1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



351 



HOFFMAN FRAMES WITH SHORTENED TOP- 

 BARS. 



The Cold-blast Smoker Defended ; the Value of Hot 



and Cold Air with Smoke; Making Syrup by 



the Percolator Plan; Large vs. Small 



Hives; the Bearing of Locality 



on the Whole Question. 



BY C. DAVENPORT. 



I have seen very little, favorable or other- 

 wise, in regard to those short top bars, end 

 spaced with staples. Some one, I forget who, 

 intimated that there was or might be trouble 

 on account of the ends dropping off the rabbet 

 if the frames in handling got cornerwise in 

 the hive. Last spring I cut the ends off the 

 frames in ten hives, and I have not found any 

 trouble in this respect, and I can not see how 

 there would be any necessity for moving the 

 frames cornerwise enough so there would be ; 

 for in practice they have to be moved much 

 more diagonally before one end drops off the 

 rabbet than one would think by looking at 

 the frame; and while it is true I tried them in 

 but a small way I made a point of handling 

 them in the ten hives that did contain them, 

 a number of times, on purpose to see how they 

 worked, and I consider them a decided im- 

 provement ; and if, with my present experi- 

 ence with them, I had to buy hives this spring 

 I would order short top-bars. I intend to 

 shorten the ends of enough frames this season 

 to give the matter a thorough trial. 



It is very seldom that an article calls forth 

 such a long footnote as mine did some time 

 ago about smokers; and while you have said 

 you never desire discussion for the mere sake 

 of argument, neither do I ; and it is very sel- 

 dom indeed that I reply to any criticism or 

 remarks about any thing I write; but I should 

 like to make an exception in this case, and, if 

 you will allow, say a few more words on the 

 subject. 



You say it takes longer to light and get a 

 cold-blast smoker going. Why, with a cold- 

 blast smoker properly made, and the right 

 kind of fuel, all that is necessary to get it to 

 going is to put in the fuel, touch a match to 

 it, and she is off at once, creating a dense vol- 

 ume of smoke almost at once. I do not say 

 this applies to the Clark smoker — far from it ; 

 and I feel as sure as I do about any thing I 

 think I know about bees, that smoke from a 

 cold-blast smoker is better for general use in 

 a yard than that from a hot blast — that is, 

 with Italian and German bees and their 

 crosses. Cyprians I know nothing about. 



You say hot air alone will subdue bees. I 

 know it will ; but when it is employed it 

 crazes and injures many bees, and, if hot 

 enough, kills many. I firmly believe that the 

 injudicious use of a hot-blast smoker causes 

 the premature death of many thousands of 

 bees In the season when a smoker is most 

 used, and in some cases hundreds from single 

 hives, where, for instance, a colony is handled 

 after the fuel is well burned down so that the 

 bees get direct blasts of very hot air right off 

 the coals — not that they die at once, but they 

 probably might as well, so far as being of any 



use afterward is concerned. I am aware that 

 I stand almost if not wholly alone in regard 

 to this matter, as I did once before upon an 

 important matter relating to our pursuit. 

 This was when I wrote and described how, 

 when preparing feed, I mixed sugar and cold 

 water, equal parts, by simply putting them 

 together in a barrel and stirring occasionally 

 until the sugar was dissolved. 



About this time, or shortly before, there was 

 a good deal said about making feed by the 

 percolator plan. It seemed to be thought by 

 many that the percolating was a great benefit 

 in some mysterious way over simply mixing 

 the two together. I claimed that simply mix- 

 ing the water and sugar together made just as 

 good feed as was possible to be obtained by 

 any percolating process, and I think that all 

 who have tried the two methods now agree 

 with me, and I believe I may claim the honor 

 of being the first one to advocate the use of, 

 and to describe, how to mix cold water and 

 sugar together for feed. 



I have been asked if Mr. Dadant has, by 

 what he has said of late, convinced me that 

 large hives are best. No. He has not con- 

 vinced me that they are best for my locality ; 

 but he has explained and argued his side of 

 the subject in a very clear and able manner. 

 It has been said in effect that Mr. Dadant 

 practices what he advocates ; that is, he rec- 

 ommends large hives, and uses such exclusive- 

 ly himself. I think this will apply to most of 

 us, and even more so in my case; for, while I 

 have advocated ten-frame hives as the best for 

 bee-keepers in general, I have been cutting 

 down and selling the colonies in my large 

 hives until I have not and do not intend to 

 have any thing in the shape of a frame hive 

 larger than the eight-frame ; in fact, I have 

 used and obtained excellent results the past 

 two seasons with some of less capacity than 

 eight frames. While I know from experience 

 that it requires a greater amount of work to 

 manage a yard to the best advantage by the 

 expansion plan of adding one or two combs at 

 a time, I think there is no question but that 

 good results, in both comb and extracted 

 honey, can be obtained by the method Mr. 

 Dadant so ably champions; but in some local- 

 ities — here, for instance — when it is the most 

 important time to have queens do good work, 

 the weather is often, for much of the time, so 

 cold that a colony in an extra-large hive is at 

 a great disadvantage on account of not being 

 able to keep the temperature high enough for 

 as good results in brood-rearing as they could 

 in a smaller hive ; and, though Mr. Dadant 

 says a large hive can, by the use of a division- 

 board, be converted into a small one, this is, I 

 think, a mistake ; it can be contracted with a 

 division-board; but so far as keeping the hive 

 warm is concerned it would be better to leave 

 the extra combs in tight division-boards. Yes, 

 I bought forty hives once that had tight 

 division -boards, and they were tight after they 

 had been in the hives for a short time. Some 

 of them would tear to pieces sooner than come 

 out ; and those that would come out did not 

 wish to go back. Division - boards tight 

 enough to really convert a large hive into a 



