102 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Kins Winter. 



FRANK D. H.4BKOUN. 



King Winter reigns right loyally ; 



Behold his sparkling crest ! 

 When wakes the golden eye of morn 



He gleams from east to west, 

 And laughs to see with fiendish glee 



All chill at his behest. 



He hies him o'er the lap of Earth— 



Nor shows her mercy now. 

 But blows his breath, replete with death. 



Full on her faded brow ; 

 The shrub, the birch, the lordly oak. 



In meek submission bow. 



Where are the royal robes of green 

 That Earth was wont to wear ? 



The bright plumed birds with liquid notes 

 That filled the scented air ? 



Will these ne'er come again to thrill ' 

 Her bosora, cold and bare ? 



Aye ! Lurking there 'neath heaps of snow 



Sweet hidden beauties lie. 

 That but await the magic glance 



From Summer's glorious eye. 

 E'er springing into life, and call 



The bird from foreign sky. 



Sweep on, bold, ro%'ing Winter King, 



Make merry while you may 1 

 For soon in joyous notes shall ring 



The songster's roundelay. 

 Rejoicing with the buds and flowers 



That you at last decay. 

 Clinton, Iowa, Feb. 4, 188U. 



Explanatory.— The figures before the 

 names indicate the number of years that the 

 person has kept bees. Those after, show 

 the number of colonies the writ?r had in the 

 previous spring and fall, or fall and spring, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near the centre of the State named: 

 5 north of the centre ; 9 south ; 0+ east ; 

 ♦Owest: and this 6 northeast; ^ northwest; 

 o^ southeast; and P southwest of the centre 

 of the State mentioned. 



For llie American Bee JoumaL 



Making History-New Bee-Hives. 



O. W. DEMAREE. 



,Rev. W. F. Clarke, one of our most 

 fluent writers on bee-culture, and the 

 Editor of the Amekican Bee Jour- 

 nal, widely known as an able and 

 prudent journalist, have both given 

 their cordial opinion of Mr. Heddon's 

 "new "patent hive. The first char- 

 acterizes it as a " revolutionizing " 

 invention, and the latter says it is 

 "new and orifiinal." With these 

 things before uie, on the pages of the 

 aforesaid independent bee-periodical. 

 I take it that tlie discussion is open 

 and free ttf all contributors. We are 

 "making history," and surely all the 

 facts should go to record. 



As to the utility of a hive made in 

 horizontal sectional parts, 1 am not 

 without experience. I have experi- 

 mented in that direction for the past 

 six years, and I now have bees winter- 

 ing in a hive made of cross sectional 

 parts only oj^ inches in depth. AVhen 

 the bees were prepared for winter in 

 September, they were shut down in a 

 single sectional part of the hive, the 

 frames being only SJaxn^^ inches, 

 outside measure. I have experimented 

 quite extensively with the sectional 

 shallow-frame cases, using them for 

 brood-rearing, tiering them up to 

 suit the size of the colony, and for 

 queen-rearing, using a single sec- 

 tional-case ; and I have employed 

 them largely for taking extracted 

 honey on the tiering-up plan. Those 

 persons who have read my articles in 

 the American Bee-Keeper. New England 

 Apiarian, Kansas Bee-Keeper, and the 

 American ApicuUurist, know tliat I 

 mentioned my shallow-frame system 

 time and again ; and in the discus- 

 sion between my distinguished friend. 

 Dr. Southvvick, and myself, published 

 in the American Bee Journal, Vol. 

 19, pages 870 and 371, I mentioned my 

 shallow-frame system, using it as an 

 argument in favor of shallow fi-ames. 



With these scraps of history already 

 gone to record, it is impossible that 

 any hive made in horizontal sectional 

 parts could be " new and original " at 

 this late date. In fact the idea was 

 not «e«) when I commenced my ex- 

 periments six years ago. Tlie practice 

 of tiering one " story " of a hive on 

 another, is common to all bee-keepers 

 — " common property." When we 

 hive a swarm in the lower "story," 

 or brood-department of a hive, we 

 speak of it as a " hive ;" and when we 

 add another story to it to give the bees 

 more room, we still call it a " hive," 

 because it is a hive in sectional parts. 

 Now the mere difference in the depth 

 of the sectional parts can never 

 change an old idea into a new one. 



Having shown that the " new " 

 patent hive is not new in conception 

 or idea, I now propose to show that in 

 its mechanical construction there is 

 not a single new feature about it, 

 that is of intrinsic value. 



The case to hold the frames is 

 simply a shallow box, the chief features 

 of which are shallow rabbets at the 

 bottom as well as at the top, and some 

 tin strips nailed in the rabbets to 

 support the frames. The frames have 

 wide end-bars, and are dovetailed at 

 their corners. When finished, the 

 frame is the same as the old " close 

 end-bar frame." 



As to its manner of adjustment in 

 the case, it is a "standing frame," 

 i. e., it rests on strips of tin at the 

 bottom of the case, instead of being 

 suspended in the case. The frames 

 are made as long as the inside of the 

 case, and hence lit closely to its front 

 and rear walls (a most objectionable 

 feature in a warm climate) ; and 

 lastly, the frames are clamped to- 

 gether by means of a set-screw at each 

 end of the case. 



It is proper to say that the frames 

 are adjusted in the case so as to leave 

 a shallow bee-space both at the top 

 and bottom of them, and the case 



will work with either side down, or 

 up. Comment is unnecessary. 



Every well-posted apiarist will 

 recognize every feature described as 

 an " old acquaintance." 



The application of a set-screw to a 

 bee-hive may be new as to the appli- 

 cation, but "thumb-screws" have 

 been in use for years to clamp hives, 

 etc. No device is more commonly 

 used than a " set-screw." 



Now, I might safely defy anybody 

 to point out a single new feature con- 

 nected with the " new " patent hive, 

 but my purpose is simply to give the 

 facts. There are but few independ- 

 ent apicultural writers, and these 

 must " hew to the line, let the chips 

 fall where they may." It is far more 

 pleasant to write a " puff " that 

 pleases, than to write words of truth 

 that may hurt. 



Christiansburg,5 Ky. 



For the American Bee Joumal- 



Honey-Interests of Florida, 



JNO. Y. DETWILER. 



Since writing my letter on page 60, 

 I have made a trip down the river, 

 and in my estimation the mangroves 

 have been entirely destroyed by the 

 recent cold wave. As a consequence, 

 the honey-interests of the coast coun- 

 try are greatly damaged, and, in my 

 opinion, will be no better than the 

 interior of the State for years to 

 come. Bees and fixtures are being 

 offered for sale preparatory to leaving 

 for more inviting fields. The tendency 

 of property owners who have lauds 

 for sale, is to consider the damage 

 to the honey interests as of but of one 

 or two years' duration ; but wlien it is 

 taken into consideration that the 

 mangrove is of slow growth (the 

 average size of the trees being about 

 5 inches, the result of the growth 

 since 1835, the date of the previous 

 frost), it becomes more serious. The 

 dead trees of 6. 8 and 10 inches are 

 numerous in the more isolated swamps 

 or islands. 



The damage to the bearing orange 

 groves of the coast is considered as 

 but slight, though some of the young 

 wood and much of the nursery stock 

 has been damaged, as well as the 

 ungathered crop of oranges. I have 

 been informed that the cocoanut 

 plantations, as well as the pine-apple 

 tracts of Southern Florida, have been 

 sadly damaged, if not entirely 

 destroyed. 



The groves of the interior have 

 suffered much more than is admitted, 

 as it has a tendency to direct emigra- 

 tion to other localities near salt water 

 protection. Take away tte honey 

 and orange interests of Florida and 

 there is but little left for humanity to 

 subsist upon, except the food resources 

 of the coast and the genial climate, 

 which in many instances prolongs life 

 where disease has taken a firm hold 

 upon the system. 



Another cold wave may not visit 

 Florida again for many years, and as 

 I have found by actual experience 

 that it does not pay to lose heart and 



