THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



117 



past, ami 10 cents per year would l>e a 

 liberal estimate tor all the ilaniage 

 they do to me. l)ut (lueen bees that are 

 too prolilie are things of the present. 

 AVhen writers, in recommending "new 

 races." sav the " queens are wondei"- 

 fully proli'lic," 1 just think, score one 

 against them. 



In extra good honey localities very 

 prolitic queens would" not he so ob- 

 jectionable, but such localities are the 

 exception, not the common lot of bee- 

 keei)ers. 



Youngsville. Pa. 



lor the American Bee Journal. 



Reversible Frames. 



W. T. .STEWART. 



It will be remembered that I wrote 

 an article entitled "The Coming 

 Hive," and gave a description of a 

 hive with reversible frames that 

 "eclipsed" any that had been de- 

 scribed. I knew that if the theory of 

 reversing frames was practical, that I 

 had " struck oil," and would soon be 

 rich enough to start a free " school of 

 apiculture."' This was three years 

 ago (1881). The season of 18S2 was a 

 very poor one for honey, aud when 

 honey was coming in slowly , my frames 

 worked like a charm, and sure enough 

 I had a bonanza — a bad case of " re- 

 versible frame fever." The season of 

 1883 rolled around, and it proved to be 

 an extra good one for honey, aud, 

 again, I was on hand ready to give 

 the reversible frame theory one more 

 test practically. I had a large apiary 

 in charge, but only, a few hives with 

 reversible frames, and watching the 

 results of those few cured the case of 

 fever on me. I could work them like 

 a charm, but I could not see anything 

 gained by reversing, when they were 

 either full of brood or honey, and 

 there was no room for any more. Of 

 course it proved that bee-keeping had 

 been reduced to a science, and that 

 combs could be turned upside down, 

 aud many things were proved to me 

 that I " already knew," and I am none 

 the wiser.or none better off financially. 



I have only this to sa)'. after a trial 

 of them in one poor season, and one 

 good season, I have decided in my 

 mind that reversible frames will work 

 better in the head than they will in 

 the hive, and that they are better to 

 " sell " than they are to use in the 

 apiary, aud that for the average bee- 

 keeper to use them is a loss of time, 

 and time is money. In other words, 

 reversible frames are good in a poor 

 season, and poor frames in a good sea- 

 son. I acknowledge that I am badly 

 disappointed in the results financially, 

 yet I believe my hive is the best for 

 reversing the frames of any yet found, 

 and I shall use a few of them again, 

 but only for the sake of experimenting 

 with them in poor seasons. 



I have been trjing for years to get 

 up a hive that was better than the 

 Standard Langstroth, but the more 

 different styles of hives I have tried, 

 the better the Langstroth suits me. 



I want to thank Mr. W. D. Wright 

 for his article on setting up and run- 

 ning circular saws. I liad just com- 



menced making my machine, and was 

 st)mewhat bothered about how to 

 make it, and his article is so plain that 

 it is almost like looking at the ma- 

 chine itself — mine will be run by 

 steam power. 



'While I am writing, I will report 

 my last season's work. I commenced 

 the season with ii5 colonies, half of 

 them very weak aud short of stores. 

 I closed the seasim with ISO colonies 

 in good condition for wintering, and 

 secured about .j.tiitO pounds of white 

 clover honey, mostly in one and two- 

 pound sections. I made all my hives, 

 myself, by hand, and I had not one 

 hour's help in the apiary the whole 

 season, and my increase was mostly 

 by natural swarming too ; they would 

 swarm in spite of all theories and pre- 

 ventives. I have sold nearly all my 

 honey at 20cents perpound. " Is bee- 

 keeping profiable '?" I say, yes. 



Eminence, Kv. 



For the Amerlcan'Bee Journal. 



Northeastern Kansas Convention. 



According to previous notice, a 

 meet in '4 was held -in the Court House 

 in Hiawatha, on Nov. 26, to organize 

 a bee-keepers" association. The fol- 

 lowing officers were elected : J. W. 

 Margrave, President ; "\V. S. Cooper, 

 "V^ice-President ; L. C. Clark, Secre- 

 tary ; Mr. Henney, Treasurer. There 

 were 18 names piit on the roll. The 

 name given the new organization is 

 the " Northeastern Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation." Meeting adjourned until 

 Feb. 15. L. C. Clark, Sec. 



Hiawatha, Kans., Feb. 7, 1884. 



Read at the Michigan State Convention. 



Are Separators Necessary ? 



W. Z. HUTCHlJSrSON. 



Why are not separators needed in 

 the brood department ? Because the 

 frames are of such a width, and placed 

 at such a distance apart that the bees 

 can build their combs of a natural 

 thickness. Had sections been made 

 only IJ.j inches in width, had founda- 

 tion been in use when sections were 

 brought into use, and had the glassing 

 of finished sections never been de- 

 vised, separators would probably have 

 never been employed. That they are 

 no longer necessary is proven by the 

 fact that three-fourths of the mem- 

 bers of the Northwestern Convention 

 could dispense with them; and it 

 should be remembered that Father 

 Langstroth characterized that body as 

 one composed of the '' largest number 

 of large, successful, practical bee- 

 keepers " of any convention that he 

 had ever attended. 



One objection to separators is their 

 cost ; another is the space they occupy, 

 or, to be more exact, the space they 

 compel the bees to leave upon each 

 side of them. When no separators 

 are emploj'ed there is one " bee-space" 

 between the combs ; when separators 

 are introduced there are two. A 

 "case" that will receive twenty-four 

 pound sections with separators will 



receive 28 without them ; and the 

 comlis will remain of the same weight 

 and thickness for the reason that there 

 is oulv one bee-space between any two 

 combs; and, as bees will fill with 

 honey the same amount of space in 

 about the same time, there is a gain 

 of one-seventh without separators. 

 Again, many excellent apiarists have 

 asserted that the introduction of sep- 

 arators divided up the surplus depart- 

 ment into so many small compart- 

 ments that the bees, not being able 

 to enter and work in a body, were 

 loth to commence work, and that the 

 amount of surplus was lessened by 

 their use. 



The first step towards abandoning 

 separators, is reducing the width of 

 the sections. One and one-half inches 

 will probably secure the straightest 

 combs ; but, by complying with cer- 

 tain conditions, sections of greater 

 width can be satisfactorily employed. 

 I used, during the past season, sections 

 whose side bars were 1 11-16 inches 

 wide with top and bottom bars % of 

 an inch narrower. By the way, hav- 

 ing %-inch space between top bars 

 and between bottom bars, instead of 

 the usual }4 of an inch, is a valuable 

 adjunct in securing cratable combs 

 without separators ; as it induces the 

 bees to leave larger spaces between 

 the combs. With me the dovetailed 

 sections are a favorite ; one reason be- 

 ing that the spaces between the top 

 bars and between the bottom bars ex- 

 tend clear across, with no little pro- 

 jecting shoulders as in the one-piece 

 sections, to gouge into adjoining 

 combs. I have tried putting a 

 " starter '' of foundation in each sec- 

 tion, filling the sections half full of 

 foundation, and entirely filling them, 

 and I am decidedly in favor of filling 

 them full, with the exception of % 

 space at the sides and }^ at the bot- 

 tom. When a section is not filled full 

 of foundation, the bees gradually 

 shorten the cells as they approach the 

 sides, and often fasten the combs at 

 the sides with brace combs only, 

 when, if the section is filled full of 

 foundation, they draw the cells out 

 full length next the wood, and the 

 comb is thus evenly and securely 

 fastened all around. I prefer the 

 Given foundation, and agree with Dr. 

 Miller, .lames Heddon, E. J. Oatman, 

 Geo. Grimm and many others that it 

 is less liable to warp or curl in being 

 drawn out than foundation made 

 upon a roller mill. Very thin founda- 

 tion is more liable to curl and bend in 

 being drawn, than that that is heavier. 

 Seven square feet to the pound is 

 about right. The surplus receptacles 

 should always be filled 'with bees, in 

 order that both sides of the founda- 

 tion may be drawn out at the same 

 time. As combs are built perpendicu- 

 larly, hives should stand level, at 

 least in a direction at right angles 

 with the combs. There are no better 

 comb builders than the black or Ger- 

 man bees. Their combs are straight, 

 white, regular and even, and bees of 

 this variety, or Italians having a dash 

 of German blood, are a very great 

 help in securing cratable combs with- 

 out separators. I had, the past sea- 

 son, a few colonies that were a cross 



