342 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



edge of each super side is beveled, affording 

 beeways equal in width to those throughout 

 the super. Notches are cut in each end of the 

 super sides to admit a slat when tiering. The 

 two sides enable tiering without the usual dan- 

 ger of crushing bees. 



Speaking of separators with transverse or 

 vertical openings, I must still express my ad- 

 miration for them. As already stated, they 

 are in accordance with nature, and aid in se- 

 curing well-filled sections. 



The past season having been very unfavora- 

 ble to the storage of honey, and while more 

 than the usual number of unfinished sections 

 have been reported, I have never had a small- 

 er proportion. The best was from a super of 

 28 sections having 13 well filled, and the foun- 

 dation not even drawn out in the adjoining 

 ones, all having full sheets. 



Jackson, Mich., Feb. 7. 



[This is the Mr. Aspinwall who has used 

 plain sections for some eight or nine years, and 

 who has the reputation of producing some of 

 the nicest comb honey ever seen. Even his 

 second-grade lots of sections are better filled 

 out than the average beeway sections on the 

 market. 



Recently I learned that he had made some 

 improvements in his comb-honey super, and 

 accordingly requested him to send us a sam- 

 ple super that I might show it to our readers. 

 This he sent, and the engraving of it is here 

 shown. 



I think there is no question but this trans- 

 verse slotted separator, one that he seems to 

 have originated, with beeway projections, will 

 produce as fine honey as can be found any- 

 where ; but it has one quite serious objection — 

 expense. Such separators would cost the av- 

 erage bee-keeper somewhere about 5 cts. each, 

 or 30 cts. per super ; whereas the ordinary 

 fence for plain sections will cost about 13^ cts. 

 each, or about 8 cts per super. There is still 

 another objection ; and that is, that these tin 

 separators will be quite frail at the points 

 above and below the slots, and would require 

 a reasonably careful handling ; but in the case 

 of men like Mr. Aspinwall they will probably 

 last a lifetime. If so, the expense item as well 

 as the frailty objection would be both largely 

 overcome. 



Mr. Aspinwall is an inventor, and a mechan- 

 ic as well. Indeed, I believe he is at the head 

 of the Aspinwall Manufacturing Co. that is 

 manufacturing a number of machines of Mr. 

 Aspin wall's invention, which machines are 

 pretty well known throughout Michigan and 

 other States. Such a man would, as a matter 

 of course, invent a super that would be worth 

 the careful consideration of bee-keepers. — 

 Ed.] 



»«««»»■ • • ■ 



WINTERING ON CLOSED-END FRAMES. 



The Advantage of Such Frames. 



BY T. K. MASSIE. 



When I wrote the article, the " Evolution of 

 the Hive Question," I intended to speak of 

 the advantages of a closed-end frame for win- 



tering purposes, yrc;;; viy vieiv-point ; but the 

 grip had me so completely in its grasp that I 

 don't know whether or not what I did say 

 was said in the manner in which I wished it 

 to appear. 



The closed-end frame, forming, as it does, a 

 double wall, at least so far as the ends of the 

 hives are concerned, has great advantages over 

 the open-end frames. My Dr. Tinker hives 

 are made of thin material, }i inch for ends 

 and y^ for sides. In these thin-wall hives I 

 winter on the summer stands. Each brood- 

 chamber contains eight closed-end frames, 

 and I use two brood- chambers (occasionally 

 three) tiered up for a complete hive. I use 

 thin ^-inch covers over the frames or sections 

 the entire year. The only preparation is sim- 

 ply this : While the weather is yet warm in 

 the fall, say the first of October, I see that 

 each colony is bountifully supplied with stores 

 to carry it to May. I place the thin cover on 

 the hive, pressing it down firmly, and leave it 

 for the bees to seal up air-tight with propolis. 

 (This cover is just a bee-space above the 

 frames. ) Over the cover I place a cushion 

 filled with some non-conducting absorbent to 

 prevent the escape of the bee-heat. I now 

 cover the cushion, " hive and all," with a tel- 

 escope cover and leave them absolutely alone, 

 not allowing any animal or rodents to disturb 

 them till settled warm weather, say the last of 

 April or first of May, at which time I overhaul 

 and arrange each colony according to its re- 

 quirements. Last winter the cold weather 

 reached below zero for a number of days at a 

 time, being 20 to 25 at one time for five days. 

 I lost only 2 out of 93 colonies, and those two 

 starved by not being able to cross over the 

 space between the combs of the upper and 

 lower brood-chambers, which are, top-bar, % 

 inch; bee - space %, bottom -bar )i^ox l}i 

 inches. A top bar of less depth and a bee- 

 space connection of some kind will prevent 

 this trouble, as my experiments so far fully 

 demonstrate. 



So far this winter, with same arrangements 

 (40 of my hives being the Danzenbaker hive 

 with closed-end frames), I have not lost a sin- 

 gle colony out of 117 ; and from Feb. 2 to the 

 7th of March the weather has been very cold, 

 reaching below zero several times. With plen- 

 ty of stores in closed-end frames, and sealed 

 cover, I have no fears of winter losses provid- 

 ed we have strong colonies of young bees, and 

 they are left absolutely undisturbed. Manip- 

 ulation in winter breaks the sealings, admits 

 the air currents, and allows the bee-heat to es- 

 cape, thus preventing rapid brood-rearing in 

 early spring, which greatly damages the colo- 

 ny, so far as a crop of honey is concerned. 



In support of my position that the style of 

 the frame (which is really the foundation for 

 the size and style of hive) has a great deal to 

 do with successful bee-keeping I will quote 

 from our friends Aikin and Doolittle. In the 

 Progressive Bee-keeper for Dec. 1, 1899, page 

 360, Mr. Aikin says : 



There is no question whatever that the size of a hive 

 (and the shape to some extent) is more or less a fac- 

 tor according to location. I have repeatedly tried win- 

 tering and springing in a very small chamber, for in- 

 stance, nine frames 13 inches long and 6 deep, ten 



