PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK 



AT $1.00 PER ANNUM. 



35tli Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., DEC. 12, 1895. 



No. 50. 



CQt)irihuicd ./Vrticles^ 



On Important Ajyiarian Subjeots, 



Large Hives ; Size aud Shape of Hives ; and 

 Conditions Necessary to Safe Winter- 

 ing of Bees. 



BY CHA8. DADANT. 



The great fecundity of the queen-bees, and the aptitude 

 of worker-bees to amass provisions for times of scarcity, are 

 the two main qualities that have induced man to add the 

 honey-bee to the number of animals domesticated by him. 

 Others among the insects harvest honey, but owing to the 

 lack of these two qualities none gather together such large 

 amounts of it. 



But to take full advantage of these two most important 

 qualities, which thus place the bee above all other honey- 

 gathering insects, it is, before all, indispensable to furnish 

 those precious insects lodgings which may enable the queen 

 to utilize her fecundity, while, at the same time, furnishing to 

 the bees a convenient storage-room, not only for the needed 

 stores required for their sustenance during the unfavorable 

 parts of the year, but also to secure a surplus to their owner; 

 at the same time this shelter must prove commodious and 

 sufficient to protect them against the inclemency of the 

 weather, in the winter. I here propose to consider both the 

 • size and shape of the hive, and the conditions necessary for a 

 safe wintering of the bees; these two questions being inti- 

 mately connected with each other. 



How many eggs is a queen able to lay during the height 

 of the breeding-season, in spring ? We will all agree that this 

 breeding-season begins more or less early, and lasts more or 

 less according to the weather and other circumstances in dif- 

 ferent localitips. I believe also that the bee-keepers have 

 generally recognized the fact that some queens are prolific 

 enough to lay as many as 4,000 or 5,000 eggs in 24 hours. I 

 have often seen, in observatory hives — when there was plenty 

 of room, and the queen did not have to hunt about for cells — 

 a queen lay six eggs in a minute. Other observers agree with 

 me in this ; those at least who have taken the pains to inves- 

 tigate this question. And here let me say that there are too 

 few men who take the trouble to investigate for themselves. 

 An observatory hive — a real one, with only one comb, with two 

 sides of glass, so fixed that nothing can escape the eyes of the 

 apiarist — is but a small expense, and will prove a source of 

 great pleasure and of endless instruction ; for many things 

 yet remain to be learned of the natural history of the bee. 



To return to my subject: Six eggs laid in one minute by 

 the queen would, at the same rate of speed, give 360 eggs in 

 one hour, or 4,320 eggs in 12 hours ; allowing one-half of the 

 24 hours for rest. It is true that the time given may not be 

 always well occupied by the queen, and that she is probably 

 often delayed by some irregularity of the combs in which she 

 lays in a circular way, or by her coming across spots occupied 

 with pollen or honey, when she will then drop her eggs where- 

 ever she happens to be, proving evidently that, at the breed- 

 ing-season, she must lay without intermission, and that this 

 laying is independent of her will. If we suppose that her 

 laying is thus hindered, so that one-eighth of the above-men- 

 tioned time be lost in this way, she is still able to lay 3,780 

 eggs in this space of 12 hours. 



Dr. Angelo Dubini, who ranks among the first of the bee- 

 masters of the world, and whose writings on bees are well 

 known, wrote as follows, in L'ApicoIotore, of Milan, Italy, in 

 the November number : 



" How do we verify the assertions of the apiarian writers 

 who hold that the queen, at the proper tin\e, may deposit 

 8,000 eggs, or more, in the combs in 24 hours? I have ex- 

 amined a hive, and have ascertained that all the cells were 

 occupied with brood, eggs, or honey. Then, in the middle of 

 these combs of brood, I have inserted an empty comb made of 

 worker-cells, and fresh and clean. I found, on the morrow, 

 that all the cells, or about all of them, were occupied with new- 

 laid eggs. I figured that this comb contained 4,250 cells ; 

 since it measured 5 square decimeters, and since each square 

 decimeter contains 850 worker-cells." 



Taking the number mentioned above, of 3,780 eggs, as 

 the very probable laying capacity of a good queen, for every 

 24 hours in the breeding-season, this will give us a require- 

 ment of nearly 80,000 cells, just for brood, since it takes 21 

 days for each egg to mature into a perfect bee. In this we do 

 not figure the space occupied by drone-combs, which take 

 much more space than worker-combs, since 18 drone-cells 

 occupy the same surface as 27 worker-cells. 



As each square inch of comb contains about 54 cells 

 (worker-cells), the queen will need, for her three weeks' lay- 

 ing, nearly 1,500 square inches of comb, which would neces- 

 sitate — 



For the Langstroth-Simplicity hive, 10 frames. 



For the Gallup hive, 12 frames. 



For the American hive, 10 frames. 



For the Quinby (old style), 8 frames. 



I will call your attention to this, that we have figured no 

 room whatever for the supplies of honey and pollen, which 

 are most indispensable to bees for their daily needs. In a 

 hive overflowing with bees and brood, this is most important; 

 for they must be able to go through a few rainy days, or of 

 changeable weather, even at the opening of the spring, when 

 the crop is expected soon to commence, without having to 

 stint, with their fast-hatching crowds — the hope and pride of 

 the opening season. As well might a farmer expect to raise a 

 large crop of corn without saving enough to feed the horses 

 that help tend and plow the field. Between one-fourth and 

 one-fifth of the entire space is often taken up by these sup- 

 plies. 



I know that no one question has raised as many discus- 

 sions between apiarists as the determining of the room needed 

 in the breeding apartment, and the necessity of furnishing 

 the queen with all the space that she may be able to occupy 

 with her eggs ; but I have often noticed that those who have 

 opposed the large hives in the discussions, have not sufficiently 

 investigated the matter; since most of them have never tried 

 anything larger than the 10-frarae Langstroth hive. For us 

 it is too small, but they thought it too big, and reduced it to 

 8 frames, which some even speak of reducing to 6. Gentle- 

 men, you are going in the wrong direction ; try the other 

 route. 



The S-frame hive, if we deduct only one comb for the 

 provisions, contains room for only 51,000 worker-cells, or 

 2,400 eggs per day, and if we allow what ought to be given — 

 two combs for the provisions, pollen and honey — we have but 

 2,000 cells left for each days' laying, not taking into consid- 

 eration yet the fact that a part of this space is occupied with 

 drone-comb, which, being larger, still reduces the number of 



