1014 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



have found that the baby nuclei would have 

 done as w^ell as in the early part of the sea- 

 son, I think. —Ed.] 



Some bee-keepers believe that their bees 

 have been poisoned by the spraying of or- 

 chards—not by spraying when the fruit-trees 

 were in bloom. We have a law against that, 

 though I fear some would have disregarded 

 the law the past spring if the weather had 

 been suitable. But in many orchards, and 

 along the irrigating ditches that border or 

 run through most orchards, there is a great 

 deal of sweet clover. This is in bloom all 

 the season, and the powerful power spray- 

 ing-outfits in use here distribute the poisoned 

 spray impartially over every thing in the 

 neighborhood of the apple-trees. It is quite 

 likely that in some cases there has been some 

 damage done in this way, but there seems 

 to be no way to prevent it unless the bee- 

 keeper himself undertakes to keep the sweet 

 clover mowed in the orchards of his neigh- 

 borhood. Very likely the remedy would be 

 worse than the disease. 



The opening of the Uintah Indian reserva- 

 tion is of special interest to the bee-keepers 

 of the West, since it will open up a large 

 tract of irrigated territory that will make 

 the finest kind of bee-range. The last Indi- 

 an-appropriation bill provided for the open- 

 ing. The original bill fixed October 1, 

 1904, as the date of the opening; but be- 

 cause of the amount of work to be done in 

 making surveys and allotting lands, the 

 opening was postponed by act of Congress 

 until March 10, 1905. 



The Uintah reservation lies in the north- 

 eastern part of Utah, in Uintah and Wasatch 

 Counties. In area it comprises 2,334,000 

 acres of mountain and valley. In altitude 

 the reservation ranges from 4000 feet in the 

 lower valleys to 13,000 feet on the summit 

 of the loftiest peaks of the Uintah range, 

 the highest in the State. There are several 

 fine streams of water which rise in this 

 range, traversing the lower valleys and final- 

 ly emptying into Green River. All of these 

 streams can be easily diverted for the pur- 

 pose of irrigation, making this one of the 

 best-watered sections of the State. After 

 making allotments to the Indians, the re- 

 mainder will be open to entry under home- 

 stead provisions, each man being allowed 

 160 acres. There will undoubtedly be a 

 great rush for this land, and it is probable 

 that all applicants will be registered, and the 

 land apportioned by lot, as was the case with 

 the Rosebud reservation recently opened up. 



HOFFMAN FRAMES. 



The symposium on Hoffman frames shows 

 that my articles on that frame have stirred 

 up quite a hornet's nest among the bee-keep- 

 ing fraternity. It is quite natural that we 

 should not all think alike. It appears, too, 

 that some of our differences of opinion arise 

 from the fact that we are not thinking about 

 the same thing. My article on page 930 men- 



tions insufficient space back of the follower as 

 one of the faults of the frame system. Some of 

 my correspondents say there is too much 

 space back of the follower, enough for an 

 extra follower. Since that article was 

 written I have handled a great many more 

 hives containing Hoffman frames, and I find 

 that it is true that there are a great many 

 hives in use in which there is too much space, 

 so much that com'b is built back of the fol- 

 lower whenever the bees are crowded for 

 room, the effect being the same as or worse 

 than when the smaller space is allowed. I 

 do not know who were the makers of these 

 hives, nor have I measured them to know 

 what was the exact inside width; but I know 

 that in some cases, at least, the hive is wide 

 enough to allow an extra frame to be crowd- 

 ed in. I inspected an apiary to-day in which 

 three adjoining hives of the same inside 

 width contained respectively seven, eight, 

 and nine Hoffman frames. Talk about inex- 

 pert help being compelled to space Hoffman 

 frames cori'ectly! It can't be done! I have 

 seen loose hanging frames that looked worse 

 than Hoffman frames, as regards spacing, 

 but I doubt if I ever found any that did not 

 handle easier, other things being equal. As 

 to using the Hoffman frame for extracting, 

 the one who uses the regular Hoffman brood- 

 frames, crowded up close together, for ex- 

 tracting-frames, has yet to learn one of the 

 most elementary principles of profitable ex- 

 tracting. If he spaces them far apart, the 

 Hoffman frame has absolutely no advantage 

 over the plainest kind of hanging frame, 

 while in several respects it is inferior. What- 

 ever may be the good points of the Hoffman 

 as a brood-frame, it is certainly not fit for 

 an extracting-frame unless specially made 

 for that purpose. As a brood-frame under 

 extracting-frame, though, it will keep in far 

 better shape for handling than under comb- 

 supers. It is true that the thick and wide 

 top-bars of the Hoffman frame will have less 

 burr-comb built above them than thinner and 

 narrower bars, especially if the latter are 

 so thin that they sag at all. It is also true, 

 that, if the bees are ever crowded for room, 

 there will be many more brace-combs built 

 between the thick top-bars than between the 

 thinner ones. This not only increases the 

 difficulty of handling, but kills many more 

 bees. I can see no advantage in the use of 

 two followers. Better use only one, and 

 have it the right thickness, even if you use 

 only nine frames in a ten-frame hive. Now, 

 please remember that, in spite of all I 

 have said against the Hoffman frame I 

 beheve that, as a brood-frame, it may be 

 entirely satisfactory when always handled 

 by intelligent and careful operators. 



I am not arguing against fixed-distance 

 frames. I use them myself, expect to al- 

 ways; and if I were starting over again I 

 would use nothing else. But if I were using 

 Hoffman frames I would keep them crowd- 

 ed together by thumbscrews or by springs. 

 , Thumbscrews are hardly adapted to the 

 careless operator; but it is possible that the 

 use of springs would rid us of some of our 



