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39th YEAR, 



CHICAGO, ILL,, APRIL 6, 1899, 



No, 14. 



Something About Handling Hoffman Frames. 



BY C. DAVENPORT. 



LAST season a bee-keeper came from quite a distance to 

 visit me. I was very busy at the time, and upon his 

 departure I told him I was sorry that it was not so I 

 could have given him more time. In reply he said, in ef- 

 fect, that wliat lie had seen me do would be worth a good 

 many dollars to him, as the way I handled Hoffman frames 

 was a revelation to him. Altho sincere in what he said, he 

 of course exaggerated the matter, but as Hoffman frames 

 of late years have probably had a larger sale than all others 

 combined, I am going' to say something about handling 

 them, for many who have them consider it a difficult matter 

 to handle them rapidly. 



I consider .self-spacing frames of some kind (if hives 

 have to be moved to and fro from out-yards) as the only 

 kind worthy of being considered, and even if hives are to 

 remain in one yard permanently, I think .self-spacing 

 frames far superior to loose-hanging ones. 



I have tried a good man3- kinds of frames, and frame- 

 spacers, and as I believe I have before said, I prefer the 

 Hoffman frames above all others, and I do not think there 

 is any locality where propolis or bee-glue can be much 

 worse, or more plentiful, than it is here. I prefer, tho, to 

 have both sides of the projections on the end-bars square 

 instead of having a V edge on one side, as this V edge 

 allows and causes much more glue to be put between these 

 end projections. It is claimed that with these V edges 

 there is much less danger of killing bees when the frames 

 are handled rapidly, but any one who has had many of 

 these frames in use for a few years in a locality where 

 propolis is plentiful, knows that in actual practice this is 

 not the case, for glue will be stuck on and around these V 

 edges until they are as wide and fully as apt to catch bees 

 as square edges are: and as for cleaning or keeping the 

 sides of these V edges free from glue, it is entirely imprac- 

 ticable in a large way, but both edges of these end projec- 

 tions must be occasionally cleaned of glue, or in time it 

 will cause them to space so wide that the frames alone will 

 hardly go in a hive, to say nothing about the division- 

 board with a space back of it : and the main advantage of 

 square edges is that they can be more easily and quickly 

 cleaned. In theory it would appear the other wa3-, but in 

 practice it is a hard matter to quickly and effectually clean 

 these V edges without danger of splitting- or removing some 

 of the wood. But so far as they, on account of having 

 more glue on them, make it harder to separate the frames, 

 this is a small matter, for no kind or quantity of glue can 

 be put on the end-bar projections that need materially af- 

 fect the ease or rapidity with which the frames can be 



handled, excepting the occasional cleaning of the edges I 

 have mentioned, and if they are handled rightly to start 

 with, this will not be necessary excepting once every few 

 years, for in practice I have failed to see that wide spacing, 

 up to a certain extent, does any harm, but while glue can- 

 not be put on the end-bars so as to cause much inconven- 

 ience, here it is sometimes put on and around the ends of 

 the top-bars to such an extent that sometimes in old hives 

 with wood rabbets the ends of the top-bars have broken off' 

 before they would loosen. But with hives that have im- 

 proved tin rabbets, I have never had any trouble in thi.s 

 respect. 



The main reason of my success in easily and rapidly 

 handling- Hoffman frames is due to a special tool which is 

 made from a piece of steel about 10 inches long, 1,'/ inches 

 wide, and about '4 of an inch thick. One end is spread out 

 a trifle and drawn down thin ; the other end has a piece on 

 each side cut oft' in order to bring it down so that it is only 



Yucca Plant of Califoniia — See page 21 1. 



about '4 of an inch wide. The point is then bent at a right 

 angle H of an inch from the end. When one opens a hive 

 with this tool in hand it is an easy matter to remove any 

 frame — propolis cannot stand before it. 



For instance, if one of the center frames is to be re- 

 moved, the wide end is inserted between it and the next 

 one, and the rest of the frames including the division-board 

 are shoved over en masse; while the hook on one end is 



