed.] 



CRAYCRAFT'S BEE-SHED. 



Importance and Convenience of Shade in Florida. 



BY JOHN CRAYCRAFT. 



Having learned by experience that a com- 

 pact placing of hives under a shed is an indis- 



