Publisht Weekly at 118 Michigan St. 



George W. York, Editor. 



$1.00 a Year— Sample Copy Free. 



38th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., AUGUST 4, 1898. 



No. 31. 



{All rights reserved by the Northern Xeiofqyaper Syndicate^ 

 of KendaJ, England.) 



PROFITABLE BEE-KEEPING, 



HINTS TO BEGINNERS, 



BT 



Author of ^^ Bees and Be^-Keeping,''^ ^^Pleasurable Bee-keeping ^^^ etc. 



No. 5.— HIVES. 



Therp is no royal road to success in bee-keeping any 

 more than there is in any other industry ; and as the time and 

 attention given to bee-management must of necessity vary, it 

 is only natural to e.xpect that while some are successful others 

 for want of success will give up bee-keeping in disgust. It is 

 not always, however, the fault of the bee-keeper that success 

 docs not attend his efforts. He may have commenced with a 

 style of hive that demands more time and attention to work 

 successfully than he is in a position to give. Now, in endeav- 

 oring to give directions for managing the apiary properly 

 there is one blot I must first notice. That the most improved 

 system of bee-keeping should be extended to its fullest limits 

 no one will deny to be an object worthy of every effort ; but to 

 the one bee-keeper who can manage the movable-comb system 

 properly, there are, as far as my experience goes, at least ten 

 who cannot, or at any rate do not. It is this latter class for 

 wliom I must write. 



The fist-comb principle is objected to simply because the 

 combs cannot be moved about at the wish of the bee-keeper. 

 If. however, a hive is adopted with lixt combs, but in which 

 foundation can be used, that system will not be far behind the 

 movable-comb system in point of honey returns, and it will be 

 simplicity itself as far as management is concerned. 



Year? ago a hive, certainly in advance of the skep, termed 

 the "Stewarton," and afterwards the " Carr-Stewarton,'' 

 came much into favor among those bee-keepers who had not 

 the time necessary to devote to bee-keeping on the movable- 

 comb principle. .Since the latter hive was introduced little or 

 no effort has been made to bridge the gulf between the skep 

 and the movable-comb systems, until the writer designed the 

 hive now to be described. 



This hive is known as the " Ivo " bar hive, and in appear- 

 ance is very similar to the movable-comb or frame hive. The 

 brood-chamber is simply four walls of substantial material, 

 the front and back walls being rabetted to receive the ends 

 of the bars, which are % inch thick and one and nine-twen- 

 tieths inch wide at the ends, while out of each side a piece }>, 

 inch wide and 9 inches lon^' is cut in order that when the ends 

 are close together there will be a space of }i inch between the 



combs. The width of the hive is such as will allow of 9 of 

 these bars being placed close together side by side. 



The supers are in all respects except depth like the brood- 

 chamber, for while the latter is 7X inches deep the supers 

 are only 4J^ inches in depth. This shallow depth is allowed 

 for two reasons : First, because bees take much more readily 

 to a shallow than to a deep super, and secondly because it 

 may be used with slight alteration as a section-crate. The 

 super is ordinarily fitted with wide bars about 2 inches in 

 width, so that 7 bars occupy the space tliat accommodates 9 

 narrow bars. 



If a start is to be made with a hive of this description, at 

 least 1}4 pounds of brood foundation should be procured. The 

 sheets of foundation are 7?i inches in depth, and they should 

 be cut so that one piece is i% and the other 3% in depth. 

 The top corners must next be cut oft', also a small triangular 

 piece out of the center of the top. Then open the saw-cut in 

 the center of the bar with a small screw-driver and put in the 

 sheet of foundation. The 4:% sheets must be put into the nar- 

 row bars for the brood-chamber, and the 'S% into the wide 

 bars for the super. 



When the bars are thus prepared and placed in position 

 the hive is ready for the swarm. No swarm of less weight 

 than 4 pounds should be expected to do much good the first'' 

 season ; therefore, a 4 or 5 pound swarm should always be 

 secured whenever possible, the extra cost being trifling when 

 the increast amount of surplus over what may be obtained 

 from one of less weight is considered. 



MOVABLE-COMB HIVES. 



A movable-comb hive is the only shape that a bee-keeper 

 who goes into the work of the apiary thoroughly can tolerate. 

 By using such hives he has the bees and all parts of the hive 



Super for Blvc. 



under complete control ; but it is useless attempting this sys- 

 tem unless with a determination to make it a success. 



Accuracy in all its parts is esscuitial in this hive if the 

 liees are not to make movable parts immovable. A space of 

 'i inch bees respect, but if any larger space is given (for in- 

 stance between the two chambers wlien supering, or between 

 tiie frame ends and the hive sides) it is almost certain that 

 tlie bees will fill it with coml). 



Those who construct their own hives will find the follow- 

 ing instructions, if carefully kept to. all that is necessary in 



