376 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



bigh estimate placed upon honey ; as 

 is honey to the appetite and taste, so 

 is the knowledge of wisdom to the 

 soul. That a good judgment should 

 be exercised in eating so delicious 

 and rich a viand is seen in a caution 

 of the same writer: '-Hast thou 

 found honey y eat so much as is suf- 

 ticieut for thee, lest thou be filled 

 therewith, and vomit it." The same 

 caution points a moral in another 

 place where he says, '• It is not good 

 to eat much ; so for men to search 

 their own glory is not glory." Again 

 he says : " Pleasant words are as an 

 lioney-comb, sweet to the soul, and 

 health to the bones." 



As much as honey was esteemed by 

 ♦he prophets and poets, yet it was 

 forbidden to be offered in ttie meat- 

 offerings of the religious services. 

 " not because bees were unclean, for 

 a tithe of honey was on one occasion 

 paid to the priests, but either be- 

 cause it so quickly soiired, or else 

 because it emitted an offensive odor 

 when burnt." 



In conclusion, two interesting facts 

 are indicated— one, that he who came 

 as the announcer of the Messiah came 

 eating locusts and wild honey ; the 

 other fact is that so far as we know 

 the very last meal that the Messiah 

 ate to prove to his disciples that it 

 was he, risen from the dead, was tish 

 and honey comb. " And they gave 

 him a piece of a broiled fish, and of a 

 honey comb. And he took it and did 

 eat before them." 



Read at the N. Y. State Convention. 



Re?ersiii£ Hives, Frames aM Sections, 



•J. M. snucK. 



For the purposes of this essay, it is 

 assumed that the normal condition of 

 a colony of bees is that in which the 

 members are constantly increasing. 

 and that it is at its best when in this 

 condition. "Keep your colonies 

 strong," is an old adage, and as good 

 as it is old. 



The invention and introduction of 

 the movable frame advanced the 

 study of bees hundreds of years at a 

 single stride. The object of these 

 frames was the control of the combs 

 so that we might see what was taking 

 place in the hive. No one supposed 

 that more bees could be reared in 

 these frames than in the trunk of a 

 tree. They were mainly considered 

 excellent because swarming could be 

 controlled, colonies increased at pleas- 

 ure, and because (jueenlessness might 

 be prevented. By and by it began to 

 be observed that certain manipula- 

 tions of the frames stimulated brooil- 

 rearing, and that rapid increase of 

 bees was the result. It was also oli- 

 served that bees entered the surplus 

 boxes more readily when placed in 

 close proximity to the brood in the 

 hive. So important did this idea be- 

 come that numberless devices were 

 offered that proposed to effect this 

 object. Hives were so made tha' 

 boxes could be placed adjoining ine 

 sides of combs full of brood. Tri- 

 angular frames were invented which 



offered two surfaces for boxing, and 

 square frames wei'e hung at oi)posite 

 corners so as to furnish the desired 

 boxing space near the brood. In all 

 these hives the same features pre- 

 sented themselves, to-wit : brood in 

 the upper part of the frame at the 

 time when putting on the boxes; 

 later, brood in the lower half of the 

 frame, and honey in the upper half 

 and between tlie brood and the boxes. 

 The increase of the colony was 

 checked, its numbers began to grow 

 less, and the storage of honey dimin- 

 ished. Another idea here introduced 

 itself—'' contraction." Taking it far 

 granted that brood-rearing must be 

 checked, it was the most natural 

 thing in the world to force the de- 

 pleted colony into the boxes by lessen- 

 ing their space below. It was a most 

 common experience to have storage 

 cease while the secretion of nectar 

 was yet abundant ; it was a cause of 

 complaint everywhere. 



The invertible hive seems to meet 

 most of the difficulties in securing 

 storage of honey as long as the supply 

 lasts. In early spring the hive is set 

 on one end, giving a vertical depth in 

 the brood-nest of about IS inches. The 

 upper end of the brood-chamber being 

 the warmest, brood-rearing is carried 

 on their first until the upper end of 

 the brood-nest is occupied with it. 

 Then as the weather gets warmer, 

 turn the hive the other end up when 

 it will soon be occupied with brood. 

 This takes ns to May 1. Now turn 

 the hive down on the stand in the 

 position that it is to occupy during 

 the harvest, then within ten days 

 turn the other side up, and ninety- 

 nine times in a hundred that colony, if 

 it had a fair supply of bees, and a 

 good queen to begin with, is ready for 

 profitable work. From May 2.5 to 

 .Tune 1 in this locality, is the time to 

 put on sections, taking care to invert 

 the hive first before putting on the 

 eases. This places the cases nearest 

 the brood and emerging bees, and 

 always secures the best results. 



When it is noticed that the sections 

 are getting nicely filled, and combs 

 extended so that tliey are strong 

 enough, it is time to invert the cases. 

 These cases should be so made that 

 they touch the queen-excluder only 

 around their edges; made thus, they 

 may be detached and lifted off with 

 almost the facility that a man may 

 handle a bucket of water. To invert 

 the section-cases, take them off and 

 set them aside ; take off the queen- 

 excluder, and then put on the top- 

 board with the entrance open to the 

 rear; attach the hive-lifter and invert 

 the hive and set it dovv'u quietly in 

 the same place it occupied before ; no 

 bees are crushed because the hive is 

 not set down on the bottom -board, but 

 the bottom-board is put on top before 

 inversion, and all turned together; 

 now take oft tlie top board, replace 

 the queen-excluder, put on a fresh 

 case of sections, and on top of it place 

 the case first put on, but in an in- 

 verted position so that the sections 

 may be filled oiitpluuip to the bottom- 

 bar as well as the top. So perfectly 

 does the brood-rearing keep pace with 

 storage that, as a rule, the hive should 



be inverted every time a new case of 

 sections is put oh. 



The reading of the above seems a 

 long process, but i\ve cases of sections 

 may be removed, the hive inverted, 

 and all replaced inside of five min- 

 utes. In a word, the invertible hive 

 should be so made that it can occupy 

 four different positions. The cases 

 should be so made that they will hold 

 the sections true and allow the bees 

 to touch them nowhere only on the 

 inside. Without separators, full sheets 

 of very thin foundation should be 

 used. If separators are used, starters 

 will answer. 



There is but little to- say about re- 

 versible frames. Even fastidious 

 people reject " two bites to a cherry," 

 and eight to ten or twelve bites would 

 be incomprehensible. " All the frames 

 at once " is the demand of the times, 

 but they should be made so that they 

 may be removed if necessary to be 

 examined for any purpose ; and the 

 hive containing them should be con- 

 structed so that the frames may be 

 removed when either side is up. 



Des Moines,© Iowa. 



For the American Bee JoumaJ. 



Ttie Bee-Keeners' Reiiository, 



M. M. BALDRIDGE. 



As the American Bee Journal 

 seems to be a repository for historical 

 facts relating to bee-culture, I desire 

 to place on record therein what the 

 late M. Qumby thought of the Lang- 

 stroth hive after having used the 

 same three seasons. His views, as 

 now presented, have never, to my 

 knowledge, appeared in any bee- 

 paper— having been prepared for and 

 published in the liural New Yorker 

 some two years before the American 

 Bee Journal made its advent. To 

 those engaged in discussing the merits 

 and demerits of new hives, Mr. Q's 

 experience with and criticisms upon 

 the Langstroth hive will, I think, be 

 interesting reading. And now, with- 

 out further comment, permit me to 

 introduce the reader to 



Boes and Bee-Hives— My Experience. 



BY M. OUINBY. 



In 18.56 the Rev. L. L. Langstroth 

 brought to me his movable-comb 

 hive, with a request to test it and re- 

 port the result. I saw at once that by 

 controlling: the combs, and conse- 

 quently being enabled to inspect the 

 interior of the hive at all times, was 

 something not offered by the common 

 hive. He enumerated over fifty ad- 

 vantages that his hive gave over the 

 common one. Althougri I could not 

 discover quite so many, yet I thought 

 I could see enough to pay me, at 

 least, for the extra expense of con- 

 struction. Near the first of May I 

 transferred the bees, combs, honey, 

 etc., of some half-dozen hives into 

 the frames. I did not expect, neither 

 could I discover that the bees worked 

 " more vigorously than before," but 

 they worked well, however; some 

 swarmed naturally, others I made to 



