(Cleaimiiii 



im 



ee (LuaMere 



Published by The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio 



A. I. KOOT, Editor Home Department J. T. CALVERT, Business Manager 



H. H. Root, Managing Editor E. R. Root, Editor A. L. Boyden, Advertising Manager. 



Entered at the Postofifice, Medina, Ohio, as second-class matter 



VOL. XLII. 



NOVEMBER 15, 1914 



NO. 22 



EDITOKIAL. 



: 



We have already sent one carload of bees 

 to the Dismal Swamp of Virginia, and an- 

 other one will follow Nov. 16. The freight 

 will be less than half as much as we paid 

 last year to Florida. The climate is mild, 

 so that the bees can get pollen and nectar 

 almost every day in the year. More anon. 



As announced on page 857 of the last 

 issue, our cover for this number shows the 

 new apiarian laboratory for bee culture in- 

 vestigations under the TJ. S. Department of 

 Agriculture. This building, located in a 

 subui'b of Washington (Drummond, Md.), 

 gives far better facilities for experimental 

 work in bee culture than has ever been 

 possible before. Beekeepers of the coun- 

 try may well be proud of the new building 

 and equipment. 



The experimental apiary in the rear of 

 the laboratory is shown on page 856 of the 

 last issue. 



a Plain Simiple Hive is 



LCff 



Every now and then a reader of Glean- 

 ings discovers " something new under the 

 sun " — something that will revolutionize 

 beekeeping and bring everlasting fame to 

 the inventor. Others are more modest in 

 their hopes of the ultimate success of their 

 new-born ideas. Perhaps we may be par- 

 doned for otfering a suggestion. Miost 

 would-be inventors are doomed to disap- 

 jjointment. History proves that beyond 

 any question. Inventions in the bee line are 

 no exception ; for beyond the great inven- 

 tion of the Langstroth hive and frame, the 

 centrifugal extractor of Hruschlva, and 

 comb foundation of Mehring, no revolution- 

 ary steps have been taken. Many minor 

 inventions, and some of very great value, 

 have been made, but none of them have 

 yielded their inventors any considerable 

 revenue through the medium of a patent. 

 We do not wish to discourage inventive 



genius and progress in search of better 

 methods for securing more and better hon- 

 ey. We shall welcome every idea that is 

 presented to us, and those that we consider 

 of sufficient merit we will place before our 

 readers. Many an idea has been offered to 

 us ; but because it never ap^iears in print 

 the introducer naturally concludes that we 

 do not consider it has any merit, when the 

 fact is these same ideas have been exploited 

 and described in the past, and it is ob- 

 viously a waste of time and space to exploit 

 them again. 



Inventors are still inventing reversible 

 frames that were thoroughly described and 

 found wanting in the early eighties. They 

 are still inventing new hives, new feeders, 

 new foundation fasteners, new entrance- 

 guards, new drone-traps. Instead of being 

 " new," these things are all old. In most 

 cases these would-be inventors have never 

 read the text-books on bee culture. What a 

 world of trouble and disappointment they 

 would save themselves if they would only 

 take pains to learn what others have done 

 before they delve into fields that have been 

 thoroughly worked over by others! 



We have before us a model of a hive, the 

 inventor of which regards it as something of 

 more than ordinary merit. It certainly has 

 some advantages; but the cost of it will 

 more than absorb the profits that such a 

 hive could make for the next ten years ; and 

 when we consider the uncertainties of the 

 honey seasons we cannot afford to load 

 down our investment too much at the be- 

 ginning. 



As a general rule a plain simple hive — 

 one that is light and portable, and at the 

 same time capable of expansion by putting 

 on upper stories — is far better than some 

 of the elaborate contraptions that have been 

 brought out from time to time. Father 

 Langstroth devised a simple hive ; but as the 

 years have rolled by, even that hive has 

 been made less complicated by omitting 

 l^orticos, cleats, and a big heavy cover. The 

 tendency of modern beekeeping is to make 

 a hive the body of which can be used either 

 as a brood-chamber or as a super when 



