394 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of tbis description, the same size of 

 the other brood-frames used iu the 

 apiary, leaving off the projecting 

 arms. Then five others of the same 

 dimensions,except that they should be 

 % of an inch or a bee-space in width. 

 Setting all of the frames on a level 

 place, with a narrow frame between 

 each two of the others, and a narrow 

 one on each outside, they are all 

 clamped together and a 3-16-inch hole 

 is made through all of the side-bars 

 at once edgewise, and one inch from 

 the top or bottom of the frames. 

 These holes are for small, flat-headed 

 bolts that just reach through the 

 frames, and are secured by a thin 

 nut. The bolts are 6 inches "long. 



Before using the bolts two sheets of 

 perforated zinc are prepared exactly 

 the size of the frames, and having 

 holes in the edges to tit and corres- 

 pond with the bolts, and be held 

 securely and evenly in place upon the 

 side of the outside frames. This 

 completes a queen-cage into which 

 the bees from the outside are un- 

 restrained. Combs may be built from 

 foundation or transferred from other 

 frames. The queen is put inside 

 through a hole in a top-bar. 



It is also furnished with projecting 

 wires inserted in the ends of the top- 

 bars, and near each of the four upper 

 corners, and which wires are capable 

 of removal to the other corresponding 

 corners of the arrangement upon its 

 reversion. Reversion is said to be a 

 preventive of swarming by turning 

 the queen-cells out of position, and 

 being destroyed by the bees. 



At the Srst thought this device will 

 seem as useless, if not a positive 

 nuisance, in a bee-hive ; but connect 

 with its use a little systematic man- 

 agement, and it appears differently. 

 It is not specially intended for use 

 until the colony is ready for the sur- 

 plus receptacles, although with the 

 zinc removed it may be used at the side 

 of the brood and occupied gradually, 

 or by furnishing each frame with 

 supporting arms they may be used 

 like other frames. 



Here in the Northern States at least 

 the main honey harvest seldom lasts 

 nanre than 37 days ; the length of time 

 required to produce a honey-gathering 

 bee. At the beginning of the harvest 

 we would adjust the surplus recepta- 

 cles as usual ; at the same time caging 

 the queen on the four empty coihbs, 

 and leaving the cage or restrictor in 

 the centre of the brood-nest. As the 

 four combs will be filled solidly even 

 to the exclusion of pollen, there will 

 be a capacity in four Langstroth 

 frames for at least 30,000 hatching 

 bees every 21 days; employing the 

 queen at the rate of .3,000 eggs per day 

 for ten days, and requiring the almost 

 unknown length of honey-yield of 47 

 days, that the last laid eggs might 

 produce honey-gatherers. 



It is very probable that by the end 

 of the ten days she would need the 

 usual rest ; and the four combs prove 

 to be an abundance of space. With 

 this management it would need one 

 comb on each side of the restrictor to 

 catch the pollen, and the sections or 

 drone combs for extracting might be 

 placed in the most favorable position. 



I believe that 30,000 hatching bees 

 every 21 days is quite enough to main- 

 tain the working force of any colony. 

 Many different constructions of the 

 frames and manner of reversion have 

 been experimented with. The reader 

 will readily notice the many advanta- 

 geous points. 



" There," some will say after read- 

 ing this, '' he has ' ground an ax ' this 

 time surely." I would inquire if 

 there would necessarily be discredit 

 connected therewith V Show me a 

 man who has not " an ax to grind," 

 and I will just as surely show you a 

 very lazy one also. There is scarcely 

 an article written that does not help 

 to " grind an ax," and what is more, 

 such a one could not be produced. 1 

 might say that I have had an applica- 

 tion filed for a patent on this con- 

 trivance, so that the usual bee-keeper 

 may make and use it at present, but 

 the right to a patent (if there is any) 

 I may hold. Whether it is useful or 

 not I am not positively certain, as 

 when one becomes excited with 

 studying over anything of this kind, 

 and at such a time his judgment is 

 apt to be very poor. 



If we compare the merits of Mr. 

 Heddon's hive to the position held by 

 the Italian bee, and the reversible 

 frame to black bees, that this arrange- 

 ment may occupy its respective posi- 

 tion, it would be a hybrid of the other 

 two. 



Bradford, (^ Iowa. 



Local Convention Directory. 



Pleased jvith^he B._K^TJni^n.— 



James McNeill, Hudson, o,~N. Y.', 

 writes : 



I am well pleased with the record 

 which the General Manager has made 

 for the Bee-Keepers' Union the past 

 year. It certainly ought to com- 

 mend the enterprise to every bee- 

 keeper, and I trust that the proof will 

 be forthcoming that it has done so, 

 by a much larger list the coming year. 



1886. Time and place of Meeting. 



July 6.— Hill County, at Peoria, Tex. 



H. A. Goodricb, Sec, Massey, Tex. 



July 16. -Marshall Co.. at Marshalltown. Iowa. 



J. W. Sandera. Sec, LeGrand, Iowa. 



Aug. 31. — Stark County, at Canton, O. 



Mark Thomson, Sec. Canton, O. 



Sept. 4.— Sheboygan Co., at Sheboygan Falls.Wis. 

 Mattle B. Thomas, Sec, Sheboygan Falls, Wis. 



Oct. 7.— Wis. Lake Shore Center, at Kiel, Wis. 



Ferd Zastrow, Sec. Millbome, Wis. 



Oct. 12— 14.— North American, at Indianapolis, Ind. 

 F. L. Dougherty, Sec, Indianapolis, Ind. 



Oct. 19, 20.— Illinois Central, at Mt. Sterling, Ills. 

 J. M. llambaugh, Sec, Spring, Ills. 



Dec. 1, 2.— Michigan State, at Tpsilanti, Mich. 



H. D. Cutting, Sec, Clinton, Mich. 



1^~ In order to have tbis table complete, Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetlags,- BD. 





C>^^ "iQ. r-^™." » j>,^— ^ 



Working on Alsike and White 

 Clover.— B. T. Baldwin, Marion,© 

 Ind., on June 10, 1886, says : 



The bees all wintered well in this 

 locality last winter, so far as I know, 

 and are booming now on Alsike and 

 white clover. My 60 hives are so 

 heavy I can hardly lift any of them. 

 I hope that we will win the Bohn 

 lawsuit, let it cost what it will. 



Good Report.— Geo. E. Hilton, Fre- 

 mont, p Mich., on June 14, 1886, says : 



I have just finished taking off over 

 .500 pounds of new honey. From two 

 hives I extracted just 70 pounds each. 

 From another I took .50 one-pound 

 sections ; from another I took 46. My 

 crates hold 28 one-pound sections, and 

 the majority of my 60 colonies have 

 two tiers nearly complete. I have 

 never had as much honey at this time 

 of the year since I have been keeping 

 bees. 



Bee-Keeping in Oregon. — Gust 

 Murhard, Portland, viOregon, on June 

 8, 1886, writes : 



We have all prospects for an abund- 

 ant honey yield this season ; very 

 warm weather with plenty of dew at 

 nights. I have colonies of Mt. Leb- 

 anon bees, and crosses between the 

 Mt. Lebanon and Carniolan (say 9^ 

 Mt. Lebanon and 34 Carniolan) that 

 have in less than 14 days filled 46 two- 

 pound sections with combs and honey 

 ready to seal over, and I have at once 

 given them another tier of 26 two- 

 pound sections to keep them busy, 

 and so prevent swarming, as I waut 

 the honey and not the swarms, as the 

 honey is of more ready sale than bees. 

 My Mt. Lebanon-Carniolan bees have 

 proved the most desirable here in 

 Oregon. They have wintered by far 

 the best, have stood spring dwindling 

 the best, are the least inclined to 

 swarm if they have a young prolific 

 queen of the previous season's rear- 

 ing, are the most industrious honey- 

 gatherers, and their queens cannot be 

 excelled for prolificness. 



Wintering Bees.— E. G. Slayton, 

 Chetek^ Wis., writes: 



The hive should be placed in a dry, 

 dark cellar as soon as cold weather 

 begins, before snow comes — about Oct. 

 20— the entrance stopped up so that 

 tliey cannot get out, an inch hole 

 bored in the end of the hive, and 

 coarse wire-cloth nailed securely over 

 the hole to give them air. Place old 

 gunny sacks over the frames or any 

 absorbent in the cap of the hive over 

 the frames. The cellar should not 

 freeze. Where it does not freeze 

 they eat less honey and do not fill up 

 so badly during the long winter. If 

 it freezes they have to eat more to 

 make the necessary heat. Do not take 

 them out in the spring until soft or 

 white maples are in blossom in the 

 timber. Sugar making is then over, 

 and the bees are saved from drowning 

 in the maple sap, and it saves spring 

 dwindling. Some winters they mil 

 winter all right on the summer 

 stands, but it is not safe to risk so 



