April, 191'? 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



253 



COMB HONEY - FEW SWARMS 



Heavy Winter Losses, and Excessive 



Swarming of Years Ago, Eliminated ; 



Good Crops from all Colonies 



By Mrs. S. Wilbur Frey 



THIRTY- 

 t w o years 

 ago, at the 

 time I was mar- 

 ried, my hus- 

 band a n d his 

 father kept 

 about thirty 

 colonies of bees 

 in box hives. These were approximately 

 13 inches square and 25 inches high. The 

 entrance was full length on all four sides, 

 made by a nail projecting from the bottom 

 at each corner of the hive. The height of 

 the entrance was governed by the distance 

 the nail projected, and was anywhere from 

 % to 1 inch. 



An auger-hole in the top of the box, and 

 an old-fashioned sap-bucket turned upside 

 down on top, completed the equipment need- 

 ed in the apiary. Whether a pail was full 

 of honey or not was learned by sounding it 

 on the sides, just as is done in selecting a 

 ripe melon. Occasionally some very nice 

 pails of white honey were secured, for the 

 country was new. Raspberries and fire- 

 weed, or willowherb, abounded in the pine 

 slashings on all sides. There was basswood 

 in the foi'est, and plenty of white clover in 

 the pastures and along the roadsides. 



SOME OF OUR EARLY TROUBLES. 



Winter losses often took half of the 

 colonies. In the spring we could hardly tell 

 which would rule the hives — mice, millers, 

 or the bees. In those days the bees were all 

 black, and we could count on swarming any 

 time from May until August. 



During the months of June and July it 

 was a common occurrence to see all hands, 

 including women and children, with bells, 

 horns, tin pans, and gains endeavoring to 

 stop a runaway swarm while the dog ran in 

 every direction, leaping and barking, won- 

 dering what all the excitement was about. 

 But even with all this fuss the bees some- 

 times escaped to the woods. , Drones were 

 very numerous, and we often dropped our 

 work and ran out in haste only to find the 

 uproar caused by these big noisy fellows out 

 for an afternoon play. 



The bees never forgot to celebrate the 4th 

 of July, also the nice Sundays 

 during the swarming time. Of- 

 ten after a rain, several swarms 

 would come out before the drops 

 had hardly ceased to fall, if the 

 sun happened to show his smiling 

 face. 



OUR FIRST MOVABLE-FRAME HIVE. 



Two years after we were mar- 

 ried a friend bought a colony of 



bees in an old 

 Langstroth hive 

 with crosswise 

 frames as shown 

 in the illustra- 

 tion, Fig. 2. 

 That first season 

 he increased to 

 se V e n colonies 

 and sold his comb honey at 15 cents a sec- 

 tion. We were very anxious to see this 

 wonderful hive, and the following spring 

 found us with fifteen new ones of this 

 pattern, which we filled with bees during 

 that season. But we were doomed to dis- 

 appointment. When the warm days of 

 another spring came all we had in the new 

 hives was dirty combs and dead bees. We 

 had tried to winter with no additional pro- 

 tection except an oilcloth over the brood- 

 nest. That spring a catalog came to us 

 from Kendallville, Ind., that revived our 

 spirits. It explained how hives could be 

 jDrotected by chaff on all sides and on the 

 tops, the chaff being held in place by a strip 

 of cloth reaching clear around the hive, 

 folding over at the top of the brood-nest, 

 and having the lower edge tacked to the 

 bottom of the hive. 



My father-in-law did not approve of our 

 new ideas ; and when he saw us preparing 

 to winter bees the second time in the new 

 hives he requested us not to pack his share 

 of the apiary, as he did not want his colonies 

 to die. Our luck changed, however, for the 

 packed colonies all lived, while those in over 

 half of the unpacked liives died. 



For several years swarming was the gi'eat 

 problem, altho we occasionally had bad 

 winter losses. 



IMPROVED METHODS AND EQUIPMENT. 



Beekeeping is very different now; for 

 with our large hives and improved methods 

 we seldom have winter losses, and swarming 

 is nearly a thing of the past. 



When we began to keep out-apiaries it 

 became necessary to develop a method that 

 would prevent swarming to a certainty. 

 Perfect wintering and swarm prevention are 

 the two points of advantage that I claim for 

 my hive over all the other plans that I have 

 used. 



The super, as shown in the il- 

 lustration, is very large, holding 

 45 sections. This easily satisfies 

 the be&s' desire for room, if other 

 conditions are right. In my ex- 

 perience a large super is neces- 

 sary for success in a comb-honey 

 apiaiy. I have used this super 

 for 24 years, and I have on hand 

 over 300 of them. When I am 



