390 



Ijleaniiigs in Bee Culture 



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At Borodino, New York 



HOW TO rSE THE LAXGSTROTH HIVE TO 

 ADVANTAGE. 



"Which is better — the eight-frame hive 

 or the ten-frame? " 



" There is a difference of opinion in this 

 matter. In this twentieth century our most 

 practical apiarists do not depend upon natu- 

 ral swarming for increase, so that what was 

 known as the contraction system has become 

 largely a thing of the past. The general 

 trend is now toward the ten-frame Lang- 

 stroth hive. A few advocate the use of but 

 a single-story brood-chamber at all times, so 

 far as the frames go, only section-sui)ers be- 

 ing used above, and they claim that this ten- 

 frame hive is too large at times, and too small 

 at other times. This might possibly be so 

 with one who considers the ten-frame brood- 

 chamber as a fixture at all times of the year. 

 But what is there toprevent making this hive 

 smaller by use of dummies, if necessary, or 

 larger by using another hive under or on top? 



"The advocates of small hives, almost to 

 a man, favor feeding in the spring as a stim- 

 ulation to brood-rearing. If the queen must 

 be coaxed by feeding in this way in the 

 spring to lay to the best advantage, then it 

 would not be well to have a lot of empty 

 comb in the hive in which to store this feed. 

 But the majority of those using the ten- 

 frame hive claim that frames filled with hon- 

 ey are quite as good as dummies for i)rotect- 

 ing the cluster, and they have the advan- 

 tage of making the bees feel far richer than 

 does daily feeding, so that these frames of 

 honey furnish an incentive to the bees to 

 put forth more effort toward the rearing of 

 brood than can ])ossibly result from feeding. 

 Hence the large hive gives the brood at the 

 right time, with the least possible expendi- 

 ture of labor." 



"Then why is a still larger hive ever con- 

 sidered necessary?" 



"Large hives at the right time, and large 

 hives in the proper shape, mean rousing col- 

 onies of bees, other conditions being equal. 

 They prevent swarming, and a large surplus 

 crop is the result. But the ten-frame hive, 

 M'hen used with only a single brood-chamber, 

 soon becomes so filled with brood and bees 

 that, with the honey and pollen it contains, 

 the bees contract the swarming fever, and 

 this is not favorable for a large crop of comb 

 honey. For this reason the brood-nest should 

 be enlarged at the proper time to i)revent 

 the swarming fever, just a few days before 

 the bees would be seized with it. 



"A day or two before the bees become 

 crowded for room, select a hive that is in 

 proper condition, and. after removing all the 

 combs not having brood in them, which 

 will generally be only the two outside, sub- 

 stitute emi)ty combs. Over the colony a 

 queen-excluder should be used, and above 

 this another hive-body. Insert in this hive- 

 body three empty combs, or some only jiart- 

 ly filled with honey, setting these on the side 



of the hive nearest you. One of the combs just 

 taken out of the brood-nest, two more combs 

 emi)ty or partly filled with honey, and the 

 other comb just taken from the brood-nest 

 may then be put in, and, lastly, three more 

 combs i)artly filled with honey. When all 

 have been i)roperly spaced, close the hive. 



"The problem of swarming will be reduc- 

 ed to a minimum by using a ten-frame hive 

 in this way for breeding purposes, thus giv- 

 ing the queen plenty of empty comb in which 

 to deposit eggs, and providing an abundance 

 of honey for brood-rearing, and a place to 

 store whatever surplus may come in before 

 the main honey-harvest arrives. The plan 

 has the following advantages: While the 

 queen is using the cells in the empty combs 

 intended for egg-laying, the brood emerges 

 from the other combs, thus giving her more 

 room; all honey in excess of the amount re- 

 quired by the bees and brood, is stored in 

 the frames above; and the surplus of bees 

 have a place to stay, all in one home, with- 

 out being crowded. In this way an extra 

 amount of surplus isok^tained in these combs 

 above. All honey that is not used by the 

 colony goes into this upper hive; otherwise 

 it would have to go into the brood-chamber, 

 or perhaps would not be gathered at all. If 

 stored in the brood-chamber, it clogs the 

 brood-nest and crowds out the queen. It also 

 places honey along the top-bars, above which 

 the bees are loath to store during the main 

 flow when the section supers are put on, and 

 the colony is in an ideal shape for the suj^ers 

 of sections at the beginning of the surplus 

 honey-How. 



"When the time comes for putting on 

 these supers, a contraction plan far different 

 from that of the past can be followed, which 

 is simply a change in the order of the hives, 

 putting the one above on the stand below, 

 and on top of this the sect on supers. Ex- 

 amine the brood -chamber until the queen 

 is discovered, then place her at the entrance 

 of the other hive, into which she will im- 

 mediately run. Shake the bees from two or 

 three of the combs of brood; close this hive, 

 and allow it to remain at one side near the 

 hive now having the queen. By night the 

 larger part of the field bees will have gone 

 with the queen, but enough will remain 

 with the brood to care for it properly. 



"Ten days later this hive of brood should 

 be placed on the opposite side of the hive 

 containing the queen, which again fills up 

 with a new force of field bees, the hive hav- 

 ing the queen. Eleven days later, at which 

 time the worker brood will have emerged, 

 the bees should be shaken from the combs 

 in front of the hive having the queen, and 

 all will be in the best possible shape to fin- 

 ish up a large lot of section honey. The 

 broodless combs should be placed on top of 

 some weak colony which will keep them un- 

 til fall. They can then be stored away for 

 use again the next year." 



