800 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1. 



ers, and have used them for several years ; 

 but I am now making all my supers the same 

 length as the T super, but with bottom-slats 

 instead of T tins. Of course, I use cleated 

 separators and plain sections. 



You say that tins can be cleaned quicker 

 than plain slats. I doubt this, if you take into 

 consideration the time for heating water, etc. 

 The plain slats can be cleaned faster than the 

 section-holders, as I have tried both kinds. 

 You can pile up the slats and sit down to do 

 the work. There being no end blocks in the 

 way, they can be handled very rapidly. 



There is another advantage in the plain 

 slats over the section-holders ; and that is, if 

 one sags it can be turned over with the bow 

 side up, so that the weight of the honey will 

 soon bring it back to the right shape. 



I am aware that the strongest point of supe- 

 riority of the T supers over the section-holders 

 is their non-sagging quality. But this superi- 

 ority is not so great over the plain slats as over 

 the section holders, provided the slats are not 

 more than 17 inches in length. The section- 

 holders being some longer, of course they are 

 more liable to sag. Those end blocks on the 

 section-holders always seemed to me like a 

 useless arrangement for filling up vacant 

 space. Your recent writings on the size of 

 hives, etc., lead me to believe that you are not 

 yet quite satisfied which is the best hive. Now, 

 after having carefully considered j'our objec- 

 tions to the eight and ten frame hives I am go- 

 ing to suggest, not a new hive, but a combina- 

 tion, which seems to me to just fill the bill. 

 It is simply this : On a regular ten-frame hive 

 put a super with half-depth frames — that is, 

 frames 4?^ inches deep. This will give you a 

 hive equal to one having frames 13 in. deep ; 

 and when you want to contract you do not 

 have to divide the brood-nest in the middle, 

 nor reduce the width of your brood-chamber, 

 thereby lessening the surface for super room. 

 Divisible brood-chambers are all right, but 

 should not be divided in the middle, but a 

 third of the distance from the top. Your two- 

 story eight-frame hives are on the other ex- 

 treme from those having frames five or six 

 inches deep. I claim that neither principle is 

 the correct one, but a combination of the two 

 — that is, deep frames below and shallow ones 

 above. 



The hive I use and prefer has 9 frames be- 

 low, ~ Yz inches deep, and 8 above, 4^4 inches 

 in depth. These frames are all made 16>^ in. 

 in length, so they are just right for hives and 

 supers 17 inches long inside. I adopted this 

 length to do away with the useless space at the 

 end of the regular supers, which are usually 

 filled with end blocks on the section-holders. 



If you find the above of sufficient interest I 

 shall be pleased to read your comments in 

 G1.EANINGS. 



Don Ana, New Mex., June 12. 



[Below is Dr. Miller's reply. — Ed.] 



I can hardly believe that plain slats can be as 

 easily cleaned by hand as T tins with lye, even 

 taking into account all the time getting ready. 

 It is true, however, they are much more easily 

 cleaned than section-holders, and, indeed, the 



cleaning of plain slats can hardly be considered 

 a formidable undertaking. That they can be 

 reversed in case they sag is a fact of some im- 

 portance. Still, the fact that the weight of 

 the sections will straighten out a curved slat 

 is an admission of the fault that the weight of 

 the sections will curve a straight slat. With 

 the proper thickness of slat, however, and the 

 right kind of lumber, the bending of the slats 

 will hardly be a serious matter. 



You may be right in your idea of dividing 

 the brood-chamber one-third way down. The 

 proof of the pudding is in the eating. I nev- 

 er tried ten-frame hives with a half-depth sto- 

 ry added, but I have tried the same thing with 

 eight-frame hives, and gave it up. Having 

 two kinds of brood-frames not interchange- 

 able is objectionable. Of course, if there are 

 advantages enough to outweigh the disadvan- 

 tages, that's another thing. With eight frames 

 I didn't think there were. 



The eight-frame hive is so much lighter to 

 handle than the ten that I should be loath to 

 change. Two stories of eight frames will give 

 only a little more room than your \% story of 

 ten fi-ames. There are times when the two 

 stories give none too much room, and there 

 are times when one story gives all the room 

 needed. With abundance of super room, an 

 eight-frame hive will accommodate a very 

 large colony ; and if more brood room is need- 

 ed it can be added beneath, from one to eight 

 frames. A super for an eight- framer is pleas- 

 anter to handle than one for a ten-framer, es- 

 pecially if the sections are to be made deeper. 

 The smaller the super the more likelj- are the 

 sections to be uniformly filled at the same time. 



Taken all in all, I have some doubt whether 

 any thing will be found to meet all require- 

 ments better than the eight-frame hive, with 

 the privilege of using as many stories or as 

 many frames as needed, for one who is work- 

 ing for comb honey. Still, for one who does 

 not mind their disadvantages there are good 

 points about ten-frame hives, and for some, no 

 doubt, they are better. C. C. Mii,i.ER. 



Marengo, 111., Aug. 22. 



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ANSWERS TO J 



SEASONABLE 



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HJESTIONS 



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COMB HONEY WITH LARGE HIVES AND LARGE 

 COLONIES, WITH NO .SWARMING. 



Question. — Is it true, as I see advanced by 

 some, that, if we use large hives, we shall 

 have large colonies when working for comb 

 honey, with no swarming? I see that quite a 

 few are talking that way; and if this is a fact, 

 would it not be well for us to drop all of our 

 former notions regarding the contraction of 

 the brood-nest, when working for comb honey, 

 and give all colonies a great big hive, and so 

 let the bees take care of themselves, very 

 largely ? for it is conceded by nearly every 

 one that labor is the chief factor in the pro- 

 duction of a crop of comb honej'. 



