1358 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



,way about half a day. then set them ou top 

 ' of a strong colony where you got the brood 

 with a queen-excluder between. Do all this 

 with a little smoke, and avoid exciting the 

 strong colony in any way. If a cool day, 

 and the bees' are not flying, I usually leave 

 the strong colony uncoveied, except with 

 the excluder, for a few hours before setting 

 on the weak colony. The whole thing should 

 be done as quietly as possible, so that neither 

 colony hardly realizes that it has been 

 touched. When the weak colony has been 

 given some brood, and put on top in this 

 careful and still manner, hardly one queen 

 in a hundred will be lost, and in about 30 

 days each hive will be crowded with bees 

 and maturing brood. Then when you wish 

 to separate them, set the strongest colony on 

 a new stand and give it also some of the 

 bees from the hive that is left on the old 

 stand, as a few of the working force will 

 return to the old location, especially if they 

 are black bees or degenerate Italians. 



In every ease that has come to my notice 

 where this method has been reported a fail- 

 ure it has been by one of two causes — either 

 from lack of brood in a weak colony to hold 

 the queen and her few bees in the upper 

 hive, or by smoking the strong colony so 

 that, as soon as the weak one was set on top, 

 the bees from below would rush vip and 

 sting every thing above. Therefore avoid 

 using smoke or doing any thing that will 

 excite the strong colony. 



If done in a careful manner the bees in the 

 lower hive never seem to realize that any 

 strangers have l^een put above them, and 

 they will all work in harmony together. 



From the many complimentary letters I 

 have received during the past summer I am 

 sure that, when Gleaning.s gave this method 

 to the bee-keeping world, it was the means 

 of saving thousands of colonies for its many 

 readers; so, give that paper all credit: and 

 if you will put this method in practice next 

 spring, as I have explained, it will be woi'th 

 more to you than all you have ever paid out 

 for bee-journals. 



Delanson. N. Y. 



OBSERV ATION HIVES. 



Some Improvements: the Disadvantages 



Connected with the Regular Style as 



Devised by Langstroth; How these 



may be Overcome. 



BY DANIEL K. SAVAGE. 



[For several years past there has been a growing 

 interest in the study of the habits of the bee. and a 

 revival of interest in the observation hive. Dr. E. F. 

 Bigelow, of Stamford. Conn., has been a leading- spirit 

 in the movement for a better equipment for the study 

 of bee-life. He believes that nothing is too good for 

 his bees, and has devised several observation hives. 

 Dr. Hodge, in his book, "Nature Study and Life," 

 makes a strong plea for the observation hive. In the 

 following article Mr. Savage points out the advan- 

 tage of a certain form of single-frame hive, and in 

 later articles by other contributors we shall show the 

 comparative merits of single-frame and full-size ob- 

 servation hives— how to handle them, etc.— Ed ] 



I feel confident that you will appi'eciate an 

 apparatus that I have devised for convenient 



and (careful observation of the wonderful 

 working of the bees, as nearly as possible in 

 a normal condition. It is more than thirty 

 years since I undei'took to build an observa- 

 tory hive on the pattern given by Langstroth 

 in 1802, which I scrupulously followed in ev- 

 ery particular. 



Very soon I found difficulty in its use. 

 The space between glasses was 1^, and it 

 was difficult to lower the comb with adher- 

 ing bees down there without scraping olT 

 bees, and more difficult to get it out after the 

 bees hatl fastened it to the glass here and 

 there. Besides, the top strips concealed the 

 top- bar and all above it, and things mi^ht be 

 in progress right there that I wished very 

 much to see. So I took off those top strips 

 and nailed the top on permanently, and ar- 

 ranged to put the comb in from the side. 

 Next I discarded all grooves and rabbets and 

 strips, as it was difficult to get the glass off 

 and on. The dark and tortuous tunnel for 

 an entrance was a nuisance that had to be 

 abated. It was apt to be clogged up by 

 workei'S trying to drag out a dead drone. 

 You know "they never pull all together the 

 same way, but stupidly pull every way. I 

 have known a queen to be waylaid and 

 smothered there, with complete congestion of 

 all other business. Father Langstroth says 

 that young queens could not readily find the 

 way out, and in one instance he was obliged 

 to place the young queen in a nucleus out of 

 doors in order that she might take her nup- 

 tial flight. Strange that he did not rather 

 provide a more convenient place of exit. 

 The vestibule block, as shown, was adopted 

 for this and for several other important pur- 

 poses. It gives solidity and squareness to 

 the whole structure. The passageways are 

 commodious, and entirely open to view; it 

 brings the hive away from too close contact 

 with the window; it furnishes a convenient 

 place for a small glass feeder, and a ventila- 

 tor at the top, covered with wire cloth. 



Near the top of both front and rear posts 

 a screw-hook goes in, its point slightly en- 

 tering the wood of the frame, thus keeping 

 the saiue firmly fixed. In the bottom are 

 two screws projecting upward about g, and 

 upon these the frame rests. The screw-hooks 

 are convenient for lifting the hive. A strap 

 or coril may be attached so as to caiTy with 

 one hand. If a lower sash be used it is raised 

 so as to rest upon a strip about 4 inches wide, 

 and through this strip an aperture is cut 

 about IfX^i, so that the projecting end will 

 rest upon the window-ledge and pass easily 

 outside. The hive may be placed at any part 

 of the window by i-emoving a pane, say 

 10X10, and substituting a pane 10x13 with 

 a thin piece of wood 10x4 below, through 

 which the hole is cut. From the screw-hook 

 at the rear, a picture-cord or wire goes to 

 the upper window-casing. No other fasten- 

 ing or support is needed. The foot-piece is 

 screwed on to the bottom, and is turned 

 crosswise when the hive is set down any- 

 where; when in place at the window, this 

 piece is turne<l lengthwise so as to be out of 

 the wav. Glass, four sheets, 11X9|; two 



