1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



261 



further fact that it could accommodate a 

 very prolific queen. The thick chaff-packed 

 hive-walls to the upper story protected the 

 supers so well that, during the cold nights, 

 the bees would never desert the sections nor 

 the combs. They would stay right upstairs, 

 building comb, and the next morning would 

 be ready for the field. 



We have time and time again wintered 

 whole apiaries in these hives outdoors with 

 a loss of less than one per cent. And one 

 severe winter we wintered in it nearly three 

 hundred colonies in our home yard without 

 the loss of one. It did not merely bring the 

 colonies through, but throughout almost the 

 whole yard every colony would have a big 

 force of bees. 



But, you say, if all of this is true, why 

 was the hive ever abandoned ? Very large- 

 ly, as we have already said, because the 

 modern bee-keeper would not pay the price. 

 When the hive was set up and painted, all 

 put together with the surplus equipment for 

 comb honey, it cost an even $5.00. (It 

 would cost more to-day.) But it would 

 often bring in that much cash in one season. 

 Another very serious objection was the dif- 

 ficulty of getting at the brood-chamber 

 when the upper story contained frames. 

 This was a fatal defect. 



Our correspondent, Mr. De Temple, in 

 telling of his experience with this hive, ex- 

 plains that he lives 500 miles away from 

 the apiary, and hence he is able to see his 

 bees only a few times during the year. We 

 doubt if there was ever a hive sold that 

 would "work for nothing and board itself" 

 with as little care and attention as this old 

 hive. We are, therefore, prepared to believe 

 every thing Mr. De Temple says of it. 

 Those of our older readers who have been 

 with us ever since the starting of this jour- 

 nal will, perhaps, remember when our Mr. 

 A. I. Root brought out this hive. His suc- 

 cess with it partly paved the way for the 

 business that followed later. 



Some may say that this looks like a great 

 big booming advertisement for this hive. 

 We do not expect to make it any more, be- 

 cause we do not guess, but know, the public 

 will not pay the price for it; nor would it 

 put up with the nuisance of getting at the 

 brood-nest. 



WHAT A. I. ROOT, THE INVENTOR AND IN- 

 TRODUCER, THINKS OF THEM. 



In addition to what Ernest has said above 

 I want to add that I thought at the time, 

 and still feel largely the same way, that the 

 two-story chaff hive was my most valuable 

 contribution to bee culture. While the hives 

 are expensive and unwieldy to move about, 

 I would recommend letting the chaff hives 

 remain on their summer stands year in and 

 year out. In addition to what Ernest has 

 said about these hives, I want to suggest al- 

 so that it is the best hive to prevent robbing 

 I ever had any thing to do with. After the 

 honey-flow is over, there are no bees hang- 

 ing around the cracks in the covers and bot- 

 tom-boards; and seldom or never are there 

 any bees hanging around the entrance, be- 



cause there is too big a colony inside to ren- 

 der such a thing safe. 



In regard to the objection to having the 

 upper frames crosswise, this can be got 

 around by having a light upper story made 

 to hold combs that can be lifted off all 

 together, and put down somewhere; then 

 one could handle the frames and brood-nest 

 as well as in any hive. There are other ad- 

 vantages that have not been mentioned 

 that will occur to any one who has worked 

 with these hives season after season. A 

 non-conducting double wall is oftentimes 

 as important during a honey-flow as it is for 

 safe wintering. The bees will store honey 

 in combs or in sections clear up to these 

 warm outsides, because, when closed up dur- 

 ing a cold night, a low outside temperature 

 does not drive the bees away from their 

 work as it does with ordinary hives of one- 

 inch boards or something thinner. — A. I. R. 



THE EIGHT-FRAME HIVE GOING INTO A 

 STATE or INNOCUOUS DESUETUDE; HOW 

 THE TEN-FRAME WIDTH IS GAINING IN 

 POPULARITV. 



After interviewing our supply-manufac- 

 turing department, we learn that the de- 

 mand for ten-frame hives is far outdistanc- 

 ing that for the eight-frame width. Ten 

 years ago hardly any ten-frame sizes were 

 sold. In spite of the fact that all the man- 

 ufacturers have favored the eight-frame by 

 giving it greater prominence in their cata- 

 logs the ten-frame width has been gaining 

 in popularity. A year ago it was running 

 neck and neck with the eight-frame, which 

 it had just overtaken, and now the figures 

 show that, for Medina at least, it is clear in 

 the lead. If the present rate of gain is 

 maintained, the eight-frame will soon be 

 classed as among the odd sizes; or, as Gro- 

 ver Cleveland would say, go into a state of 

 "innocuous desuetude;" and the only peo- 

 ple who will continue to buy the eight- 

 frame hive probably will be those who al- 

 ready have it in use, and can not afford to 

 make a change. 



For the average beginner, at least, who 

 in taking off his surplus does not know the 

 importance of looking after the brood-nest, 

 the ten-frame hive is certainly to be pre- 

 ferred. In most localities, and especially 

 those worked on the single-brood-nest plan, 

 the ten-frame hives will furnish proportion- 

 ately a larger force of bees, and, of course, 

 yield a larger return in honey. Compara- 

 tive tests in our yard have shown this quite 

 plainly. 



But why, if the ten-frame width was once 

 universal, was the eight-frame ever adopt- 

 ed in the first place ? .lames Heddon and 

 others argued, 25 years ago, that the aver- 

 age queen would not fill more than eight 

 frames with brood, and the journals at the 

 time were full of articles arguing in favor of 

 a contracted brood-nest, so that all the hon- 

 ey would be forced out of the brood-cham- 

 ber into the sections. As contraction was 

 all the rage it certainly looked as if it would 

 be good policy and good economy, so far as 



