74 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15 



bees are enough to mate a queen. Fifty will 

 do it better, but more than a small teacup- 

 f ul is a decided disadvantage. The most in- 

 tricate operation of the whole process of Mr. 

 Pratt is the removing from a full colony a 

 quantity of bees shaken in an empty hive 

 with a little honey, and these queen-cups 

 with larvae in, to have a cell started for about 

 forty-eight hours. It was very hard for 

 him to make clear many of these points that 

 were very clear to himself, as it was diffi- 

 cult, in such a very important process, to 

 follow him from detail to detail, as one 

 could if he were in his apiary, watching him 

 work. The convention felt that Mr. Pratt 

 had given them some very important ideas, 

 and among many they could see why one 

 could try these methods and fail, if they 

 were not followed explicitly. It would be 

 best by far for any queen-breeder who ex- 

 pected to make this his business to make ar- 

 rangements with Mr. Pratt to go to his 

 apiary and see him work, and demonstrate 

 his theory, and compensate him for such 

 service. It would be money well spent; and 

 where many queens were bred, it would pay 

 the breeder for any such time and cost the 

 first season. 



Mr. Pratt's methods have been condemned 

 by many, simply because they have not been 

 able to follow him as he directs. This seem- 

 ed to be the sense of the meeting. His en- 

 tire address met with great applause. In 

 the evening Dr. Frear, from the State Col- 

 lege, was to be present and discuss the 

 standard of honey. The bee-keepers felt 

 that this meeting more than repaid for their 

 time and expense in attending; and with the 

 many other things that were learned, the ad- 

 dresses of Dr. PhiUips, Mr. France, and Mr. 

 Pratt more than repaid them. 



the hooks in the bottom-board A; and H is 

 the front sill. 



THE HERSHISER COMBINED HIVE-STAND 

 AND BOTTOM-BOARD. 



Its Value, Both in Summer and Winter. 

 BY OREL L. HERSHISER. 



The salient objects of this combined hive- 

 stand and bottom-board appear clearly after 

 a careful study of the illustrations presented 

 herewith. 



Referring to the lettered parts of the en- 

 gravings, A is the bottom-board; B the 

 front, or alighting-board; C the bail-like sup- 

 port of the front, and D the flexible wire 

 support of the rear ends of the bottom-board 

 when the same is in ordinary outdoor use; 

 E the pins used to regulate the size of en- 

 trance to hive and depth of space under the 

 bottom-bars of frames; F the upper inside 

 rim which forms a shoulder against which 

 the bottom-board rests snugly when held in 

 its highest position by the bail-like support 

 C and the flexible wire support D; G is the 

 hooks by means of which the alighting-board 

 B is coupled to the bottom-board A— loops 

 in the ahghting-board B corresponding to 



FIG. 1.— bottom-board; SECTIONAL VIEW. 



Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation 

 through a vertical plane on a line between 

 the two sides, which passes through one of 

 the loops G, of a combined hive-stand and 

 bottom-board, showing the relation of the va- 

 rious parts to the bottom and alighting-boards 

 A and B respectively, in normal position for 

 ordinary outdoor use. This figure, in con- 

 nection with Figs. 2 and 3, clearly shows 

 the manner of supporting the bottom-board 

 A by means of the flexible wire spring D and 

 the bail-Hke support C. The bottom-board 

 A is lowered, for the purpose of enlarging 

 the entrance to the hive, by pushing the 

 bail-like support C back until it engages the 

 pins E. One or more of these adjustments 

 may be provided as needed or desired. The 

 front board B is here^ shown in its capacity 

 as an ahghting-boarH, it being coupled to 

 the hooks G of bottom-board A, by means of 

 the corresponding loops on the upper edge of 

 the alighting-board. 



FIG. 2.— HERSHISER HIVE-STAND; BOTTOM- 

 BOARD DETACHED; PATENT AP- 

 PLIED FOR. 



