190G 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



219 



around in the crowd. I noticed that some 

 bees took wing. While there was no dispo- 

 sition on their part to offer attack, yet some 

 people in the crowd would strike at them, 

 and, much to my consternation, a big pow- 

 erful bay horse, full of life, went past us. 

 One or two stray bees buzzed about his 

 head. He began switching his tail vigorous- 

 ly, and shaking his head. I lost no time in 

 getting back into the cage, and I was fear- 

 ful every moment that the horse might with 

 his tail get the bees to stiffg. 



There is another advantage in a cage; 

 and that is, that bees confined are more gen- 

 tle than those that have the perfect freedom 

 of the air. They seem to be demoralized 

 by their constant handling; and when they 

 try to take flight they discover they are 

 prisoners. Then their entire thought is how 

 to get out. As I have elsewhere acknow- 

 ledged, the idea of handling bees in a cage at 

 outdoor public gatherings came from Eng- 

 land.- Ed.] 



BROOD-FRAMES AND COMB-HONEY 

 TIOWS IN THE SAME BODY. 



BY C. M. CHURCH. 



SEC- 



I enclose a sketch of a hive for raising 

 comb honey. I am only a beginner in bee 

 culture; and as I experienced a great deal 

 of trouble in getting my bees into the super 

 I concluded to change the construction of 

 the hive so as to let them fill sections by 

 placing sections in the body of the hive. 

 While this scheme was new to me I have 

 since found that it is an old idea, invented 

 by Mr. Langstroth in 1852, and used in a lit- 

 tle different way. I am also informed that 

 more honey can be obtained per colony in 

 this way, but at a greater expense in labor. 



My idea was to build a large 12 or 16 frame 

 hive deep enough to take in two 4X5 sections 

 standing up, and four sidewise, making 8 

 sections to the frame (see sketch of frame). 

 Then put in as many frames as desired for 

 the brood-nest; say four to six, with a 

 queen- excluder each side of the brood- nest; 

 then fill up the rest, each side of the brood- 

 nest, outside the queen-excluder, with frames 

 containing 4X5 plain sections, with fences 

 between them (I mention 4X5 plain sections 

 because they sell best in this locality). I 

 would also have three separate openings to 

 the hive— one to the brood nest and one to 



each set of five frames, then the bees would 

 not have to pass through the queen- exclud- 

 ers at all. 



I expect to be able to breed up in the 

 spring in this hive, to get the best results, 

 and also overcome the desire to swarm to a 

 great extent, by giving the queen plenty of 

 room to do her best and not be crowded. 



Arnold, Pa., Jan. 17. 



[The plan you describe was used many 

 years ago, but discarded. There are two 

 objections to it. First, it makes an awk- 

 ward odd-sized hive; second, comb honey 

 stored next to brood-frames will be discolor- 

 ed by reason of the bees using wax from the 

 brood-combs in building combs in sections. 

 No, I do not think more honey can be produc- 

 ed by this plan— at least there are no data to 

 show it. There is another incidental disad- 

 vantage; and that is, the outside frame, con- 

 taining eight sections, would present a large 

 surface to the side of the hive, and this 

 would result in the surface of those combs 

 being neglected or poorly filled. The same 

 objection applies to the ordinary comb- hon- 

 ey super containing one tier of sections; but 

 in this case only half the surface is present- 

 ed to the wood; and even this objection is 

 largely overcome by the use of slotted divid- 

 ers, or fences, put next to the outside of 

 the hive. 



If you would consult bee-keepers of large 

 experience you would probably save a good 

 deal of money, and in the end abandon all 

 idea of a hive like the one shown in the dia- 

 gram above. The whole field has been 

 thrashed over and over by others, only to be 

 abandoned; and as history is pretty apt to 

 repeat itself, you will be almost sure to be 

 a loser by the operation. — Ed. ] 



THE OIL-STOVE METHOD OF WARMING 

 STORAGE TANKS ; A CORRECTION. 



BY A. J. BURNS. 



Mr. Root:— When I sent you a description 

 of my tank for heating a large body of hon- 

 ey I mentioned an oil- stove only as a means 

 of heating, without giving any description of 

 it. The cut on page 26 would indicate a very 

 much less capacity than the stove I use, and 

 I don't wonder you raised the question of ca- 

 pacity. The water is used over and over; 

 and after it is heated it does not require so 

 much heat to keep it going. 



In my stove the oil flows into a shallow 

 circular trench (fast or slow as may be de- 

 sired), about five inches in diameter. In 

 this trench stands a narrow asbestos wick, 

 nearly four inches in diameter, to take up 

 the oil. The opening on the top where any 

 thing would stand to heat is nine inches in 

 diameter. The flame can be made to blaze 

 up very fiercely, and spread the full width 

 of the opening on the top. Two of these 

 burners, side by side, can be made to pro- 

 duce quite a heat. The top of the stove, in 

 size and appearance, is just like any self- 

 generating gasoline-stove on the market to- 



