



39th YEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, FEBRUARY 2, 1899, 



No, 5, 



3.— The "Golden" Method of Producing- 

 Comb Honey Described. 



No. 



BY T- A. GOLDEN. 



[Continued from page 34.] 



HAVING in my last article described a new hive and how- 

 constructed, I now take pleasure in presenting a re- 

 modeled description with an illustration of a remodeled 

 hive, showing- the top of the hive and bottom of the super. 



Now, if you look at the picture, you will notice a strip 

 has been cut from each top side-body. Take a guag-e and 

 mark '4 inch from the top edge of the side-body, and saw 

 down at each end '4 inch, then with a draw-knife shave the 

 ,■4 space off, and tack the fs corner strips on the outside 

 ends of the side-body in place of the inside, as in the new 

 hive : then tack the thin boards on the outside, letting the 

 board be even with the side-body at the bottom, and extend 

 as high as the end-board, or as high as the side-board was 

 before you cut the '4 incli off. Thus you see a '4 -inch bee- 

 space is created over the top of the brood-frames, and the is 

 space on the outside of the hive proper. 



The supers are remodeled the same way, cutting- a strip 

 from the top of the super and letting the outside board ex- 

 tend '4 inch, or as high as the side-bodj' before cutting off 

 the '4 inch. 



Thus it is a small task to change a hive as made by any 

 factory to the Golden method, and any one desiring can 

 test the Golden method properly. 



The super bottom here illustrates the tin or sheet-iron 

 apron that the section slats and sepai'ators rest on, and how 

 put on, as previously noted. It also shows tlie side passage- 

 ways, and clincht end-strips previously mentioned, making 

 the '4 -inch bee-space over the frames and sections when 

 ]ilaced on. 



Having- given a full, plain and complete explanation, 

 accompanied by engravings, of my hive both new and re- 

 modeled, and how constructed, in my next I will give a full 

 explanation of my method of manipulation, so that there 

 need be no mistakes bj- those who may feel disposed to test 

 the Golden method in 1899 ; and if found wanting in a sin- 

 gle feature I represent, discard the method; but if found 

 profitable, follow it and he happy. But before doing so I 

 trust all who can do so will procure a perfect model hive by 

 which to test the method, that no mistakes be made, either 

 in hive or manipulation, from the fact that a combination 

 cannot be explained on paper like seeing the thing itself. 



The great problem that has occupied the minds of the 

 bee-keepers of all ages has been, is, and ever will be, how, 

 or by what method, should we as bee-keepers pursue to in- 



crease the production of comb honey, and at the same time 

 curtail expenses. 



Mr. Benton — one of our best authors on bees and bee- 

 keeping — said in his work on " The Honey-Bee," Chapter 

 VIII, page 75 : 



" To secure a yield of surplus honey, the part remain- 

 ing to be done if all goes well, is merely to put the surplus 

 receptacles in place, admit the bees," etc. 



Farther on in the article he again says: "But if 

 swarming complications arise, the whole of the bee-keeper's 

 skill and ingenuity may again be called into requisition to 

 keep the forces together, and storing in surplus receptacles. " 



Thus the skill lies in having the colonies readj' for 

 whatever may come, and a force sufticient to store the whole 

 season's surplus in a few days. My practical work for the 

 past four years with the Golden method here given proves 

 Mr. Benton's words to be undisputable facts ; yet we as bee- 



Top of Hive and Bottom of Super. 



keepers want a system that will not onh- secure a large per- 

 cent of surplus over former methods, but a system that will 

 curtail expenses, time, and labor, as well. 



These are factors that have caused many of our bee- 

 keepers sleepless nights, meditating and formulating- plans 

 which, when put into practice, took the wings of the morn- 



