November i, i9i4 



d&:i 



brings me to (he point where I must tell 

 you that 1 believe the ideal hive, when dis- 

 covered, will be a square one, about Lang- 

 stroth depth. Now, don't be too hasty in 

 your conclusions. " There's a reason." 



All are agreed, I think, that the ten- 

 frame L. hive leaves something to be de- 

 sired. The eight-frame is not wortii con- 

 sidering. It comes i^retty near being no 

 hive at all ; and if the ten-frame L. hive is 

 not ideal, is the 11, 12, or 13 frame what 

 we want? I do not think that any of them 

 are ideal; but I do think they will be, and 

 rightfully so, the universally used hive un- 

 less a practically perfect one is found. 



In working for extracted honey I have 

 found that bees, in a good honey-flow, with 

 the combs in the super running at right 

 angles with those in the brood-chamber, are 

 inclined to till and cap the outside combs 

 first, finishing toward the center. If, by 

 having the section-holders run crosswise of 

 the combs below, they will do this when 

 producing comb honey, we have found 

 something worth knowing. I have never 

 known bees to make ready for swarming 

 with empty comb right over their brood 

 unless a queen-excluder happened to be be- 

 tween the two bodies; but it is no uncom- 

 mon thing for them to swarm with an 

 empty comb at the sides of the hive. Now, 

 if it is a fact that they will not swarm with 

 empty comb over their brood-nest (and I 

 believe that undtr ordinary circumstances 

 it is a fact), and if, later in the season, 

 after they have settled down to work in the 

 section-super, they will not swarm with the 

 sections of foundation over the center of 

 the brood-nest, it is certainly very desirable 

 to have them work from the outside toward 

 the center, for in that case we can always 

 give room and prevent them from ever 

 getting the central part of the super fin- 

 ished until the season is closing. 



I have never known bees to work from 

 the outside toward the center except when 

 the combs in the super run at right angles 

 to those in the brood-chamber; hence my 

 belief that the hive ideal will be a square 

 one (about Langstroth depth), so that su- 

 pers may be turned either way. A hive 20 

 x20 in., which would be a square Lang- 

 stroth, would take 13 frames. Such a hive 

 is too large. I venture to say that very 

 few people would want one of that size. 

 Further, there are very few queens that 

 could keep such a hive filled with brood — 

 not one in a hundred, I think. 



Three years ago, when I had come to the 

 conclusion that a square hive would possess 



advantages not found in any other, 1 made 

 one, 18^4 >^' T-8%j outside measure; cut down 

 in length enough of the regular L. frames 

 to fill the bodies, which just nicely take 12 

 frame.s in the brood-chamber (of course I 

 use less in the supers), and so far I am 

 highly pleased with that hive. It is about 

 the limit in size, being equal to an eleven- 

 frame Langstroth, which is just about rignt 

 for the average good queen. 



The best queens I have been able to jiro- 

 duee will use from nine to eleven L. frames 

 if they can have their own way. If I were 

 starting again into beekeeping I should 

 want either an eleven-frame Langstrotii or 

 the 18%xl8% square hive. 



Any hive, to become the universal one, 

 must be large enough to give reasonable 

 chance for swarm control; it must carry an 

 extracting-super, the combs of which are 

 interchangeable with those of the brood- 

 chamber; and if with this square hive one 

 can put bait sections in the four corners of 

 the section supers, and thus have the bees 

 work from the outside to the center, as they 

 do with extracting-combs, in a good flow 

 I certainly think the square hive will make 

 good with all who try it. Why bees are in- 

 clined to work from outside to center when 

 super combs run crosswise to the ones be- 

 low, I don't know. There are many facts in 

 nature for which human beings cannot 

 account. During a slow flow bees are more 

 inclined to put the honey directly over the 

 brood-nest, even with this cross-comb ar- 

 rangement ; but not so in a fast flow — espe- 

 cially if the brood-combs are at right paral- 

 lel angles with the entrance. 



I wish that some of our leading comb- 

 honey producers, or, more properly speak- 

 ing, section-honey producers, would try 

 this hive, 18%^xl8%x9% deep, outside mea- 

 sure, holding 12 frames 9V8xl6%. Place it 

 on the bottom-board with frames parallel 

 to the entrance, or try it both ways, remem- 

 bering that the combs or section-holders in 

 the super must run crosswise of the combs 

 below. Put the bait sections in the corners, 

 and note what happens. If the bees will 

 work from the outside to the center in sec- 

 tion supers, I think possibly it will prove 

 to be the hive ideal, for it is large enough, 

 though I think not too large to be practical. 

 The frame, I think, is not enough smaller 

 to lose any of the Langstroth principle; 

 and if ever any hive proves to be superior 

 to a ten or eleven frame Langstroth, I make 

 a guess that it will be just such a hive. 



Pirn, Cal. 



