THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



185 



Have' the hive-entrance wide open, 

 and place iu the upper story, on the 

 covers of the brood-chamber, a straw- 

 mat or its equivalent. These covers 

 are generally composed of three 

 boards, so-called " third covers." If 

 they fit together very tightly, 1 should 

 bore an inch hole in one of them, 

 ■which will admit of the necessary 

 upward ventilation, while the straw- 

 mat on top prevents a draft and keeps 

 off the cold. There will be no moldy 

 combs and no diarrhea. Try it ; and 

 if you fail, by this method, to winter 

 your bees as well as did the box-hive 

 bee-men of old, let us know it. 



I have recently both read and heard 

 some fine arguments on the pollen 

 and wintering theories, apparently 

 based upon scientific principles, but 

 they could not withstand the solid 

 matter-of-fact arguments brought to 

 bear against them at the Detroit Con- 

 vention. Unless substantiated by 

 facts the most plausible theories 

 must be discarded. Bee-men iu the 

 North winter their bees in cellars— in 

 dry cellars, and in damp cellars ; have 

 their bees bred up so that when they 

 put them out in April or May their 

 colonies have not only brood in 7, 8 or 

 9 frames, but 7, 8 or 9 frames full of 

 brood— almost ready to swarm. The 

 veracity of each of these men need not 

 be doubted. The one with a dry 

 cellar maintains in it a temperature 

 not above 45° to 50°; while the damp- 

 cellar winterer runs the temperature 

 as high as 50P to 90^. Pollen is con- 

 sumed, or brood could not be reared, 

 but no diarrhea develops. 



Xeither pollen nor honey is the 

 cause of bee-diarrhea,to the best of my 

 observation ; but cause either of them 

 to be decomposed, then it will act like 

 poison, the same as moldy corn would 

 affect your stock, or decomposed meat 

 the human family. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Preyention of After-Swarms, 



R. DART. 



There are two ways by which I pre- 

 vent most of the second or after- 

 swarming. I place my new colony on 

 the old stand, setting the old hive to 

 one side. At the time, or the next 

 day, 1 place the old hive on a new 

 stand, fronting the hive to the north, 

 and shading it from the sun. 



My other way of handling is to 

 draw the frames from the old colony, 

 and shake most of the young bees 

 from the combs in front of the new 

 colony, leaving bees enough in the 

 old hive to nurse the young brood. I 

 carry the old hive to a new stand. 

 This way of handling makes more 

 work, but one will get no second 

 swarms from hives handled in -this 

 way ; the old colonies get strong very 

 quickly, and are soon at work in the 

 sections. I use three swarm-catchers 

 for my 60 colonies. If I have a second 

 swarm I let it run into the swarm- 

 catcher and leave it there over night. 

 Next day I run them back to the old 

 colony, taking away the young queen 

 as they run in. All the other young 

 queens left in the old hive were dis- 

 posed of on the previous night. 



I do not have to climb trees, cut off 

 limbs, scrape swarms off the bodies 

 of trees, and get my bees cross. I 

 have used swarm-catchers for 6 years 

 out of the 30 years I have kept bees, 

 and they save over one-half of the 

 work in the swarming season. 



Ripon,o* Wis. 



ror tne American Bee JoumaL 



Horizontal, Diyisilile Brood-Cliafflliers, 



E. KRETCIIiLER. 



Finding that much of the Bee 

 Journal is occupied with comments 

 on a horizontal, divisible brood-cham- 

 ber for bee-hives ; and seeing some of 

 them, at this late day, headed "An 

 Original Invention," I beg permission 

 to add a few scraps of history. 



In Knauff's Bienen-Zucht, published 

 over fifty years ago, I find directions 

 for constructing and using such brood - 

 chambers ; the several parts were 

 made as follows : A sectional cham- 

 ber was constructed of braided straw, 

 16 inches iu diameter, and 8 inches 

 deep, top and bottom consisting of 

 slats to which the combs were at- 

 tached ; three of such sections con- 

 stituted a hive. The upper section 

 was designed for the surplus honey, 

 whilst the lower two sections con- 

 stituted the brood-chamber. In the 

 directions for using, the author 

 directs prior to swarming to equalize 

 the amount of brood in the two cham- 

 bers by placing the upper brood-sec- 

 tion at the bottom, or exchanging 

 the position of the two sections, and 

 when equalized to make artificial 

 swarms by removing one section, bees 

 and all, and place an empty section 

 under each full one. 



Later, under date of July 23, 1867, 

 Letters patent No. 67,123 contains a 

 drawing of a horizontally divided 

 brood-cliamber. A few extracts from 

 the specifications may give more 

 light : " In providing a horizontal 

 bee-passage through all the combs." 

 (This is the space between the lower 

 and upper tier.) Next follows the 

 description of the bottom arrange- 

 ment, on which are placed the brood- 

 chambers described as follows : " The 

 lower body of the hive is a square 

 box ; upon this box I set another 



similar box The interior of these 



boxes I provide with movable brood- 

 frames ii, arranged side by side, con- 

 sisting of two vertical pieces M, top- 

 bar A', and bar O The vertical 



pieces 31 are made wide enough to 

 have the edges of the several frames 

 to touch each other. . . .Between the 

 sides of the case I insert a wedge- 

 shaped piece of lath for the purpose 

 of closing the crevices between the 

 frames." 



This hive was then called " Kretch- 

 mer's alternating hive," and consisted 

 of three equal chambers, each about 

 8 inches deep, the two lower cham- 

 bers were used for brood, the upper 

 for surplus honey. In those days, in 

 the absence of comb foundation, we 

 frequently placed the surplus cham- 

 ber under the brood until a start of 

 combs were made, then placed it on 

 top, at the same time the two brood- 

 chambers were alternated, that is, the 



upper chamber was placed on the 

 bottom, and the bottom chamber un- 

 der the surplus honey receptacle. By 

 this alternating process the centre of 

 tlie brood-nest was brought next to 

 the surplus chamber, wliich caused 

 the bees to enter and begin work in 

 said surplus chamber more readily 

 than otherwise : the honey, if any in 

 the brood-chamber, now in the lower 

 chamber, was usually removed and 

 placed in the surplus chamber; for 

 artificial swarming the brood in the 

 two chambers were equalized by a 

 frequent alternating, and then the 

 new colony was made by simply re- 

 moving one chamber, bees and all, 

 and placing an empty chamber under 

 it; for wintering, both chambers were 

 used, and the space between the two 

 furnished an excellent passage from 

 comb to comb. 



The question may now arise, why 

 did we not continue to manufacture 

 this hive ? I answer: 1. These shal- 

 low frames were denounced by most 

 bee-keepers ; many, no doubt, remem- 

 ber the assaults made on the Lang- 

 stroth frame, wlj^ch was nearly 2 

 inches deeper. 2*. Central bars in 

 frames, and with it the bars and space 

 in my alternative hive were objected 

 to as occupying space that should be 

 occupied bv brood. 3. This hive costs 

 about one "dollar more than a hive 

 with a single chamber, which we were 

 thus manufacturing. 



This has not been written in the 

 interest of any patent. This invention 

 is, and has been for years public 

 property, and if Mr. Heddon encoun- 

 ters as many difficulties in introduc- 

 ing his hive as I did 18 years ago, he 

 will dearly earn the small amount he 

 asks over the cost of manufacturing. 



In conclusion let me say I have 

 made and used hundreds of these 

 hives, and from actual experience can 

 say that this hive possesses points of 

 excellence not found in any hive, and 

 if the surplus chamber is made of the 

 same size as one of the brood-cham- 

 bers, it is the simplest form of a hive, 

 and my advice to all is, give it a fair 

 trial before denouncing it on theoreti- 

 cal impression. 



Coburgh,? Iowa, Feb. 26, 1886. 



OUR CLUBBINO LIST. 



We supply the American Bee Journal 



one year, and any of the following publican 

 tions, at the prices quoted in the last column 

 of figures. The first column gives the regu- 

 lar price of both. All postage prepaid. 



Price of both. Club 



The American Bee Journal 1 00 . . 



and G lean ings in Bee-Cu Itu re 'J 00 . . 1 75 



Bee-Keepcrs'Magazine 2 00., 175 



Bee-Keepers' Guide 150.. 140 



The ApicLilturist 2 00.. 1 73 



Canadian Bee Journal 2 00. . 1 75 



Te.xas Bee Journal 2 00.. 1 73 



The 7 above-named papers 6 50 . . 5 50 



and City and Country 2 00.. 1 50 



New York Independent 4 00.. 3 30 



American Agriculturist 250.. 2 25 



American Poultry Journal ...2 25.. 175 



Journal of Carp Culture 150.. 1 40 



and Cook's Manual 2 25 .. 3 GO 



Bees and Honey (Newman). ..2 00.. 175 

 Binder for Am. Bee Journal.. 1 75.. 1 60 

 Dzierzon's Bee-Book (cloth).. .3 00.. 2 00 

 Root's A B C of Bee-Culture. .2 25. . 2 10 



Farmer's Account Book 4 00.. 3 00 



Guide and Hand-Book 1 50.. 1 30 



Heddon's book, "Success, ".. 150.. 140 



