1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



881 



of his own work, told me that, if he had to do 

 it over again, he would not think of buying 

 an engine, keeping buzz-saw machinery, and 

 trying to do it himself, as he could better af- 

 ford to buy what he needs, and save the inter- 

 est on his investment. But there is the case 

 of Capt. J. E. Hetherington. The shipping- 

 cases that he has made will equal the work 

 turned out by any supply-manufacturer in the 

 country ; and although I have not seen his 

 hives, I assume they are equally well made. 

 He operates thousands of colonies. He is a 

 large consumer, and can well afford to make 

 his own goods ; but another man operating an 

 equally large number, and not a natural me- 

 chanic, had better let the buzz-saw alone ; it's 

 loaded, and liable to do more things than " hit 

 between the eyes." — Ed.] 



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ANSWERS TO 



SEASONABLE 



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IQUESTIONS 



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WHICH WAY SHOULD COMBS CO INTO THE 

 HIVE ? 



Question. — Will you please tell the readers 

 of Gleanings why most of the apiarists of 

 the country have the frames of their hives 

 run lengthwise of the entrance ? I have ob- 

 served, when taking bees from trees, that the 

 combs run crosswise of the entrance; also, in 

 removing a colony from a box hive, that the 

 combs were the same way of the entrance that 

 they were in trees, especially those which 

 come the nearest to the entrance. It would 

 seem that, if the bees place their combs cross- 

 wise of the entrance, it would be right for us 

 to do the same. "Would it not ? It would also 

 seem as though the hive would be a great deal 

 warmer for wintering if the frames were cross- 

 wise, as the draft, if any, would pass under 

 the combs and not through them. 



Answer. — If our questioner has had any 

 great experience in cutting "bee-trees," or in 

 transferring colonies from box hives, it would 

 seem strange that he found the combs in all 

 such colonies running crosswise of the en- 

 trance ; for in the cutting of a dozen or more 

 bee- trees, and in transferring bees from box 

 hives by the score, I have found by careful 

 observation that the bees built their combs at 

 any and all angles to the entrance, where 

 there was nothing in the tree or hive in the 

 way of some little projection to start them to 

 building their combs in a certain direction. 

 Where there is some little projection of wood 

 downward from the top of the hive or tree, 

 having a knife-like edge, the first comb is 

 almost sure to be started on that ; and "as 

 runs the first comb, all the rest are likely to 

 follow," unless, perchance, there is some 

 other like projection running angling, or in 

 an opposite direction from the first started on, 

 in which case the con%bs are likely to run in 

 any and all directions throughout the tree or 

 hive. So if, in a multitude of colonies, each 

 having nothing b}' the way of a guide to start 



building comb on, it is found that the combs 

 run in any and all directions (as has been my 

 experience and that of others who have done 

 much transferring, with whom I have con- 

 versed on this matter), "it would seem " that 

 the bees have no rule by which they build 

 comb, as regards which way it goes to the en- 

 trance. If this is right, then we must con- 

 clude that nature has no choice in this matter, 

 and hence we are at liberty to do as we please, 

 unless we have better reasons for running the 

 combs one certain way of the hive instead of 

 any other. And this brings us to the question, 

 " Why do most of the apiarists of the country 

 have the frames of their hives run lengthwise 

 of the entrance ? " 



I think this question has been discussed at 

 some length during the past ; but just what 

 the argument was I am now unable to tell, 

 and have not the time to hunt the matter up, 

 so I will answer by telling why I have my 

 combs run thus. 



First of all, if our bees are to thrive, the 

 water from rains and snows should not be 

 allowed to go inside of the hive any more 

 than they should be allowed to run all over 

 the floors of our houses in which we live. In 

 our houses we have nearly tight-fitting doors, 

 and under them a threshold, the latter being 

 being made of the right shape and with the 

 right pitch so that all water which blows or 

 falls against the door or side of the house is 

 impelled outward, thus keeping the floors of 

 the house dry all the while. But with a hive 

 it is different, for the "door" (entrance) to 

 the hive must be aU the time open for the 

 going to and fro of the bees, and to provide 

 air for their health and existence ; hence no 

 door with a threshold can be well made so as 

 to exclude all water, where the hive is set per- 

 fectly level each way, as is a house. Hence 

 to overcome this zvater matter we set the hive 

 on an incline, or give it a " pitch " toward the 

 entrance, so that, should any water beat in 

 there, it would immediately run out and away 

 from the habitation of our pets. 



Well, what has this to do with the matter 

 of which way the combs run? Much, every 

 way, for nature has so ordained that the bees 

 always build their combs perpendicular, or 

 "plumb," as we generally say ; and so if we 

 have the hive tip or slant toward the entrance, 

 in order that the water can run out, and at 

 the same time have the frames run crosswise 

 of the entrance, the bees, in building their 

 combs, will start right at the top; but in going 

 downward, in a perpendicular direction, the 

 bottom of the first comb next to the entrance 

 will strike the side of the hive before it comes 

 to the bottom of the frame, and all the others 

 will have their bottoms over in the next frame, 

 thus making the combs not interchangeable, 

 even should they be considered movable. 

 But where the frames run with the entrance, 

 the hives can be leveled crosswise of the en- 

 trance, no matter how great the pitch the other 

 way, and all combs will be built true in the 

 frames, and, after being built, there will be 

 no swinging toward the entrance, thus having 

 the bottom of the first frame glued to the 

 side of the hive, and many of the others glued 



