22 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Jan 1 



BROOD-CHAMBER. 



The brood-chamber is really a box with- 

 out top or bottom. Its mission is to hold 

 the frames to which are attached the combs 

 in which the bees store the honey and pol- 

 len, and also raise the young. Some are 

 wide enough to hold only eight of these 

 frames; but an increasing number of bee- 

 keepers prefer them wide enough to hold 

 ten frames. This size is shown in Fig. 5, 

 nine of the frames being in place and one 

 outside. 



Simple as is the general plan of a brood- 

 chamber, it must nevertheless be made with 

 great accuracy. You see, after bees had 

 been kept by man for several thousand 

 years a clever bee-keeper discovered one 

 very important fact — namely, their conduct 

 in small areas varied according to the size 

 of the space. When this is less than one- 

 fourth of an inch the bees will fill it with 

 wax or other adhesive substances; if more 

 than three-eighths of an inch they will build 



FIG. 5. 



comb in it. When he learned this he was 

 able to invent the movable frame whose 

 most noteworthy feature is this: Its end- 

 bars are about three-eighths of an inch 

 clear from the inside ends of the chamber 

 in which the frames hang, thus allowing 

 the bees room to move freely around the 

 ends, but preventing the building of combs 

 that would fasten the end-bars tight to the 

 hive-body. It will also be apparent that 

 the sides must be perfectly square with the 

 ends. Hive-bodies, then, must be machine- 

 made; and it is better if they have lock 

 joints as in the illustration, for such joints 

 insure perfect squareness. 



BOTTOM-BOARD. 



The bottom-board is really the floor of the 

 hive which rests evenly on three sides of it. 

 The fourth side is left clear, thus providing 

 an entrance to the house, so to speak; but 

 the doorway is also a ventilator, and it is 

 important to remember this fact, for bees 

 breathe and need fresh air just like any oth- 

 er animal. So we must intelligently follow 

 the climatic conditions and adjust the size 

 of the entrance to suit the comfort of the 

 bees, contracting it as winter approaches, 

 and enlarging it in the hot days of summer. 



The illustration. Fig. 6, shows an excel- 

 lent bottom-board of great adaptability. 

 The upper figure is partly sectional, a small 



part of the end of the hive being indicated 

 in position to show that the sides of the 

 bottom-board and the hive are of the same 

 length. An alighting-board fits into the 

 groove in front (half of the board is shown 



FIG. 6. 



in position) , and projects several inches in 

 front of the hive-body. One side of the 

 alighting-board is perfectly plain; on the 

 other is nailed a cleat with a narrow pas- 

 sageway. When this side is turned up, the 

 entrance is one-fomth inch by eight inchp'*; 

 but if the plain side be uppermost, then 1 he 

 entrance is seven-eighths of an inch by the 

 width of the hive. 



HIVB-STAKD. 



The purpose of the hive-stand is to keep 

 the bottom-board clear of the ground, and 

 thus prevent decay. But if the board and 

 the stand have contact over a considerable 

 area it is found that both water and ants 

 will collect between them and hasten the 

 destruction of the wood. The points of con- 

 tact between the bottom-board and stand 

 should, therefore, be as small as possible. 

 Fig. 7 shows a stand that is inexpensive, 



easily put together, and strong and durable; 

 at the same time, it touches the bottom- 

 board only around the edges. 



FRAMES. 



The furniture of the bee-house is very 

 simple, and rather wanting in variety; but 

 the tenants so far have not been known to 

 make any complaint, so we will gravely as- 

 sume they are satisfied. They are mostly 

 ladies, seemingly free of the habit (said to 

 be characteristic of their human sisters) of 

 finding fault with their home and its fur- 

 nishings. Eight frames, sometimes ten, 

 with a division-board or follower, is a com- 

 plete inventory of the contents of the brood- 



