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39th YEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, SEPTEMBER 7, 1899. 



No, 36, 



Review of the Larg-e-vs.-Small-Hive Discussion. 



BY ADRIAN GETAZ. 



DURING the past few months quite a discussion on large 

 or small hives has been going on in several of our bee- 

 papers. Probably all that could be said on the subject 

 has been said, perhaps not in every paper but 

 in some one or other. Yet a few points need 

 some explanation. 



In the first place, it must be understood 

 that the question is between large or small 

 brood-nests, as it is supposed that all the su- 

 pers needed to accommodate the honey-flow 

 will be given in either case. 



Next, a large brood-nest implies a colony 

 of suflicient size to occupy it. This seems ev- 



ident, and should 

 not have to be 

 mentioned, but, 

 nevertheless, I was 

 astonisht to see 

 some of our best 

 writers fail to 

 grasp the situa- 

 tion and insist 

 that it was useless 

 to have a large 

 brood-nest which 

 would never be 

 filled. Of course, 

 it is useless to have 



*5» *fei.. ' 



« 



President and Director 

 E. M'liitcomb. 



Secretary Dr. A. B. Mason. 



Vice-President C. A. Hatch. 



a larger brood-nest than needed, but it 

 is necessary to have it large enough to 

 secure all the brood that can be reared. 

 How much is necessary ? That's 

 the question. All the partisans of small 

 hives say that eight frames are all that 

 an average queen can fill before the 

 honey-flow. After the honey flow has 

 begun, they want the honey to go into 

 the supers instead of being used in the 

 brood-nest. Right here those in favor 

 of large hives say that their queens 

 can fill from ten to twelve or even six- 

 teen frames, and have a correspondingly large number of field-bees when the 

 llow opens. 



Why is it so ? We cannot admit that small-brood-nest men (let us call 

 them " small broodists ") have inferior queens. Men like Doolittle, Hutchin- 

 -on, and R. L. Taylor, know what a good queen is, and would have changed 

 their stock long ago if it were so. In fact, Mr. Doolittle"s queens, if they had 

 a chance, would fill the biggest brood-nest ever dreamed of by the Dadants. 



Perhaps their queens do not fill more than 8-frames because they have 

 'inlj- that number. I don't think so. If their queens were able to fill more, 

 they would give more. Men of their experience do not make such a mistake, 

 and in fact they have tried and found 8 to be about the right number. 



But the question remains, Whj' is it that the larg-e broodist's queens can 

 fill 10, 12 and Hi frames instead of only 8 ? 



After reading all that I could find on the subject ; after thinking a good 

 deal and comparing their experience with mine, I saj', unhesitatingly, that it 



