189d. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



249 



McEvoy what he would do if honey were spilled in the dis- 

 eased hives, he replied that he would clean it off. Now sup- 

 pose (which is quite liable to be the case) that the honey 

 should run into a crack or joint of the hive, and a bee should 

 afterward put its tongue in and get some of the honey. You 

 had better disinfect, and be sure, rather then run the risk. 



If any one wants it, I will give my easy way of curing the 

 disease, and only handle the bees once. Longmont, Colo. 



[Surely, many will be glad to learn Mr. Adams' "easy 

 way of curing " foul brood, and he is hereby requested to send 

 it on for publication in these columns, if he will. — Editor.] 



"Minnick's Metal Hoffman Frame." 



BT JAS. A. MINNICK. 



A great deal has been said during the past two years 

 about self-spacing brood-frames, and many are the devices in- 

 vented to bri-ng about a successful solution of this question, 

 i. e., from a small nail driven in the edge of the end-bar, to 

 various other devices, among the best being the Stephens' 

 device mentioned on page 101 ; but the mostly used of all is 

 the popular Eoot-Hofifman frame — a description of which is 

 not necessary for me to give. There are many objections to 

 this frame, and it does not accomplish the object intended, 

 i. c, exact spacing. We will notice some of these objections : 



1. When the frames are new, the space from center to 

 center is 1% inches; the V edge is not made sharp on the 

 edge, for the reason if made so, the thin, sharp edge will stick 

 to the neighboring frame, and be torn off when a little propo- 

 lis is plugged into the three-cored space between the two 

 frames ; so it is made blunt for that reason. Now it is at once 

 apparent that by the close of the season, quite a lot of propo- 

 lis will accumulate between the two frames, thereby increas- 

 ing the distance from center to center, which is easily noticed 

 by the follower being crowded closer to the wall of the hive, 

 ultimately defeating the object intended — exact spacing. 



2. Another very serious objection is, that if the weather 

 isn't "rotten hot," the frames come apart with a " snap " and 

 a " jerk," and any bee-keeper knows the result with a colony 

 of hybrids by the time he gets 8 frames pried apart, and, if 

 the apiarist is not religiously inclined, he will pronounce many 

 "blessings" (?) in very strong language, upon the inventor 

 of the Hoffman frame. 



3. Another very great objection is, the end of the top- 

 bar has to be made long enough to touch the back of the rab- 

 bet, so the bee-space between the end-bar and hive is pre- 

 served. The Roots have partially overcome this objection by 

 making an all tin rabbet, and by narrowing the end of the 

 top-bar. This broad end of top-bar partly closes the bee-space 

 between the end of frames and end of hive, and also the 

 " ditch" in the aU tin rabbet, prevents the bees from hastily 

 clearing the rabbets when smoke is blown in. 



4. Another objection (which is true of all ordinary hang- 

 ing frames) is, that when the frame is lifted out, or put back 

 into the hive, unless the apiarist is slow and careful, he is 

 likely to strike the end-bar against the end of the hive and 

 smash more or less bees, and possibly a valuable queen ; and 

 again, the frame may get out of square, and the lower corner 

 touch one end of hive, destroying the bee-space at that end, 

 which the bees will glue fast to hive, and at the same time 

 increasing the space at the other end of hive, to be filled in 

 with brace-combs. 



Now, I herewith submit a rough pencil sketch of a frame 

 that I have used along beside the Hoffman, full closed end- 

 bar, common hanging frames, etc., for three years, and have 

 over 300 of them in use, and will this spring transfer all 

 combs in other frames to this one. I claim that this frame 

 etitirely overcomes all the objections set forth against the 

 Hoffman frame, and I will explain its advantages, and num- 

 ber them the same as I have the objections to the Hoffman : 



1. It is easily understood by the illustration, that a strip 

 of zinc is set in a saw-kerf in the end-bar to take the place of 

 the V edge in the Hoffman, and projects .V inch, touching its 

 neighbor the same as the Hoffman, and is much sharper than 

 is possible to make soft wood ; and it touches its neighbor at 

 a right angle instead of an acute angle. The bees are not so 

 inclined to put in propolis, as in an acute angle, and they will 

 not glue metal as readily as they will soft wood. If bee-glue 

 is put in, a little side pressure will press the zinc edge through 

 the glue, and it will rest against the wood, thereby always 

 securing exact spacing. 



2. Now this new frame parts very easily from its neigh- 

 bor, because the smooth zinc cannot be glued so tightly to the 

 next frame as the V edge of the Hoffman. If tin rabbets are 



used, nothing more than the fingers are needed to separate 

 them. 



3. Now instead of letting the broad wood end of top-bar 

 project past the end bar, I instead drive a 6-penny steel brad 

 in, and let it project just enough so the head iiearfy touches 

 the back of the rabbet, which preserves the bee-space at the 

 end of the hive. Again, this nail is not glued fast in the rab- 

 bet like a wood bearing ; and it does not cover up the rabbet 

 and bee-space, and the bees " get out " at once. A wood rab- 

 bet is preferred to a tin rabbet, as there is no " ditch " to hin- 

 der the bees from " going at once." 



4. Last, but not least, is the small window-blind staple 

 that is driven in the lower corners of the frame, and projects 

 a scant ii inch, and always preserves the bee-space at the 

 ends of the hive, and prevents the smashing of bees, and aids 

 in the rapid handling of frames — once used, never dispensed 

 with. 



i' Some apiarists may object to cost of this frame. While 

 the zinc and the saw-kerf may add to its cost, you will notice 



Explanations.— 1. Null to rest on rabbet. 

 3, Nails to hold end-bar to top-bar. 3, 3, 

 Zinc piece set in saw-kerf to rest against 

 next frame. 4, Small window-blind staple to 

 preserve the bee-space between the end-bar 

 and hive, and to prevent the smashing o£ 

 bees. 5, Small nail to fasten zinc. Top-bar 

 is J^xl^j. Bottom-bar, J^xJ^. Upper part 

 of end-bar is /^xlV; lower part, '4x1 inch. 

 Frame made to space 1?^ from center to 

 center. 



End Section of the Minnick Metal Hoffman Frame. 



that the end-bar is made from ?4-inch narrower stuff than the 

 Hoffman end-bar, and there is no notching out in the upper 

 end of the end-bar, to receive the end of the top-bar, and vice 

 versa, the notching the top-bar to receive the end-bar. Again, 

 the tin rabbet is dispensed with, thus reducing the cost to less, 

 probably, than that of the Hoffman. 



Some may claim that the nail bearing will be hard to get 

 hold of, and hard on the fingers ; but this I find entirely a 

 mistake, and is rather better than others in these respects. 

 Others may think the nail will bend down a little, thereby in- 

 creasing the bee-space above the top-bar when the frames are 

 heavy with honey. This is a mistake also, as I had frames 

 last year that weighed nine pounds, and the sagging was not 

 perceptible. 



Some say the zinc will interfere with the honey-knife. 

 Zinc is soft, and will not hurt the honey-knife if touched by it. 

 I have 100 extracting combs, and find it bothers very little, 

 if any. 



This frame is not patented, nor do I manufacture it except 

 for my own use, but I will send sample frame to any oue for 10 

 centsin stamps. North Anderson, Ind. 



CONDUCTED BY 



AIRS. JENJSIB ATCNLEY, BEBVILLn, TEX. 



A Northerner's Trip to the South. 



BV C. THEILMANN. 



1 believe that most bee-keepers are more or less interested 

 in agriculture and horticulture, therefore I will not strictly 

 hold to what I saw and heard about bees on my trip, but will 

 also tell what I have observed otherwise, which will be new 

 and interesting to Northern people at least, who have never 

 been in the South. 



I started with a return ticket, for 21 days, from Plain- 

 view, Minn. — 9 miles from here — Dec. 18, 1894, via Kansas 

 City, Mo., and arrived at Whitesboro, Tex., on the 20th, at 3 

 a.m. Here I had to wait for my train seven hours, though I 

 was in Texas, and as soon as daybreak came, I commenced 



