THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



45 



can be liandled more quickly and stored 

 better, and with end followers of glass 

 frame they form a close box that can 

 be tiered up at will. I use a skelecou 

 honey board for these racks to rest on, 

 which gives a § space between bottom 

 of section holder and top of frame for 

 ready access of bees. I use a strong 

 cord to bind the racks and end follow- 

 ers together. This fastening allows 

 me to form a box of any number of 

 rowsof-sections up to the full capacity 

 of hive. It does away with blocks, 

 wedges, etc., and I have no close fit- 

 ting places to crowd a full section of 

 honey out of. I do not use, and have 

 no use for a queen excluder. 



4. Yes. It keeps the bottom of the 

 hive dry and allows e"ough fresh air to 

 supply tne bees if the entrance becomes 

 clO;;ged. (I referinthis to chaff hives.) 

 I use no under packing on common 

 hives for I do not winter them out of 

 doors. 



i). No, unless the edges of the cells 

 become thick and clumsy. I use them 

 as long as they keep clean and open, 

 regardless of age or color. Have some, 

 that I know are ovei twenty-two years 

 old. Frequent changing and extract- 

 ing has kept them as good as new. 



Oneida, III. 



ANSWKHS BY G. L. TINKER. 



1. King's. Two. 



-2. We should never feed sugar, dry. 



3. There may be those who think 

 they can "get along" with wide 

 frames, but we have long since lost all 

 patience with them. We use section 

 cases to hold our sections, adjustable, 

 from four to twenty in a case. They 

 are operated upon what we term an 

 intermediate rack made queen-exclud- 

 ing with perforated zinc, the passage 

 ways from the brood combs to the 

 sections being continuous. The ad- 

 viintages of such a system are matii- 

 fest in the production of about 

 one-third more comb honey than can 

 be produced by any other system. We 

 do not use separators, because they 

 are an unnecessary expense, cause ex- 

 tra labor in manipulation,. and since 

 we can get all comb honey in equally 

 as good and marketable shape without 

 the m . 



4. Yes; for the reason that packing 

 on the bottom of the hive in out-door 

 wintering is a measure of protection. 



5. We might, if we live to be old 

 enough. We have had them in use ten 

 years aiul such combs are still very 

 good. Have known brood combs to 



be in constant use for thirty years, and 

 they were still serviceable for brood. 

 If we have any crooked or uneven 

 combs, we melt them up, but no 

 straight ones. 



AXSWKUS IJY 1>. D. MAUSH. 



1. The Peabody, which takes two 

 frames. I only extract in a small way ; 

 but if largely engaged in it, I should use 

 an extractor which has a revolving bas- 

 ket, but does not itself revolve. 



2. Do not think it a practicable way. 

 A tliin syrup is more efficient. Should 

 prefer candy to dry sugar wet up with 

 bee-breath. 



3. Have used wide frames with 8 

 "novice sections;" but in our limited 

 pasturage hereabouts a story full of 

 them furnishes too much box room at 

 the outset; the upper set of boxes are 

 too far from the brood. If I used them, 

 should prefer shallow frames taking 

 only one tier of boxes. I use the 

 "(Jrane clamp" for two pound sections, 

 which holds (i sections, with wood sep- 

 arators. Putthreeof these clamps on, 

 side by side, and with a strong swarm 

 can tier them up. They are very sat- 

 isfactory, because I can put on one 

 clamp to begin with, then add others 

 as the bees get into the boxes, and 

 taper down as theseason closes. I use 

 the "Bristol clamp" for one pound sec- 

 tions: it is similar to the one just 

 described, only it has two rows of sec- 

 tions, twelve in all, with wood sepa- 

 rators, one set all are held in tight by 

 a following-board and screw in the end. 

 I put two of thes(! clamps on my eight 

 frame hives, and can tier them up. 

 Mr. Manum of Vermont uses these 

 clamps and thinks them the best. I 

 would not use any other. The advan- 

 tages are, you can put on, and take off, 

 a half, or a third, of your surplus ar- 

 rangement at a time. Have never used 

 the queen-excluding honey board, and 

 have very seldom found brood in sec- 

 tions. 



4. I should consider some packing, 

 or double thickness, or dead air space, 

 beneath the honey board benelicial, if 

 the hives were well up from the ground, 

 so it would not gather and hold damp- 

 ness from the ground. My hives are 

 double-wall, but have oniy a single 

 thickness of inch board for bottom ; 

 yet I would prefer protection beneath 

 as well as on top and sides. 



5. Combs can be used a groat many 

 years without any practical loss of use- 

 fulness as brood combs. 



Georyeloicn, 3Iass. 



