THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



129 



claims to be a new hive that will rev- 

 olutionize the science of apiculture 

 in practice. The claims made both 

 in the theoretical part of the book, 

 and the description of the manipu- 

 lation of the hive, point us directly 

 to the assumption that this revolution 

 is to be caused largely though not 

 wholly, by reversing frames either 

 singly, or by reversing the whole hive. 



The tenability of the above posi- 

 tion is the matter I now propose to 

 examine. 



In the first place then, I ask, will 

 the reversible principle accomplish 

 the desired end in a simple, practi- 

 cal and economical manner? To 

 this question I admit the process of 

 reversing frames either singly or by 

 overturning a whole hive is simply 

 enough in all conscience ; whether 

 practical and practicable is a matter 

 of opinion ; and as to its economy 

 to those who will have to make great 

 changes in hives and apparatus, all 

 will admit that it is not so. But 

 aside from all this, there arises another 

 question, and one that is of great 

 importance to us all, and that is 

 contained in the question that forms 

 my text ; or, in other words, is the 

 method described by Mr. Heddon 

 taken as a whole, and in connection 

 with his hive, a step in advance ? on 

 the contrary, has he not in his book 

 lost view entirely of one of the great 

 principles that govern apiculture, 

 and in the adoption of which we can 

 only accomplish our ends economi- 

 cally, and most successfully ? 



There is a principle in comb build- 

 ing and cell use by the queen and 

 her bees, that is as old as apiculture, 

 and which the late Mr. Quinby found 

 was always carried out when he at- 

 tempted to force his bees to adopt 

 comb built on tin foundation. It is 

 this. Bees will not seal up their 

 brood in cells more than regulation 

 depth, that is, deeper than are built 

 in comb seven-eighths inches thick ; 

 and further that they also prefer to 

 store their honey in cells much deeper 



than those above described. This 

 being the case, have we not, in prac- 

 tice, a plain simple and easy way by 

 which we can induce our bees to 

 occupy sections, which seems to be 

 the main object of reversing? I 

 have fully considered this matter, 

 and have made thorough tests in re- 

 gard to it, during the last five years, 

 with the result that I know positively 

 that it will work every time, and that 

 the results are alway,s the same. 



My method is not new in one 

 sense, yet I have never seen it advo- 

 cated. Perhaps it may have been in 

 the minds of others, still it does not 

 seem to have assumed sufficient 

 prominence to cause it to be con- 

 sidered of importance. It is based 

 on the habits of the bees in regard 

 to storing honey and rearing brood. 

 It is as follows : in early spring 

 when I make my first examination, 

 1 remove the frames, and shave the 

 comb carefully to just seven-eighths 

 of an inch in width. I use the L 

 hive, and frames with seven-eighths 

 of an inch wide top-bars. After the 

 combs are thus shaved down, I re- 

 place them just bee space apart. 

 When the honey season opens, sec- 

 tions are at once placed on the 

 frames, and the bees at once occupy 

 them. The theory of this is seen at 

 once, and I defy any one to contro- 

 vert it; In practice I have fully 

 proved it during the last five years, 

 and I find the results are always the 

 same. And why should they not be ? 

 Bees will always store their honey 

 above their brood : the advocates of 

 reversible frames admit this as the ba- 

 sis of their theory. They don't store 

 honey readily in shallow or brood 

 cells ; this I presume will be readily 

 admitted. Now by keeping comb 

 just seven-eighths of an inch thick, 

 and just bee space apart, we get the 

 brood chamber filled with brood, and 

 find practically no honey stored 

 there, but on the contrary it is stored 

 at once where there is plenty of 

 room, viz., in sections. The position 



