702 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



November, 1922 



except the brood-frames. In a hive with 

 frames of this kind the queen would lay in 

 a circle and would produce more bees than 

 in a smaller hive, and of course this would 

 be my idea of a perfect Palace for the 

 Queen. Jay Smith. 



Vineennes, Ind. 



Size of Hive Less Important Than Proper 

 Management. 



Having used rather extensively about all 

 the different- sized hives on tlie market dur- 

 ing the past 20 years, possibly accounts for 

 the fact that I am often asked as to what- 

 sized hive I would use exclusively if start- 

 ing over again in the business of producing 

 extracted honey. As I have often stated, I 

 have used many sizes of hives not because 



Another large hive idea. A. A. Rodman, Kansas 



City, Mo., holding one of his large brood-frames, 



17% X 15 inches. 



of choice, but rather because of circum- 

 stances over which I had little control. 

 Working with little capital, bees were 

 bought regardless of the kind of hive they 

 were in, and, not being of a mechanical turn, 

 I did not go to trouble of having hives made 

 over but used them as they were. Just a 

 few days ago I was asked to give my ideas 

 on the hive question in Gleanings, and this 

 is my excuse for again taking up a very 

 old subject, and one in which I frankly take 

 little interest any more myself. We have at 

 present in our different apiaries about 600 

 colonies in hives of eight-frame Tjangstroth 

 capacity, about 150 in ten-frame Langstroth 

 size, some 200 in eight-frame Jumbo size, 

 and about 400 in ten-frame .7 umbo. 



Formerly Advocated Large Hives. 



My grandfather was a successful beekeep- 

 er over 50 years ago, and as far back as I 

 can remember — about 40 years — I recall 

 how I often was with him in the apiary 

 when but a boy, as he worked among the 

 bees in the large hives that he used exclu- 

 sively — a hive equal to about 17 Langstroth 

 frames. So I was brought up among large 

 hives, and naturally was of the opinion that 

 anyone using a hive as small as the Langs- 

 troth was to be pitied. When we started 

 in commercial beekeeping, our first pur- 

 chases were bees in these large hives; and, 

 as I had been trained in the use of these 

 hives, naturally when I first bought an api- 

 ary in Langstroth hives, not knowing how 

 to manage them, I was disgusted with the re- 

 sults, and the pages of Gleanings and other 

 journals of that date contain criticisms writ- 

 ten by myself that appear very funny indeed 

 to me today. Even as recently as seven years 

 ago, if memory serves me right, I stated that 

 my preference if starting over again would 

 be the ten-frame Jumbo. Today, after a 

 more extensive use of these different-sized 

 hives, frankly, I hardly know what to say 

 when asked the question as to my prefer- 

 ence. I have an idea that, if put to the test, 

 possibly the eight-frame Langstroth would be 

 the choice, particularly so because my two 

 boys now grown up would certainly urge me 

 to make that decision. 



But if I had an apiary of any considerable 

 size in any of these different-sized hives, 

 provided the combs were good straight work- 

 er and drawn from foundation, under no con- 

 sideration would I change them into any 

 other size. Why? Simply because by apply- 

 ing the kind of management suited to each 

 hive, there will not be 5% difference in re- 

 sults between any of them. There may be 

 jertain climates where certain-sized hives are 

 better than others; but as I read some of 

 the absurd claims made for one kind of hive 

 over another, it seems ridiculous as I now 

 see things. 



Better Wintering With Smaller Hives, 



The larger hives are, as a rule, heavier 

 in the fall and the bees require less feed- 

 ing than bees in smaller hives. This sounds 

 nice, but it oftens works out otherwise. We 

 always have to feed the colonies in Stand- 

 ard eight-frame Langstroth hives heavily, 

 and with us that size of hive is not safe for 

 winter till the bees refuse to take any 

 more syrup. For the past few years, since 

 adopting that system of feeding for winter, 

 the small hives have invariably wintered 

 the best. This is not necessarily because 

 the hives are small but because they have 

 an abundance of good stores, and the combs 

 are so solid with stores during early winter 

 that but little brood-rearing can take place 

 to wear out prematurely the old bees, and 

 the colonics come through vigorous and 

 strong. 



We do not Avorry as to whether there are 

 enough empty combs for bees to cluster on. 

 We have often had colonies on solid combs 



