1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



honey only is wanted in hot countries, the 

 chambers should be always a.dded Jrom de- 

 low, to prevent congestion of the brood- 

 chamber. For out-apiaries such a hive is 

 very suitable, since shaken swarms can be 

 made with the greatest ease without risk or 

 too much trouble. The whole theory of 

 management is simply this — to work up the 

 colony to a high pitch in two chambers; 

 then when the honey comes on in full blast, 

 remove one chamber and put the section-su- 

 per in place. T/iis stops swarming very ef- 

 fectually ; and, as a consequence, very 

 plump well-filled sections. 



For a poor locality, only two chambers 

 are required; and I will throw out the hint 

 that dequeening, and contraction of the 

 brood-chamber, are quite unnecessary with 

 this hive. The bete noire of a comb-honey 

 apiarist is the habit the bees have of stor- 

 ing honey in the brood-chamber. The shal- 

 low hive holds this in check. Where only 

 two chambers are used, there will be a fair 

 amount of swarming; but where three are 

 used, the apiarist holds the whip hand. 



There are several points to be borne in 

 mind. One is this: That one chamber must 

 be large enough to accommodate a fair-sized 

 colony — say the same capacity as the eight 

 or ten frame, which requires from 12 to 14 

 shallow frames spaced IV inches apart; 

 otherwise there is too much work. 



There are also other considerations. For 

 example, it is easy enough to make such a 

 hive of half-inch stuff, which effects quite 

 a saving, both in weight and first cost. I 

 have also gone a step further, with the idea 

 of having all parts alike, by doing away 

 with all slats, holders, and separators, the 

 5o/^ difference between the comb-honey com- 

 partment and the extracted being that the 

 one contains frames while the other con- 

 tains sections. 



I do not know that every one will grasp 

 the significance of this; but a glance at the 

 latest A. I. Root catalog will show the mul- 

 tiplicity of arrangements for accommodat- 

 ing bees. 



Another thing is the reduction in cost and 

 weight. One of my supers costs less than 

 the ordinary one, and yet holds twice as 

 much. The work also is much reduced. 

 The tendency of the present time is to con- 

 duct bee-keeping on a much larger scale 

 than formerly, and to reduce the price of 

 honey to the consumer. I am well aware 

 that good results can be secured by using 

 our present hives ; but we can progress ; 

 and in the production of comb honej', as it 

 is done at present, there is too much work 

 and expense. The fussing with contrac- 

 tion, dequeening, baits, separators, clean- 

 ing slats, etc., consumes too much of the 

 profit; and rather than do it the Texas 

 people have gone back to bulk honey. 



There is also to be considered the en- 

 hanced price of hive material, with no cor- 

 responding increase in the price of comb 

 honey. I am not "talking through my 

 hat" when I say these savings can be ef- 

 fected, having proved the pudding by eat- 



ing. Neither is there any thing very revo- 

 lutionary about it. It is simply improving 

 existing arrangements. 



I have gone over this ground to some ex- 

 tent before, but not so fully, and it is mat- 

 ter that will bear repetition. One critic 

 said that the queen lurked between the 

 bottom-bar of the shallow frame and the 

 comb. Such a criticism is worthless, for 

 the reason that all combs, whether shallow 

 or deep, should be securely attached to the 

 bottom-bar. For one thing, space is too 

 precious in a brood-chamber to waste it in 

 that way. Another is the loss of strength; 

 and in the case of a shallow frame, wiring 

 is unnecessary if the comb is attached to 

 the bottom-bar. 



Another important point, and one not 

 often appreciated, is this : With a comb 

 built securely to the bottom-bar, the bees 

 can be shaken off from it with one vigorous 

 shake. But just try it with a comb not so 

 fastened, and it will take five or six shakes 

 to do as well. In finding a queen the same 

 time is lost looking for her. There is no 

 place for her to hide on a well-built comb. 

 The man who does not fasten his combs to 

 the bottom-bar also requires one more frame 

 in his brood-chambers. 



Another criticism made was that starters 

 being used the bees would lodge pollen in 

 the sections, etc. But why use starters at 

 all? Starters in brood-frames are obnox- 

 ious to me, and personally I don't want an 

 inch of drone comb in any brood-chamber; 

 and the most up-to-date and most success- 

 ful bee-masters in the world do the same, I 

 think. 



One of the most important secrets in the 

 production of comb honey is to have no 

 drone comb in the brood-chamber, so that, 

 when sections are put out, the bees rush up 

 intending to construct drone comb. That 

 is why some folks succeed so well and 

 others don't. They use to the utmost valu- 

 able inventions of this sort. In a particu- 

 larly difficult locality I should use worker 

 foundation in the brood -chamber, and drone 

 foundation in the comb-honey super. And 

 even in very good localities it is a good 

 plan to put drone foundation in all sections 

 next to the sides of the super. This re- 

 duces the number of unfinished sections; it 

 also reduces the business of moving sections 

 from the outside to the center, and vice ver- 

 sa. In other words, it reduces the number 

 of manipulations. It is by such plans as 

 these the apiarist is able to care for a very 

 large apiary. 



Screws on the sides for compression are 

 also very good things, reducing work con- 

 siderably, both in the manipulation of 

 frames and in the cleaning of sections. 

 They add considerably to the cost of a 

 hive, more particularly if they are made of 

 iron. If screws are used, springs are also 

 requisite ; but they are a great comfort 

 where any kind of closed or half-closed 

 frames are in use. 



Propolis has no terrors for a man who 

 uses pressure to bring the frame close to- 



