298 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



April, 15. 



The inventor of this hive does not say that 

 it is better than any other, but that it is well 

 adapted to meet the requirements of skillful 

 bee-keepers, and will prove a great pleasure 

 and a delight, if nothing more. In any apiary, 

 ■with skillful management, more honey with 

 less hard labor may be obtained from this hive 

 than any other that I am familiar with. One 

 such hive in sections or parts may not secure 

 more honey than one large hive in one box ; 

 but an apiary of them will do so if cared for 

 as it can be. This hive does away with the 

 swarming problem by using all the bees to the 

 best advantage. Every pound of honey a col- 

 ony may gather above the brood-nest may be 

 secured in the handsomest sections ever used, 

 3%X5. As this hive can be reduced to any 

 size, the smallest third swarm may breed up 

 and be No. 1 for winter, while a second swarm 

 may store surplus in sections. If one division 

 of the hive is too large it can be reduced by 

 using fewer frames. 



As the bees are wintered in two hives, one 

 above the other, it may transpire in spring 

 that they would do better a while with but 

 one. In such a case, only one would be used. 

 Later on, when two or more of the brood-cases 

 are full of brood and bees, but no honey in 

 the fields, one of them may be set down be- 

 side the other one, or taken to some other part 

 of the apiary and allowed to hatch its brood 

 and get ready for the coming harvest. 



The time is likely to come when such a hive 

 in a poor locality may be the only means of 

 getting nice honey in paying quantities. In 

 the older States the forests have been cut away, 

 and the wild flowers cultivated out. In such 

 locations a special management is required, 

 and an elastic hive needed. 



The super or clamp shown is a T-tin one, 

 with tight wooden separators ^ inch thick. 

 One of the separators is used as a follower, 

 against which press two coiled wire springs 

 holding the sections firmly, and using practi- 

 cally no room. On the side opposite the 

 springs is a glass covered by a hinged door for 

 easy examination. This enables one to watch 

 the progress of work in the supers. 



Farwell, Mich. 



[At the Michigan State Bee-keepers' con- 

 vention Mr Bingham exhibited the hive which 

 he had used for so many years, but upon which 

 he had made some recent improvements ; see- 

 ing which, our Mr. Calvert was quite favora- 

 bly impressed with it, and he accordingly ask- 

 ed Mr. Bingham to send us a description of it 

 and a hive. From the latter we have made an 

 engraving, and the whole is produced above. 



Knowing that Mr. Bingham was one of the 

 pioneers — possibly the first man who used 

 closed-end frames — I asked him for some of 

 the particulars, and in response he sends one 

 of his old catalogs, bearing the date of 1867. 

 This shows his first hive — a hive that he pat- 

 ented in 1866. This had triangular frames, 

 the end -bars of which were closed up part 

 way, making what might be called a half-open 

 and half-closed frame — virtually a Hoffman 

 frame turned upside down. If you can imag- 

 ine a Hoffman frame triangular in shape, with 



half-closed ends meeting together at their ends 

 instead of joining a bottom-bar, you will form 

 a pretty good impression of the original Bing- 

 ham frames. These were lashed or secured 

 together by means of the wire loop, as shown 

 above. 



It was this frame and hive that was exhibit- 

 ed at the New York State fair held in Utica 

 in 1866. Father Ouinby, Mr. Bingham, writes 

 was present at that fair, and came to see the 

 new hive — the special features of which were 

 explained to him at the time. 



But Mr. B. soon discovered that such a 

 frame, while it had some very nice features, 

 was too large ; and as the honey-extractor was 

 just then being put on the market, he saw at 

 once that the shape of the frame would have 

 to be changed if it were to be adapted to that 

 machine. Accordingly the end - bars were 

 made parallel, and the whole frame changed 

 to a shallow frame oblong in shape ; but the . 

 uprights were made closed all the way up, 

 making what would now be called a closed- 

 end frame pure and simple. 



In 1868 father Quinby introduced his closed- 

 end frame and hive which is now used very 

 largely in New York, with very little change. 



I do not think there is any attempt or de- 

 sire on the part of Mr. Bingham to deprive 

 Mr. Ouinby of the honor of inventing the 

 closed-end frame as it is used to-day, but it 

 would appear from what is given above that 

 Mr. Bingham possibly gave Mr. Ouinby the 

 suggestion that led to the invention of some- 

 thing that is almost equal to the invention of 

 Mr. Langstroth. Indeed, the closed-end prin- 

 ciple is gaining advocates, and the time may 

 come when closed- end frames will be the ones 

 commonly used instead of open ends or partly 

 closed, such as are now used. 



If there are those living who are able to cor- 

 rect or throw a little light on this closed-end- 

 frame question, I should be glad to hear from 

 such. 



The copy of catalog and booklet that Mr. 

 Bingham issued in 1867 describes briefly the 

 management of bees, and particularly his new 

 hive, with half-closed ends. He writes that 

 the IPatent Office records of 1866 describe his 

 hive more in detail. — Ed.] 



BLACK BROOD. 



The Difference Between Spores and Germs; the 

 Malignant Character of Black Brood. 



BY DR. WM. R. HOWARD. 



In correspondence with several of the lead- 

 ing bee-men of the country, to whom advanc- 

 ed proofs of my report on the New York bee- 

 disease were submitted, questions on certain 

 points of practical interest — longevity of 

 spores, caging queens, disinfection, etc., have 

 come up for further explanation and consid- 

 eration. I now have these and many other 

 points undergoing experiment, which can not 

 be completed before spring. 



SPORE- FORMATION. 



Opinions not based upon facts demonstrat- 



