AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



425 



hive is illustrated and described on this 

 page, has been almost constantly present 

 during the Fair this summer. He has ex- 

 plained the workings of the Ferguson hive 

 to over 3,000 visitors who were interested 

 in bee-keeping. Bro. Price is a regular 

 Western hustler, with the accompanying 

 " get there " qualities. 



Bros. Hambaugh and Stone have put in a 

 mirrored ceiling over their extracted honey 

 exhibit, which is a unique attraction. By 

 looking directly above the huge pile of honey 

 in jars and glass pails, one can see it all in 

 an inverted position. It really looks like 

 two exhibits instead of one, though of 

 course the upper exhibit is " all in your 

 eye," and not in the case. One visitor be- 

 came alarmed when gazing at the appar- 

 ently hanging and inverted exhibit of so 

 much extracted honey, and asked if there 

 wasn't danger of its falling, and causing a 

 big smash up ! It takes Bro. Hambaugh to 

 tell about the fun he's having with that 

 looking-glass arrangement. 



Xlie Ffei'S'iisoit Ke*'-!!!^!!*, which 

 we illustrate on this page, shows another 

 advance step in progressive bee-culture. 

 Although not so extensively known to the 

 apiarian world, yet it has been in us^e for 



The Fernxison Hive and Super. 



eight years by bee-keepers in the West, 

 though not until recently placed on sale, 

 and has given unbounded satisfaction 

 wherever it has had a fair trial. 

 The body or brood-nest of the Ferguson 



hive is the well-known and popular Lang- 

 stroth or 8-frame dovetail hive. 



The principal and radical improvements, 

 as claimed, are in the section-case, which 

 may be used on any other hive. It holds 

 the usual size one-pound sections for comb 

 honey, which have no insets or scallops at 

 the edge, and these when in the super are 

 close fitting to each other. Perforated sep- 

 arators, which come even with the outside 

 of the sections on all sides, and are dropped 

 loosely between the sections, cause every 

 comb to be as straight and smooth as a 

 board. The sections and separators are 

 clamped sidewise by the side-opening door 

 of the super, and endwise by a wedge. 



The bees have access 9nly to the inside 

 of the sections, the outside and the edges 

 thereby retaining their original whiteness. 

 The bees are admitted to each section 

 through a round hole in the center of its 

 bottom. The sections rest on a honey- 

 board with corresponding openings be- 

 neath ; and in grooves in the honey-board, 

 which the bees cannot reach, are slides, 

 with openings that register with those in 

 both sections and the honey-board. These 

 slides are operated from the outside, away 

 from the bees, and this places every section 

 within the control of the bee-keeper. The 

 bees are first admitted to the end sections, 

 and as soon as a fair start is made in them, 

 the central sections are opened to the bees, 

 and, as a result, the entire super is finished 

 about the same time. 



To remove a single section at any time, 

 simply close one of the slides, open the 

 door, and the desired section may be taken 

 out without disturbing the bees in the least. 



Owing to the construction of the Fergu- 

 son sections and perforated-wood separa- 

 tors, but very little use of the smoker is 

 required to cause the bees in the sections 

 to go into the brood-chamber below. This 

 done, all the slides can be closed, thus pre- 

 venting their return to the super while any 

 or all of the sections can be removed at will 

 without disturbance to the colony. 



Every section, filled in the most perfect 

 shape, can be picked up as from a table, 

 and without any scraping to free them from 

 propolis ; and placed into shipping-cases, or 

 in the hands of the dealer, these sections 

 possess special advantages. If the old style 

 of sections, while being handled in the 

 shipping-case, should slip past each other, 

 the projecting part of the section will 



