598 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 19, 



appearance in person at one of their full meetings, and I take 

 pleasure in aclcnowledging the assistance at this meeting, of 

 Mr. H. F. Moore, the attorney of the A. I. Root Co., also of 

 Messrs. Burnett, Newman and York. The railroad men 

 listened patiently to e.xplanations given as to the character of 

 the goods on which reduced rates were desired, and showed in- 

 terest in seeing the goods themselves, for we had present sam- 

 ples of nearly all the articles on which we asked reduction in 

 freight rates. 



Without going into full details, I may say that a good 

 share of the favors asked in the way of reduction were not 



Secretary Di-. A. B. Mason, Auburnduk, uhio. 



granted, but we got enough to be thankful for. Freight on 

 honey-box lumber is reduced to regular lumber rates. Comb 

 honey in glass is now half the former rate, which was double 

 first-class. Extracted honey in barrels, kegs or tin cans, 

 boxed, was formerly 2nd and 3rd class ; it is now reduced to 

 4th class, the same as syrups. Bee-hives in the flat have been 

 reduced to lumber rates. 



Hoping that the success of the committee may not have 

 fallen too far below the expectations of the members of the 

 Association, the above report is respectfully submitted. 



C. C. MiLLEB, Chairman Freight Committee. 



Upon motion of J. B. Hall, the report was accepted, and 

 the committee given a hearty vote of thanks. 



Next came an essay by James Heddon, of Dowagiac, 

 Mich., on the 



Best Size for Brood-Chamber. 



I think it my duty to avoid reiterating the many wise and 

 otherwise statements of my brother bee-keepers that have ap- 

 peared on this subject in our numerous bee-journals, during 

 the last two years of radical discussion of the question. You 

 all remember the logical arguments and deductions that have 

 been made on both sides. One successful honey-producer 

 would plead for large brood-chambers, and then proved beyond 

 controversy that a large brood-nest was an absolute necessity 

 at a certain time of the year, if the best results were to be at- 

 tained. His argument was never answered, nor never could 

 be, but the attempt was made to controvert his claim that 

 large brood-chambers were best, by showing that at another 

 time of year a small brood-chamber was likewise a necessity 

 to best results. This last proposition was as clearly proved 

 as the first, and I am pleased to enjoy the great pleasure of 

 saying that, in my judgment, both are right, and yet either is 

 wrong when he claims that the other is wholly wrong. 



Is it not plain to be seen that each one of the contestants 

 Is right in most of his claims, and for that reason the con- 

 troversy seems no nearer to an end than when it began ? I 

 am sure that every thoughtful honey-producer is forced to the 



conclusion that to attain best results a brood-chamber must be 

 elastic. It must be so constructed that it can be readily and 

 practically made to embrace the radical advantages rightly 

 claimed by both the large and small brood-chamber adherents. 

 It was the dawning of the knowledge of this truth thatcaused 

 Father Langstroth and other early inventors to suggest divis- 

 ion-boards ; and two prominent reasons why these contractors 

 never were universally adopted, was, first, because many bee- 

 keepers are neglectful, and, second, the practical honey-pro- 

 ducers who were not, abhor complication and tedious manip- 

 ulation. Although experience proved that the advantages of 

 changing brood-chamber capacity at various times of year, 

 cost about all it came to, yet the fact that such capacity must 

 be changed, if we are to realize the most from our bees, still 

 remains. I think it would be bordering upon assumption, 

 for me to rehash what has already been so well said upon this 

 subject in our bee-journals during the last two years. 



I believe that locality, or necessity, makes a difference 

 with regard to the best size for the brood-chamber, upon the 

 same principle that conditions changing with the seasons 

 change their adaptability ; but I do not believe that locality 

 makes as much difference as some have contended, nor as much 

 as a change of seasons, and conditions in the same honey-field. 



When, with the rest, I thought I must be contented with 

 the use of a brood-chamber, the capacity of which remained 

 the same throughout the year, I settled upon eight Langstroth 

 frames as best, as splitting the difference between being too 

 large at one time, and too small at another. I have never 

 changed that conclusion. I will admit, however, that some 

 other size might average best in other localities. I cannot 

 conceive of any sound argument in opposition to the almost 

 self-evident statements herein made ; nor do I believe there 

 are many, if any, practical honey-producers present who 

 would care to take an opposite position ; but if I am in error 

 in this, I trust that I have said just enough to lead to an in- 

 teresting discussion of the topic, and yet I cannot think what 

 will be said that has not previously been said in our late litera- 

 ture. James Heddon. 



A short discussion then followed on Mr. Heddon's subject : 

 S. T. Pettit — If I were to adopt the Langstroth frame, I 



would have neither 8 nor 10 frames, but 9. I think that is 



just about the right size. 



J. B. Hall — A small hive may answer for the home apiary, 



but for the out-apiary a larger hive is needed, if the owner is 



Treasurer W. Z. Hutchinson, Flint, Mich: 



to be able to get away long to see his girl, or to help his wife 

 take care of the babies, if he has a wife and babies. 



Wm. McEvoy — I suppose that 2,000 cubic inches is about 

 the right size for a brood-nest. 



A. E. Iloshal — A hive so large that it will, at the close of 

 a July honey harvest, contain sufiieient stores for winter, is 

 not the right size to get the best results in surplus honey, I 

 feed my bees every fall to get a large brood-nest filled with 

 brood, well and good ; but we don't want it if it is to be filled 

 largely with honey during the honey harvest. 



