642 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1 



can be removed with a hook or even with 

 the bare fingers. See what Harry Lathrop 

 says on p. 658, this issue; also J. E. Cham- 

 bers, on page 660. But I am quite free to 

 confess that any construction of follower 

 which I have seen suggested will be diffi- 

 cult to remove where propolis is very bad. 

 That same objection will apply to any 

 closed-end frames where the space in the 

 hive is limited. 



But perhaps friend Green condemns (and 

 rightly, too) a hive using a follower in the 

 regular standard ten-frame Dovetailed hive. 

 This does not and never did allow of such a 

 thing. But because customers complained 

 that we supplied it with the eight-frame 

 hive we put them in packages of ten-frame 

 — not with the expectation that they would 

 be put in the whole ten frames in the hive 

 at once and the follower too. It can be 

 done after a fashion, and we have found 

 that many of our customers have done so, 

 when we have distinctly stated it could not 

 be with any degree of satisfactior . If I 

 were a foul- brood inspector, and had to 

 open up one such hive I am afraid I should 

 feel more like " cussirg" the manufacturer 

 than calmly sitting down and a'z.scussing 

 the matter in a friendly way with that 

 same person. If Mr. Green or Mr. Hutch- 

 inson has been working this kind of combi- 

 nation or has been running up against the 

 old-style follower, I don't wonder they both 

 write as they do. 



The columns of this journal are open for 

 the discussion of the Hoffman frame. While 

 we know positively that in some warm cli- 

 mates, where we have tried to introduce 

 some other frame than the Hoffman, the 

 great majority of our customers in those 

 climates will have nothing else. For ex- 

 ample, in Cuba we urged our agents and 

 dealers not to favor the Hoffman frame, be- 

 lieving that, on account of propolis, it would 

 not be satisfactory, and that it would be 

 better to recommend the thick- top metal- 

 spaced frame which we sold. But our cus- 

 tomers would not have it so, and demanded 

 the Hoffman, and the Hoffman they are 

 buying by the thousands. 



I admit that, in some localities, this frame 

 can not be used, owing to an excess of pro- 

 polis; and right in this connection I know 

 from personal observation that Dr. Miller's 

 location is one of them. It would not be at 

 all strange if parts of Michigan and Colo- 

 rado would furnish the same amount of 

 propolis, rendering the frame a nuisance. 



It is well to bear in mind that not all 

 manufacturers make the Hoffman frame 

 alike. As made by some of them it would 

 exhaust the patience of an angel, to say 

 nothing of the outraged feelings of a com- 

 mon every-day mortal who thinks (if he 

 does not say them) words that do not find 

 the printed page. It is well to remember 

 that there are Hoffman frames and Hoffman 

 frames, and there are followers and follow- 

 ers. 



I wish to say in this connection thit I 

 thoroughly appreciate the kindly spirit 



manifested in the criticisms; and some of 

 my friends have hesitated to say any thing 

 about it in print for fear it would "hurt 

 my feelings," because, in fact, I suppose I 

 introduced them to the bee-keeping public. 

 For the benefit of our younger or more re- 

 cent readers, I will state that, in 1890, I 

 made a bicycle- tour through New York, 

 and there saw that closed-end and half- 

 closed- end frames were being used very ex- 

 tensively. I came away convinced that the 

 self spacing feature as used by Mr. Julius 

 Hoffman was a great labor-saving device, 

 and I still think so. But there are differ- 

 ences of opinion as to which of the self- 

 spacing frames is the best. All things 

 considered, I came to the conclusion that 

 the Hoffman combined most of the advan- 

 tages, and that it would be best adapted 

 to most localities. The fact that millions 

 of them are made now would seem to bear 

 out the correctness of that opinion, although 

 I admit it is not conclusive proof of it. But 

 as for "hurting my feelings" — dear, oh 

 dear, no! I invite friendly criticism, and 

 our columns are open for a general discus- 

 sion of the whole matter. Neither the Root 

 Co. nor any other manufacturer could afford 

 to take the position of keeping back the 

 truth or trying to force the bee-keeping 

 world to buy something it ought not to have 

 if it does not know. From a business point 

 of view it would be suicidal. 



We shall be obliged to friend Green, and 

 will pay him for it, if he will suggest the 

 construction of a follower that will not at 

 the same time run into some other difficul- 

 ty. It is not a question of making the hives 

 wider, as we can not change a standard 

 dimension at this late date unless an entire 

 siveeping change is inaugurated. As I have 

 said before, we provide very deep hives; 

 standard Langstroth depth ; Danzenbaker 

 with frames a little shallower, and still 

 other hives with frames shallower still. 

 We have metal- spaced frames, half closed 

 ends, closed-end, and old-style thin-top un- 

 spaced Langstroth, and unspaced frames 

 with thick top-bars. 



Now, in inviting discussion we are not 

 seeking the opinion of the kickers only, but 

 we desire to get expressions from both sides 

 — yes, from those who have used the Hoff- 

 man frames extensively as thej' are and as 

 we have made them, and from those who 

 have used them and do not like them. W^hat 

 we desire to get at is the general consensus 

 of opinion, and not the opinion of one side 

 or the other who may possibly have extreme 

 views, but represent only the small minori- 

 ty ; and in saying this I do not mean to 

 class Brothers Hutchinson and Green as 

 the extreme kickers of the wee little minori- 

 ty. I think they know me well enough to 

 accord to me a better opinion of them than 

 that. 



I have thus far published every thing 

 about the Hoffman frame, for and against, 

 except in one or two instances, which were 

 personal matters and nothing CDncerning 

 the merits of the frame itself. 



