THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



Is it any wonder that the idea of "ma- 

 nipulation " should prevail over every 

 other objective sentiment ? 



Tiiis was well enough when all of 

 us were mere students and novices, 

 • but the time has come for practical 

 work. Thousands of families are to 

 be fed and clothed and educated 

 from the proceeds of the apiary, 

 There was a time when it took years 

 of labor and study to master the sci- 

 ence of bee-culture, and this because 

 it was more difficult to unlearn the 

 blind, conceited blunders of the past, 

 than it was to comprehend the new 

 light that promised better things to 

 beekeepers. 



The common, narrow top-bar 

 frames are exceedingly handy to re- 

 move when looking up the queen, 

 or when learning to handle bees, etc. 

 But experience has demonstrated 

 that they are defective when it comes 

 to practical work in the apiary. If 

 you adjust boxes or frames, or section 

 cases over the ordinary narrow top 

 frames, the bees proceed at once to 

 fill the air space with brace combs, 

 and, when the surplus department is 

 removed it will be found so com- 

 pletely united to the tops of the brood 

 frames that some of the latter will be 

 lifted with the cases, and, when they 

 do break loose, the cases are left 

 fearfully daubed with wax and drip- 

 ping honey. Who is it that has not 

 wished for a better arrangement for 

 producing comb honey? Just the 

 other day while I was removing a 

 frame from the upper story of a hive, 

 it was studded so firmly to the top of 

 a brood-frame that the bottom bar of 

 the frame was torn off with a part 

 of the comb adhering, and the jar to 



the hive sent the angry bees whirling 

 in the air about my ears. For sev- 

 eral years I have been in search of a 

 plan that will remedy this defect in 

 the practical working of the old stand- 

 ard brood frame and I now believe 

 that I have perfected a brood frame 

 that will make honey-producing so 

 simple and pleasant that the frame 

 will be adopted generally, at least 

 when comb-honey is the main crop. 

 Several parties have written me ask- 

 ing for a description of my invention 

 which I give below. I am aware that 

 some who have patent hives and im- 

 plements for sale will not look with 

 favor on a new rival for honors in 

 apiary work. 



I am in favor of liberal patent laws, 

 but this does not blind me to the fact 

 that our loose patent laws have in- 

 jured the bee interests of the country. 

 Out of the eight hundred or more 

 patents on hives and implements of 

 the apiary, a very limited number of 

 them embrace valuable features, and 

 those that do, with a few exceptions, 

 are stolen ideas. Mr. Forncrook's 

 claim to the " one-piece section " is 

 just as good morally and legally as 

 nine-tenths of all the patents that 

 have been issued. While I take no 

 part in that controversy, I like to see 

 all beekeepers treated alike. But I 

 must beg pardon for digression. 



My new brood-frame is made just 

 like the standard Langstroth frame 

 except that it has two top bars. The 

 top bar proper is made one and three- 

 eighths inches wide, and has a slot 

 cut in its centre extending the full 

 length of the inside measure of the 

 frame. This slot is made by letting 

 the bar down on a wabble saw and 



