802 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Dec. 21, 1899. 



now in use, they are in evidence in some portions of the 

 country. 



To get the most out of a hive of whatever construction, 

 it is necessary to select for it g-ood material, and the chief 

 factors are durability, saving in strength in handling, and 

 time in manipulation. In the portion of the country where 

 the writer lives, pine is the best lumber for the purpose, but 

 it seems to me that cedar would be an excellent lumber on 

 account of its lightness, but, whatever lumber is used, that 

 which is light, free from knots, easily workt, and not easy 

 to split or warp, should be selected. Inch lumber should be 

 used, or inch lumber drest on both sides. 



I have seen hives made of one-half inch lumber, but 

 they cannot be durable on account of the small holding- 

 place for the nails; so to get the most out of a hive it should 

 be strongly put together. The dovetailed feature of late 

 years seems to be superseding all other methods of manu- 

 facture, and the chief recommendation is strength of cor- 

 ner. That is all very true, but it requires special machinery 

 to manufacture them, and the feature is very good for the 

 manufaturers of supplies, for it throws the trade all upon 

 their special machinery ; but a hive quite as good can be 

 made on a common circular saw by halving out the ends of 

 the side-pieces and setting the ends into the rabbet so made, 

 and nailing both ways. A hive made in thisway will stand 

 the stress of hard usage and inclement weather quite as 

 well as the dovetailed hive. I have seen quite as many cor- 

 ners of the dovetailed hive warpt out of place as I have the 

 halved corner ; but then, the dovetailed hive has come to 

 stay, and I am not disposed to find fault with it. 



If the outside of the hive is well made, the interior 

 should receive the same attention. I have seen many hives 

 made with very flimsy frames, altho when the comb is built 

 in the frame it has a certain strength, but will hold its 

 shape better when being filled if made strong. 



In nailing a hive there is a mistake many times made 

 in being careless in the driving of the nails. Nails should 

 be driven more or less "toeing," for a nail driven in with 

 the grain of the wood will draw out more easilj' then if put 

 in a little across the grain. Then, a careless driving of the 

 nail will result sometimes in its breaking out at the point, 

 splitting a portion off the board and weakening that por- 

 tion of the hive. An inexperienced person should not be 

 allowed to nail hives ; it is better to pay a little extra and 

 have the work well done. 



Then, to get the most out of a hive with comfort and 

 profit to the operator, it should have as few parts as possi- 

 ble. There is a positive loss where a number of parts have 

 to be removed in order to get into the interior of the hive. 

 Some even go so far as to claim the manipulation of hives 

 instead of frames. There may be some advantages in that 

 plan, but it is largely a matter of education, and in accord- 

 ance with the tastes of the operator. 



To get the most out of a bee-hive it should have a well- 

 made telescoping cover, and sitting over at least three 

 inches. It makes but little difference whether the top is 

 gable or flat, provided the roof is not too steep. This cover 

 should telescope not only over the super, but over any por- 

 tion of the hive. 



As to the matter of hand-holes or cleats for the hand- 

 ling of hives, that is a mere matter of taste. Something 

 should be provided, but the simplest and the most out-of"- 

 the-way is the hand-hole. 



To get the most out of the bottom of the hive it should 

 be elevated a little from the ground, and about as simple 

 and effective a stand as can be made is a half brick edr'-e- 

 wise under each corner, and as a preventive of moisture 

 and rot the grass and weeds should be kept down ; sprink- 

 ling with strong brine is a very good remedy. 



To get years of service out of a hive it should be 

 painted. I am aware that in some quarters the contrary is 

 advised, but the parties who advise are so much in the 

 minority that their views are worth but little attention. 

 The experience of a great number for many years is the 

 safest to follow, and that is overwhelming!)' in favor of 

 paint. If it is a good thing for the dvpelling, and the barn, 

 and the pig-sty, it is as good for the hive. To be sure, a 

 nail now and then in a warpt corner of the hive will tide it 

 along, so a nail in a warpt clapboard on the house will 

 save paint. From experienee I know that a continued nail- 

 ing of the corners will result in split corners, for an un- 

 painted board falls into the habit of checking more than 

 half-way thru the surface. By all means paint your hives, 

 then you can get something out of the hive in making it 

 please the eye. White paint and a white hive amid the 

 foliage of the grounds is one of the pleasures that will fol- 

 low many a youth when he leaves the houie. 



Questions on the Dickel Theory Answered 



I 



BV C. THEII.MAXX. 



HAVE received the following letter from Editor York 

 with the request that I answer it : ' 



Mr Editor:-! would like to ask Mr. Theilmatm a question or two 

 fnformatlou ^'"'°"^- ^ """"^ ""'""'""^ ^''°'" "' '""^ am asking fo? 



nn^?r^, ^'^' Theilmanu claim that the queeu lays but one kind of eggs, 

 and the bees make whatever se.x they desire therefrom? If so, how ilit 

 they cannot hatch a queen from egsfs in drone-comb, or from a drone- 

 ^rn'JL''Hf " °f '''•'''°^""'°'"''!.'' "'^^^ '' How does he account for a queea 

 turning drone-layer as some do in old age ? m">='=i» 



The fact that he thought those eggs he gave to the nueenless 

 swarms were all what were called " worker "^ggs, because he had 

 worker-comb, does not prove (to my mind; that they were all fertilized or 



7Z^'^^,-^'^-f ,^u^ "?" °"^" "■'=,='■■ '^'""^^ '" -^^"^ ''"'» »■" from worker 

 foundation, if there IS no regular drone-comb in the hives. With me 

 new swarms often rear drones almost, if not quite, as plentifully as be- 



Mialt^^rTv'l^, *?"■ '"fofmation, not trying to " arguf v," so turn on a 

 little more light, please. F S Mrii-a 



Crawford Co., Iowa. ^' ™"-ES. 



The experiments made last Julv are described on pages 

 oOO and 6+3. Mr. Miles and those who are interested can 

 there find the information askt, and thus save reprintino- 

 the main points about the Dickel-Dzierzon Theorv which" 

 with me, IS no more theory, but solid facts proven by actual 

 experiments. 



Mr. Miles asks if I " claim the queen lays but one kind 

 of eggs, and the bees make whatever sex they desire there- 

 from ? If so, how is it they cannot hatch a queen from 

 eggs in drone-comb, or from drone-laving-worker egt^s ' 

 How does he account for queens turning drone-layers" as 

 some do tn old age "? Then Mr. M. says : •' The fact that 

 he thought those eggs he gave to the queenless swarms 

 were all what are commonly called worker-eggs, because he 

 had worker-comb, does not prove that they were all ferti- 

 lized or worker eggs," etc. 



I will answer the last first by saying that the vitality 

 of old queens is exhausted, and some of the eggs do not 

 contain the generating fluid or sperm in sufficient quantity 

 to generate, and therefore are superseded by the workers. 



Young drone-laying queens are not fertilized, and 

 therefore lay unfertilized eggs which produce drones only • 

 the same is true of laying-workers, but neither of the two 

 has any generative power-their eggs will produce drones, 

 but such drones will produce nothing. We have a similar 

 case in the mule, which you all know. 



I claim that all the higher class of animals have to be 

 mated in order to have, or receive by that, the generating 

 power. Is it, not absurd to claim that drone-eggs (so-called) 

 have no sperm, nevertheless the bee is one of 'the most in- 

 telligent animals we have ? My experiments prove clearly 

 that bees can make either sex from what are called worker- 

 eggs, laid by a normal queen, and Prof. Dickel's experi- 

 ments show that he produced workers and queens from 

 what are called drone-eggs, taken from drone-combs. Who 

 can dispute his claims ? 



What is a normal queen ? It is a queen which is per- 

 fectly mated, and can perform all the duties ascribed to her 

 with perfect offspring. 



Mr. Miles says that his swarms often rear drones 

 almost, if not quite, as plentifully as before swarmincr I 

 have experimented with the same thing, but I never saw a 

 swarm yet, of the many hundreds which I have examined 

 that reared drones from eggs laid the first five or six days 

 after swarming, even with queens three to four years old ; 

 and if any bee-keeper did see such I would like to'have him' 

 report it. 



One of the two stock colonies from which the swarms 

 were supplied did not build anv drone-comb at all, and the 

 other built a small batch about two weeks after swarming 

 but the queen did not lay any eggs in it, and it was partly 

 filled with honey. Both queens were from last year's rear- 

 ing, prolific and apparently perfect. 



Wabasha Co., Minn. 



[The following article is from a practical bee-keeper 

 and writer on bee-topics from Texas— Mr. L. Stachelhau- 

 sen. — Editor.] 



DZIERZON vs. DICKEL. 



On page 643 my old friend, Mr. C. Theilmann, tells of 

 .some observations and experiments which he thinks can 

 prove that Dzierzon's Theory is not correct, while Mr. 

 Dickel's is. Observations like those described bv Mr! 

 Theilmann I made many times, aud many years ago, but 

 they do not prove anything against Dzierzon's Theory. 



If we look at the photograph on page 644, we Will see 



