THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



465 



sponded, until I saw his reference to 

 it in the Bee Journal of Aug. 8, or 

 I should before this not only have 

 corrected his misunderstanding of the 

 reason I gave for preferring that extra 

 1-4 inch, but should have expressed 

 my deep regret that tlie size of the 

 standard Langstroth hive had been 

 changed ; not that slight changes in 

 frame and hive are of any special 

 importance, except as they interfere 

 to any extent with the cardinal prin- 

 ciple, that any Langstroth frame 

 ought to lit in every Langstroth hive. 

 Even after I ceased to use the double 

 glass walls, the fractional % was re- 

 tained to prevent confusion by depart- 

 ing even to so small an extent from 

 the size so widely disseminated. 



It is, however, very easy to exag- 

 gerate the inconveniences which have 

 resulted from these slight variations. 

 One will contend that the standard 

 Langstroth frame cannot be used in 

 the Root and Newman Langstroth 

 hive, and many will actually prefer 

 that size of hive for them, as giving 

 more room for the safe and rapid 

 handling of frames. If both hives 

 and frames are very carefully made, I 

 find no trouble in using the Itoot and 

 Newman frame in the standard 

 Langstroth hive. The great length 

 of the top- bar of the Langstroth frame 

 enables me, after removing one frame 

 from the hive, to take out the others 

 with great ease, thus : 



When the frame (1) is lifted out, 

 the end (C) of frame (2) is draicn to- 

 ward the operator, without any lifting 

 imtil the angle is large enough to re- 

 move it without danger of hitting the 

 sides of the hive ; so in replacing it 

 the end (2) is first put on the rabbet, 

 and (C) can tlien be moved readily to 

 its place. The long leverage of the 

 Langstroth frames greatly favors such 

 manipulations. I would say here, 

 that a variation of only ig from front 

 to rear, if it is on the side of making 

 the hive smaller (say only 18 inches), 

 is, for divers reasons, a much more 

 serious matter than the extra hi inch; 

 for in such hives it is well-nigh im- 

 possible to have any free manipula- 

 tion of the longer frames. I am using 

 in my own apiary the Root size of 

 frame in the standard Langstroth 

 hive, and find no trouble at all in 

 doing so. I would even prefer, with 

 hives and frames made as accurately 

 as they should be, y inch space, 

 manipulating in the manner above 

 described, to 14 inch, if the frames 

 had to be squarely lifted out. 



The conclusion of the whole matter 

 seems to me to be this : The stan- 

 dard Langstroth hive is IS^-^ inches 

 from front to rear, and 10 inches deep, 

 all in the clear, and the standard 

 Langstroth frame is 17^8, and not 

 ITJii ; and I advise all who make new 

 hives, if they can do so without too 

 much loss, not to vary at all from 

 these measurements. I certainly 

 have no right to demand that the 

 parties who are using the extra M 

 inch, both for hive and frame, should 



return to the old standard ; but I hope 

 that, instead of calling their hives the 

 standard Langstroth hives, they will 

 call them tlie Root Langstroth hives, 

 as Mr. Root first used the extra I4 

 inch. I presume that Messrs. Root 

 and Newman, and other hive makers, 

 if not willing to return to the stan- 

 dard Langstroth, will have no objec- 

 tions to filling orders for Simplicity, 

 chaff, or other styles of hives of the 

 Langstroth standard size. 



Intending in another article to give 

 in detail my reasons for adopting my 

 standard size of frame, I will close by 

 saying that I no more claim perfec- 

 tion for it now than I did in 1853, 

 when in the full gush of enthusiasm 

 over an invention which I hoped 

 would revolutionize practical bee- 

 keeping. 



Oxford, Ohio, August, 1883. 



[As we promised that the discussion 

 of the hive question should stop with 

 the articles of Mr. Langstroth, we 

 refrain from making any comments. 

 We are satisfied that a universal 

 standard frame is an impossibility in 

 America, and, therefore, it is useless 

 to discuss the matter any further. 

 Let all adopt such as they prefer— Ed.] 



For the American Bee JourniL 



A Help in Handling Brood Frames. 



G. A. DEADMAN. 



Those who have either used, or 

 read of Jones' brood frames, are 

 probably aware that on account of 

 their peculiar construction they can 

 be handled very rapidly, with little 

 danger of killing bees. This peculiar 

 construction is principally in the bot- 

 tom bar, which is simply a narrow 

 strip of wood about J^ by % inch, and 

 being placed edgewise, is made to 

 pass through a groove made at the 

 bottom of each of the side pieces of 

 the frame, and projecting behind 

 them about }4 of an inch, or just suf- 

 ficient to allow it to be placed easily 

 in the hive. The corners are then 

 brought to a point. It certainly has 

 its advantages, as it is only by care- 

 lessness on the part of the operator 

 that any bee is injured when mani- 

 pulating them. Another advantage 

 is, that ic always hangs square in the 

 hive, and, therefore, equi-distant from 

 either side. There is one objection 

 that I find in its use, although I have 

 never inquired of the originator to 

 know whether he has experienced the 

 same trouble. The difliculty with me 

 is this : Theframe, when in position, 

 brings the bottom bar about }4 inch 

 from the bottom of the hive, and as 

 the bar itself is about J^ inch, the 

 bees are compelled to cease building 

 comb one inch from the bottom board, 

 or else build past this narrow strip. 

 This latter alternative they very fre- 

 quently adopt, and are sure to do so 

 if the frame does not hang straight 

 with the full sheet of foundation. 



I presume some will say that there 

 is no reason why it should not hang 

 perfectly straight, but with a deep 

 frame, % inch is very little from the 



true, and yet sufficient to encourage 

 the bees to build cells at least on one 

 side of the comb, or rather comb with 

 cells on one side. And worst of all, 

 when using full sheets of foundation 

 of worker cells, the bees will take ad- 

 vantage of the situation and complete 

 it with drone comb, the very worst 

 place they could do so, as far as hand- 

 ling the frames are concerned. Now, 

 the plan I adopt, and possibly tliere 

 are several otliers doing the same, 

 is this : I have the bottom bar the 

 same width as the side pieces of the 

 frame, as is customary with the ma- 

 jority of frames made, and then I 

 procure from the hardware store % 

 inch brass window blind staples, 

 costing 1.5 cents for half a pound, and 

 sufficient for at least 500 frames. I 

 drive one of these in each side of the 

 frame opposite the bottom bar, and 

 allow them to project 34 of an inch, 

 or not more than 516. By using 

 these I cannot see but that all the ad- 

 vantages of that part of the Jones 

 frame can be had without any of the 

 objections as mentioned above, and 

 as you will see the cost is compara- 

 tively nothing. 

 Brussels, Ont. 



Country Gentleman. 



Fall Notes About Bee-Keeping. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



The hurrying season is over, but 

 there yet remains much work to be 

 done. Comb honey should be stored 

 in a dry, well-ventilated, and rather 

 warm room, in order that it maybe- 

 come thoroughly ripened, and the 

 honey in any unsealed cells become so 

 thickened by evaporation that it will 

 remain in the cells even though they 

 should be turned upside down. Neat, 

 smooth shipping crates should be 

 made of some ligiit-colored wood, and 

 at least one side of the crate should 

 have a slip of glass to show the honey. 

 Although the crates should be neatly 

 made, vet they should be so cheap 

 that they can be given away with the 

 honey. All propolis, or gum, should 

 be carefully scraped from the sections. 

 All honey should be graded, and that 

 containing even a little dark honey 

 sliould be placed in the second grade, 

 otherwise the wliole lot is liable to be 

 classed as second grade. If extracted 

 honey is to be sold in small pails, now 

 is the time to put it into them, as 

 after it has candied it is a slow, dis- 

 agreeable task to put it into pails. 



Many bee-keepers err in putting 

 their honey upon the market too early 

 in the season, and at too low a price. 

 After reading a few encouraging re- 

 ports in the bee papers, they fear that 

 there will be a glut in the honey 

 market, and in tlieir efforts to secure 

 the highest price by rushing their 

 honey into the market before there is 

 a demand for it, they often get the 

 lowest price, and help to spoil the 

 market for others. Until the fruit 

 season closes the demand for honey is 

 light, and bee-keepers should govern 

 themselves accordingly. The honey 

 should be well graded, put up in the 

 most attractive packages possible. 



