614 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Sept. 28, 1899. 



He likes the tin ones, and prefers their use if there is no 

 difference or objection to use tin in supers. 



Mr. Atchley spoke most favorably on the H.-S. separa- 

 tors as the best before the bee-keeping world now, and 

 thinks it will be years before anj' improvement can be 

 made on them. He advises beginners to start with it, and 

 that also everybody use some, and give the young inventors 

 fullest recognition. He also thought one-third more honey 

 could be obtained by their use. 



PRODUCING COMB AND EXTRACTED HONEY. 



The production of comb and extracted honey in the 

 same hive, to take advantage of short and fast flows, was 

 discust by H. H. Hyde. He said he had a method with 

 which some, perhaps, were already familiar. For illustra- 

 tion, SO colonies are put into winter quarters the fall before 

 with plenty of honey in the hive-bodies. During the main 

 honey-flow 30 are run for comb honey, 20 for extracted. See 

 that all have prolific queens, plentj' of room and honey, and 

 no queen-excluders. Just before the fast flow he puts the 

 most capt brood in the lower story, takes the upper story to 

 hives run for extracted honey, replacing these with comb- 

 honey supers on the 30 colonies. He prevents swarming by 

 cutting out cells. After the flow he takes off the section 

 supers and replaces with the extracting-supers. 



Louis SchoU read a well prepared article on "The Hive 

 I Use," which was requested to be inserted in regular order 

 iu this report. It is as follows : 



The Hive I Use. 



I will first give a description and the measurements of 

 the hive I use, and then the reasons why such a hive was 

 adopted. 



For several reasons I prefer the Danzenbaker bottom- 

 board and cover. These are of the 10-frame size. The hive 

 itself is composed of a series of shallow cases, the same as 

 the standard 5*4 -inch 10-frame supers. These cases are 

 16x20 inches outside, and only S-4 inches deep, without tin- 

 rabbets. Each case holds 10 shallow frames, standard 

 Langstroth size, but only S;J's inches deep, and of the Hoff- 

 man self-spacing style. These shallow cases are used as 

 brood-chambers as well as for supers when producing ex- 

 tracted honey. The section supers for comb honej' are of 

 the same size and depth, and take the tall sections, plain 

 slats, and free-communication separators, generally known 

 as the " Ideal " super arrangement. Two of these shallow- 

 frame supers are used over a brood-chamber, which makes 

 it a depth of 11,'. inches. 



Twenty frames in both cases have a comb surface 

 nearly equal to 12 Langstroth frames. This provides a 

 large brood-nest, and from experience I find it not too large, 

 not for my localitj-, at least. My reasons for preferring this 

 hive and shallow frames are as follows : When producing 

 surplus honey in supers above the brood-frames, especially 

 when producing comb honey in section supers, I have had 

 trouble with the bees filling the deep Langstroth frames 

 with the honej- that ought to go into the sections during a 

 slow flow, especially along the top edge of the comb above 

 the brood ; and after this honey is once sealed, bees are 

 quite loath to store surplus hone)- above such sealed stores, 

 causing them to loaf and hang all over the hive. Besides, 

 the queen was also crowded out, as the bees filled the cells 

 with honey from which the )'oung bees had just hatcht. 



Now mj' question was, how to get that honej' out of 

 those frames into the sections above. This, of course, 

 could be done by inverting the brood-chamber, frames and 

 all, but it caused both trouble and labor. Besides, I am not 

 a reversible-frame advocate. It can be accomplisht to a 

 great extent, tho, by using a divisible brood-chamber hive, 

 by reversing or exchanging the upper case with the lower 

 one, which puts the honey in the center of the brood-nest, 

 where it is then removed by the bees and carried up above 

 the brood into the section super. Bj- removing this honey 

 the bees also provide more breeding'-room for their queen. 

 I think these are some good advantages we have over hives 

 with very deep frames, such as the Dadant-Quinby. and 

 also those Draper " barns," so much spoken of in certain 

 bee-papers. 



The "barns" are of the same depth and measure- 

 ments as my hive, and I cannot see why they compare 

 them to barns, as I do not find them so. Their advocates 

 claim larger colonies of bees and better results for their 

 large combs; object to a division thru the center, of 

 the brood-nest, and prefer to have their bees brooding 

 queen's-eggs, larva' and pupa-bees instead of sticks and 

 empty space. 



But why. and for^what reasons does Mr. Danzenbaker 



have his combs built out solid all around to the frame, and 

 then " gouge " a big hole right thru such combs with a 

 butcher-knife, to provide a passage-way for the bees ? 



Now I like an opening or passage-way for the bees to 

 go thru, from one comb to another, but I surely prefer 

 those long ones, lined with wooden sticks, to those ugly 

 holes right thru the combs. 



Well, as I am a shallow-frame advocate, anyway, and 

 after studj-ing the many advantages which they possess 

 over the deep Langstroth, I was tempted to try some hives 

 with shallow frames of the same depth all thru the hive. I 

 have used, and am still using, supers with shallow frames 

 on all of my Langstroth-frame hives, and there is where I 

 learned of their advantages, especially when running for 

 extracted honey. 



As this hive is mostly handled in sections or stories, 

 the full supers are easily removed, by smoking the bees 

 thoroly when raising the cover, forcing them down and out 

 of the full super, when it is then taken off, practically free 

 from bees, and there is not much brushing to be done. Then, 

 too, they are more convenient to handle, as they are not so 

 heavy as the full-depth supers. 



The shallow frames are easier to uncap, as one draw of 

 the knife uncaps one whole side of the comb, while it takes 

 longer to uncap the deeper frames ; besides, they are awk- 

 ward to handle, and more danger of combs breaking out. 



Besides, I prefer shallow frames for dividing, uniting, 

 transferring, queen-rearing, and most other things in the 

 apiary. There is not much use of handling the frames in- 

 dividually, except in a few instances when looking for the 

 queen or cells, or when looking for larva? for queen-rearing, 

 and the like. Otherwise the hive is handled by sections, 

 and all that is necessary when examining colonies in early 

 spring, or looking for queen-cells later on, or when exam- 

 ining for honey during the honey season, and such like 

 things, is to tilt the upper case back, and one can get a full 

 view of the brood-nest. If there are queen-cells present, 

 they will generally be found on the bottom edges of the 

 upper frames. 



Then, too, if the queen needs more room during the 

 breeding season, one of the shallow cases is added, without 

 the bad result of too much room, as is mostly the case when 

 giving full-depth stories. The same is true when giving 

 weaker colonies more room for honey. 



Besides the section supers being of the same depth and 

 size, all are interchangeable, and we are not bothered with 

 hive-bodies and supers of different depths. 



The section super for comb honey that I use in connec- 

 tion with this hive, is that known as'the "Ideal." It takes 

 35 one-pound plain sections 3j-sxSxl'2 inches, which are 

 supported on plain slats, five sections in a row on each slat, 

 taking up the full inside length of the super. 



The Hyde-Scholl No. 2 separators are used between the 

 rows of sections and also one each outside next to the wall 

 of the super, when all is wedged up tight by a follower- 

 board and super-springs in the super. This arrangement I 

 prefer, mainly for the free communication offered thruout 

 the whole super. It is the same as the Ideal super just pre- 

 viously described by O. P. Hyde. 



My method of manipulation for honey corresponds 

 nearly with the methods applied by H. H. Hyde, and just 

 described by him, or what is known as the Barber plan of 

 producing both comb and extracted honey on the same hive 

 at one and the same time, which plan I myself also con- 

 ceived several years ago. 



I am well aware that there are many who prefer the 

 .standard Langstroth frame, but it will be understood that 

 as I produce both comb and extracted honey on the .same 

 hive, and at the same time, accounts for my preference for 

 all interchangeable supers. 



Some may think that I have made a radical change, 

 while I think" I have not, as all these are standard 10-frame 

 shallow supers, and could be used on regular 10-frame hives 

 if found unsatisfactory, which they have not done. 



Louis Schoi.1,. 



Mr. Davidson said Mr. Scholl's hive and management 

 for comb and extracted honey is all right, and did not find 

 it necessary to criticise. 



Mr. Aday askt Mr. Davidson how he manages to pro- 

 duce comb honey without the use of separators, as he has 

 had bees build their combs crosswise in all six sections 

 when used without separators. 



Mr. Davidson answered that he did not use separators 

 and produces fine honey. He is very careful in putting 

 foundation starters in the sections correctly and straight, 

 and exactly in the center. Then he puts the supers on 



