30 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



THE QUIN-COMPACTNESS HIVE— SUPERS BESIDE THE BROOD- 

 CHAMBER 



BY W. F. M-'CT?EADy 



A lame shoulder set me thinking of mod- 

 ifying the hive so its manipulation would 

 not require lifting heavier than that done 

 in handling combs of honey, and yet re- 

 main as satisfactory in most respects as the 

 ordinaiy hive. 



To place the brood-nest and supers in 

 proper relation to each other appeared to 

 be most important. Three supers were set 

 side by side; but to add another in that 

 aiTangement seemed not sufficiently com- 

 pact. Accordingly, Iavo other supers were 

 placed across the ends of the three. 



Naturally the brood-nest should be the 

 central one of the gi'oup, as there it would 

 be furthest away from its enemies, robber 

 bees, etc. In that position a super could 

 be placed upon the top of the brood-nest 

 and another up against its bottom side. 

 These six supers so thoroly protect the 

 brood-nest as to permit leaving it on its 

 stand outside all winter. 



A string of bees. They hung fi-om cover to bottom 

 the hive-body or super. Photographed by William 



But how pass the bees into the brood- 

 chamber? The final method was to use 

 three-eighths of an inch of almost the en- 

 tire length of the bottom-board of the front 

 super as a channel thi'u which the bees 

 could pass from the outside directly into 

 their brood-nest. 



To admit the bees from the brood-nest to 

 the supers, V. V. wire strips, cut to special 

 size, were secured, and attached to openings 

 made in the sides and ends of the brood- 

 nest, practically as shown in Fig. 2. 



Where one side of eaeh super is removed, 

 notice that frames are hung in the openings 

 made in the sides and ends of the brood- 

 nest, thereby giving that much additional 

 comb area. If another such brood-nest is 

 placed on top, and supers also ranged 

 around it, eight frames nearly the full size 

 of the sides and ends of a super will be 

 added to the capacity of the two-story 

 brood-nest. 



On the lower left- 

 hand corner of the 

 edge of the front su- 

 per may be seen a 

 small vertical block. 

 In use it fits into a 

 corresponding cavity 

 in the edge of the bot- 

 tom of the left super. 

 There are sets of these 

 at all corners. They 

 automatically lock the 

 five supers togethei- 

 and prevent their be- 

 ing pulled apart. To 

 make this fastening, 

 two of the supers are 

 placed against the 

 brood-nest, and the 

 other two are lowered 

 one by one into posi- 

 tion against it Avhile 

 the locking apparatus 

 of one is engaging' 

 that of two others. 



To remove a super, 

 it is only necessary to 

 lift it, automatically 

 releasing it from the 

 others. 



With the improved 

 liive there is no lifting 

 of heavy supers of 



honev to set the bee- 

 board without touclmi^ ' , , -, 



Bair, of Odon, ind. escapo board under. 



