THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



395 



For the American Bee Journal. 



To. Michigan Bee-Keepers. 



PROF. A. J. COOK. 



We Michigan bee-keepers are un- 

 foitunate this year, as the Toronto 

 meeting of the North American Asso- 

 ciation and our State Fair come at the 

 same time. The American Associa- 

 tion oilers great inducements. It is 

 the first meeting held in Canada, and 

 everything will be done to make it a 

 grand success. The hope and pros- 

 pect of having our great and vener- 

 able Mr. Langstroth with us will 

 give this occasion a rare prestige. I 

 near of delegates coming from Flor- 

 ida, Texas, and many from the States 

 nearer by. Who will want to miss it '{ 



Our State Agricultural Society have 

 done everything we have asked to 

 make our State exhibition a glory to 

 us and to the State, so we have extra 

 inducements to remain at home. 

 Some, of course, must do the one, and 

 some the other. Now I wish to 

 appeal most earnestly for all to do the 

 one or the other. I would ask with 

 equal emphasis that oiu' Michigan 

 bee-keepers send to me quite accurate 

 reports of the season's harvest, that 

 I may carry up to Toronto a report 

 that will do Alicliigan credit. The 

 vice-president in each State should 

 receive full reports from the various 

 apiarists. 



Let me then urge all bee-keepers in 

 every State to pay most earnest heed 

 to these two valuable points. See 

 that your own State Fair is grand in 

 its honey exhibit, and that your vice- 

 president goes up to the North Ameri- 

 can meeting with a hat full of valua- 

 ble statistics. In both these ways, 

 apiculture will be greatly advanced. 



Lansing, Mich., July liS, 1883. 



For the American Bee JoumoL 



Size of Standard Langstroth Frame, 

 w. p. T. 



I have been looking on at the con- 

 trovesy on this question, and being 

 somewhat interested in it, I have not 

 failed to form my own opinion on the 

 matter. It is true that my first 

 knowledge of bee-keeping was re- 

 ceived from the perusal of " The Hive 

 and Honey Bee," which you will, per- 

 haps, say " rs something akin to going 

 back to the dark ages of the past." 



There appears to be something defi- 

 nite and positive in the assertions 

 and quotations of Messrs. Baldridge 

 and Heddon, whereas there are doubt- 

 ful and inaccurate statements on the 

 otaer side ; thus " the last edition of 

 Mr.Langstroth's book (the fourth) was 

 published about 2-5 years ago ;" on 

 reference, however, I find that the 

 thml edition was published in 1863. 



In commencing I tried to make ray 

 hives from Mr. Langstroth 's descrip- 

 tion, but in 1869, I sent to Messrs. 

 Langstroth & Son for a pattern. This, 

 when received, I found to be some- 

 whar different from the hive de- 

 scribed, the back and front were of 

 1% inch stuff, which admitted of 



deeper rabbets for frame ends. Thin 

 strips of hard wood were put in for the 

 frames to rest on, and instead of the 

 large triangular top-bar, a small piece 

 was worked out of the top-bar for 

 comb guide. In fact, it might be 

 said to be " the improved Langstroth 

 hive." But with all these clianges 

 the dimension of the hive ISig, and 

 the outside dimensions of the frame 

 17?8 were preserved. With this 

 model I went to work and made hives 

 and frames, and it was not until some 

 years later, when I got a supply of 

 frames from a dealer, which were 

 made up and used without measur- 

 ing, that I discovered that the bees 

 would almost invariably stick these 

 last named frames fast, and that 

 they were I4 inch larger than those 

 received directly from Mr. Langs- 

 troth. I look upon it that the 4I4X4I4 

 section had nothing to do with the 

 maker, being of much more recent 

 introduction, and again, the frame as 

 sent out by its inventor, was only \&% 

 inside (vide third edition, page 372). 



I have now a lot of the M^^ frames 

 on hand, which I will not make up, 

 finding that it does as stated by Mr. 

 Baldridge, " destroy the intercliange- 

 ahleness," and if any one doubts it, 

 let him try to use a 'il% inch frame 

 in 18^8 inch hive, for I do not see that 

 it has been asserted that Mr. Langs- 

 troth has sanctioned a change in the 

 size of the hive. 



Ontario, Canada, June 25, 1883. 



[The only thing worth commenting 

 upon in the above communication, 

 is the mistake made by W. P. T. 

 about tlie third edition of Mr. Langs- 

 troth's book being published in 1863. 

 If he will take the trouble to look at 

 page viii. of the " Preface," he will 

 see that Mr. Langstroth's Preface to 

 his last edition is dated " March 1859 !" 

 The date on the title page is the date 

 when a fresli supply was printed from 

 the old plates. It is therefore not an 

 "inaccurate statement" to say that 

 " the last edition of Mr. Langstroth's 

 book, (the fourth) was published about 

 25 years ago"— the full 2-5 years being 

 up next March. — Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Side Storing Sections a Failure. 



J. CBAYCRAFT. 



The controversy between Dr. South- 

 wick and Mr. Demaree is very inter- 

 esting, and each can and will be sus- 

 tained by the voices of many bee- 

 keepers. I take sides with the shal- 

 low frame for this latitude, but not so 

 long as the standard Langstroth ; 

 greatly preferring a frame of the same 

 depth, 9%xVSl4^ as being far better 

 for the prodiiction of comb honey and 

 building u|), in the spring ; tlie space 

 being more compact, requiring a less 

 number of bees to keep a given space 

 the proper degree of temperature, at a 

 time wlien all the working bees are 

 needed in the fields ; and for success- 



ful and economical queen-rearing, it 

 is far ahead of the standard Langs- 

 troth. I think the Doctor's digres- 

 sion, on page 369, fits the experience 

 of many bee-keepers that use the 

 broad section frame. I have tried 

 both to my sorrow and loss, this sea- 

 son, here in the apiary of Dr. Allen. 

 I find it almost impossible to get bees 

 to work above in a 10-frame Langs- 

 troth hive, until you have sections 

 drawn out in the broad frame below, 

 on either side of the brood, first re- 

 moving three frames, and then you 

 will find pollen, and sometime eggs 

 and brood, in them, when you remove 

 them above, and by the time you have 

 had all this work done, and the three 

 frames replaced, and the bees at work, 

 you will have lost the best part of the 

 season (at least here, where clover is 

 our crop). I do not think I could 

 ever make a success in the produc- 

 tion of comb honey, in the broad 

 hanging frames for sections. I have 

 removed all of them from my hives, 

 and will pile them up as relics of the 

 dark ages, in bee-keeping. 



I hope many of the readers of the 

 Bee Jouknal will take the advan- 

 tages offered on page 366, to attend 

 the Kentucky State Bee-Keepers' 

 Convention to be held at the Exposi- 

 tion building in Louisville, Ky., Aug. 

 29 and 30, and also avail themselves 

 of the opportunity of exhibiting their 

 bees there. This will be a grand 

 opportunity for queen breeders to 

 show their stock. The secretary. Dr. 

 N. P. Allen, Smith's Grove, Ky., ex- . 

 tends a cordial invitation to all bee- 

 keepers to come and be with us, and 

 help to make this a grand show of 

 our little industrious friends. 



The honey season is about over 

 here, with the exception of some of 

 our finest colonies, that are still 

 building comb and storing honey in 

 sections from the red clover, of which 

 there is an abundance here. I wish 

 our bees were only all " red clover' 

 bees ;" they are " the coming bee." 



Smith's Grove, Ky., July 30, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Changing a Standard. 



S. GOODRICH. 



The question of a standard frame 

 has been agitated through the columns 

 of the Bee Journal for sometime, 

 and each advocate of a standard 

 frame would, no doubt, be very glad 

 to have the fraternity adoi)t a stan- 

 dard frame, provided "it should be his 

 particular "pet frame,'' but how 

 many would be willing to make a 

 cliange. Take the class of men who 

 have several hundred colonies, or 

 even 50 colonies, it would be attended 

 witli considerable expense ; then if 

 the " standard " should happen to be 

 a larger or longer frame than the one 

 they were using, the real expense 

 would be greater than to the party 

 that is now using a larger or longer 

 frame than what would be decided as 

 a standard. In the former case the 

 lumber in the hives might be a total 

 loss, where, in the latter, much of it 

 could be worked over. 



