1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



591 



there is not enough nectar in flowers to be 

 found. During the bloom of certain nectar- 

 bearing flowers the number of bees at the 

 drinking- places has decreased to an aston- 

 ishing degree. 

 Lilac, Cal. 



AN EDUCATIONAL BEE-HIVE. 



BY EDWARD F. BIGELOW. 



From The Nature-Study Review, Sept., 1905. 



would be even better, perhaps, to put fewer 

 frames in the flying cage when it is used in 

 connection with the rest of the hive. 



It is also intended that usually only one 

 frame shall be put in each half of the two 

 observation chambers. This arrangement 

 brings under full observation the outsides 

 (half of whole frame) as follows — two in 

 base, two in observation chamber, four in 

 traveling hives, four in flying cage. There 

 will also be seen fairly well the inside sur- 

 faces of the four frames (one of each set) 

 nearest the center of the flying cage. Thus 

 there are visible sixteen sides of frames or 

 an equivalent in sides of an entire eight- 

 frame ordinary hive. But in actual prac- 

 tice, this Educational hive gives an equiva- 



In a booklet recently published and dis- 

 tributed free of charge to those who ask 

 for it, I have explained why a bee- hive 

 seems to be needed for educational purposes, 

 a hive that shall be worthy of 

 the interest sure to be aroused 

 by the instructive and often un- 

 known or unappreciated habits 

 of the honey-bee. 



In that booklet I have briefly 

 set forth the main points of this 

 special hive. What I have there 

 stated regarding its advantages 

 I trust will be made clearer by 

 the accompanying illustrations, 

 their subjoined legends, and this 

 additional description. 



The structure is not so much a 

 hive, which is a mere home for 

 the honey-bee; but rather a com- 

 plete, elaborate, handsome apia- 

 rian apparatus or laboratory sup- 

 plied with every facility for ob- 

 servation, instruction, and exper- 

 iment. I have long been of the 

 belief that full justice— if not 

 more than justice— has been done 

 to cheap, homemade, simple con- 

 trivances for keeping and ob- 

 serving these most fascinating 

 and useful members of the insect 

 world. That it is an expensive 

 hive I admit. That I have pur- 

 posely made it so, I al?o admit; 

 and I strongly advise that it be 

 ordered only in oak or in ash, the 

 wood to be as highly polished as 

 possible. No patent has been put 

 upon the hive, and the purchaser 

 pays only for the material and the 

 labor. I have made such ar- 

 rangements with the company 



which manufactures and places gj^g ^^^ ^j ^^^ Bigelow Educational hive, showing storage of hon- 



it in the market, that I am con- ey in outside frame at base, three rows of developing queen-cells in 



vinced they are doing it without observation chamber, four full sections of honey in super, and brood, 



any pecuniary profit, trusting honey, and bees working in " traveling hive " at top. 



for that to come from an in- 

 creasing interest which this hive will excite 

 in bees, and therefore an increase in orders 

 for the ordinary apiarian goods. 



The Complete Hive. —As set up in my lab- 

 oratory, there are placed in the entire hive 

 ten frames in base, ten in observation cham- 

 ber, three in " traveling hives " (at top) and 

 twelve in flying cage— thus a total of thirty- 

 five. The flying cage holds twenty frames, 

 but it is preferable to put in not over twelve 

 —two sets of three each on each support. It 



lent of two eight-frame hives, fully under 

 observation, because as the two sides of any 

 one frame are usually about the same, a full 

 observation of an ordinary hive would show 

 eight different combs, or stages of progress 

 in the work, while this Educational hive 

 shows sixteen different frames under obser- 

 vation at once. And, as has been previously 

 explained, if it is desired to crowd the hive 

 to fairly fuU capacity, there would be a 

 storage or ' ' base of supplies ' ' in [nineteen 



