THE AMERICAJS EEE JOURNAL. 



279 



them, and they liad built large pieces 

 of comb between tlie combs and all 

 was full of sealed brood, except the 

 sides next to the division-boards, and 

 everything was booming. 



If I had no other hives, I would say 

 fix* them just so every time. My 

 colonies in Gallup hives (that I fixed 

 with no fussing, but nailed a piece of 

 muslin on an empty honey-box 

 filled it with chaff loosely thrown in, 

 and laid four cobs under it, a la 

 Porter), are booming just as much, so 

 what is the use ? 



Neighbor Phillips' bees, with not a 

 spear of chaff in the honey-toxes, are 

 rushing and roaring just the same. 

 He had the honey boxes, with no 

 honey, on them, and left them on all 

 winter, and he is now ready for the 

 honey harvest without any lifting and 

 lugging around. After the cold 

 weather had set in for good, and 

 everything was snapping and crack- 

 ing with the cold, he carried a few 

 armfuls of straw and piled on the 

 hives. I want a hive that can be 

 tixed for winter without doing any- 

 thing to the brood-nest ; take off the 

 honey and put on the feather-beds, 

 and no fussing nor backache about it. 

 Who will invent the hive 1 want V 



I clip all my queens' wings when I 

 clean out the hives in the spring, 

 and then let them alone unless 

 they need feeding. I go round between 

 apple bloom and white clover every 

 few days, , and lift the hives, 

 and if they feel light I feed at 

 the entrance at dusk, in some 

 feeders that I made out of tin separ- 

 ators that I once used between 

 sections. 



Vermont, *o 111. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Using Comt) Foundation. 



C. W. DAYTON, (116—11.5.) 



There are two different times when 

 the bees will work upon foundation — 

 one of them is when there is a large 

 amount of honey being stored, and 

 the other is where there is not very 

 much honey to be found— about 

 enough to supply the daily wants of a 

 colony. If we give the foundation 

 when there is a heavy yield of honey, 

 the cells will be drawn out so as to be 

 about J4 of an inch deep, or deep 

 enough to hold honey, and as combs 

 are not so plentiful as honey at such 

 times, the unfinished cells will be 

 filled nearly to the brim with honey 

 which will prevent the bees using the 

 surplus wax in the lower part of the 

 cells. Thus if there is enough wax 

 to construct combs 1 inch in thickness 

 but little more than }i of it will be 

 economically used. 



In working foundation where there 

 is not much honey to be found there 

 is nothing in the way, but if there is 

 more wax than is absolutely required 

 to produce the cells to the depth for 

 brood, it goes to make thick side- 

 walls or " hsh-bone," and of course is 

 wasted. I believe it to be the case 

 that when combs are produced to a 

 certain thickness, which thickness 



may be varied by conditions, the bees 

 use their own wafx. It takes about 

 7J^ square feet of straight, natural 

 comb to contain a pound of wax, and 

 it should require but a trifle more 

 than a pound of foundation to pro- 

 duce 7J^ square feet of comb. 



That weight of foundation seems to 

 be about right when the bees are not 

 getting much honey, but if the honey- 

 How is heavy it might be economy in 

 money saved to have it much thinner 

 than that, if it can be kept from 

 falling down. 



After using several of the different 

 kinds of comb foundation in the 

 frames at a time. I can see no differ- 

 ence in its acceptance by the bees. 

 Sheets of wax barely showing the 

 prints of the press will often be 

 worked into the nicest of comb, if it 

 does not contain too much wax for the 

 occasion, and then cell-bases could be 

 no advantage. If there is any choice 

 it would be in favor of the molded 

 kind, and then only in regard to 

 strength. This choice would be the- 

 oretical, however. • 



Last season I used in the brood- 

 chamber, 120 pounds of foundation 

 running 8 square feet to the pound, 

 and there was less than 3 pounds lo 

 be made over again from being pulled 

 down by the bees, and I did not use 

 wires. Perhaps the best way to fas- 

 ten unwired foundation in the frames 

 is to place one edge under a thin strip 

 of wood tacked to the under-side of 

 the top-bar. In hiving the swarms 

 upon these frames of foundation, for 

 obvious reasons it is advisable to 

 place the frames as close together as 

 possible or alternate them with 

 combs, which should be placed near 

 together. When a swarm has been 

 hived 5 or hours, the frames may be 

 placed the right distances apart, as 

 the foundation will have reached a 

 comb-like aspect. All things consid- 

 ered, I think that this management is 

 easy, and saves valuable time over 

 that of using wires. 



Bradford,!^ Iowa. 



For Ibe American Bee JoumaL 



Replies to Various Criticisms. 



JAMES ItEDDON. 



I ask to be excused for compelled 

 procrastination in replying to Mr. 

 Caldwell. Referring to his first ques- 

 tion on page 217, 1 will say that 1 have 

 wintered, and propose to winter my 

 colonies in one case of the brood- 

 chamber of my hive. I used under 

 a part, two-inch rims. This exper- 

 iment was made with but .5 colonies. 

 and it presented favorable results. I 

 am aware that the idea is old. One 

 case of the brood-chamber presents 

 all the comb capacity needed for 

 every purpose for wintering, one of 

 which being to hold suflicient stores 

 to always last from gathering to gath- 

 ering. 



If Mr. Caldwell will carefully read 

 the chapter on the new hive, in my 

 book, he will see that my bees are not 

 in both cases of the brood-chamber, 

 but only one case, at the approach of 



the cool weather be speaks of. If 

 Mr. C. has read luy articles carefully, 

 as he states in his second paragraph, 

 he must have overlooked my words of 

 caution on page 7.S, at the bottom of 

 the last column, where I advise not to 

 make haste to cast aside a good hive 

 for a better one. 



He also wants to know how much 

 more honey can be taken on an aver- 

 age, from these hives than from the 

 old ones. To this I answer, not a 

 drop more. It is bees, not hives that 

 produce honey. I can get as much 

 honey from a nail-keg, or half-barrel, 

 as from any hive. To do it, I should 

 have to devote my entire attention to 

 one keg, or at least not many kegs, or 

 the attention would not go around. 

 When the keg is nearly full, I would 

 cut out some of the honey-corabs, thus 

 giving more room, and so on. But if 

 Mr. Caldwell would ask from what 

 hive I believe I can get the best-filled 

 sections of nicest comb honey, with 

 the least amount of friction and labor, 

 I am prepared to say, from the 

 new invertible, double-brood-chamber 

 hive. As far as the quantity of honey 

 is concerned, that depends upon the 

 secretion of nectar, and number of 

 bees to gather it. 



The new hive with complete brood- 

 chamber, has the same brood-comb 

 capacity of 10 standard Langstroth 

 frames, and by interchanging and in- 

 verting, we can develop one-half 

 more brood than we get from the 

 same brood-comb capacity in non- 

 invertible frames. 



I have read Mr. Dadant's article on 

 page 231. As the term " original" is 

 used in patent parlance, it refers to 

 something not borrowed,whether prior 

 or not. I trust that no one im- 

 agines that I had any knowledge of 

 these old, dead tiering-hives, laid 

 aside by our French and German 

 brethren. I have yet failed to see an 

 account of any hive containing two 

 distinct apartments (surplus and 

 brood), where thebrood-npartmeyU was 

 divided into two horizontal sections. 

 If Mr. Dadant's article was written 

 for the purpose of showing that past 

 experiments have proven my new 

 hive and system inferior, I will only 

 say that the construction was so ill, 

 that they could not work successfully, 

 and did not contain the functions or 

 my hive, which fact I am willing to 

 rest with future experiments. If, on 

 the other hand, the article is supposed 

 to anticipate my invention. 1 have 

 only to refer the reader to Section V, 

 page 213, which reads as follows : 



" Patent law declares that the fact of abandon- 

 ment and subsequent adoption of things claimed ' 

 to be alike, is evidence sufficient to negatlTe that 

 claim." 



On page 219 we are again treated 

 to a transfer out of a brood-chamber 

 made in sectional parts. I do not 

 know why these statements are writ- 

 ten. Are the writers now anxious to 

 transfer back into the double brood- 

 chamber hives V If they are, will it 

 be true tliat the hives they then 

 transferred out of (abandoned), will 

 be just like those they will now trans- - 

 fer into (adopt) V What has been 

 going on to produce such inconsistent 

 changes ? -Whatever can be shown in 

 print, that anticipates my claims 



