1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



93 



This hive is also very well adapted to out- 

 apiaries; and as bee-keeping by the establish- 

 ment of such is becoming more of a specialty 

 each year, it is worth while to give this mat- 

 ter more than a passing notice. The frames 

 are always I'eady for moving, and can be 

 carted anywhere with perfect safety. All 

 that is necessary is to screen the entrance, 

 fasten the roof and bottom-board, and the 

 hive is ready. 



In case the bees of a strong colony get 

 ahead of the queen during the honey season, 

 and fill the frames above the brood with honey, 

 by reversing the frames at this time this honey 

 will be carried up into the sections, ^s they 

 will not tolerate any honey below the brood. 



This is a very suitable hive indeed for mak- 

 ing artificial increase by the use of nuclei, 

 the frames being closed-end; and by the use 

 of a division-board on each side of the frames 

 it makes it a very warm hive, even in quite 

 cool weathei" — a feature very essential in the 

 rearing of good queens and building up these 

 small colonies. 



Brood-frames of this depth ai'e about the 

 limit at which combs built by bees from foun- 

 dation starters will not stretch, sag, or buckle 

 from the top-bar or l)u]ge at the bottom. It 

 is the limit at which bees build combs solid 

 to the bottom-bar. Wiring is not necessary 

 in the use of this frame. It is the limit that 

 a queen will stay in the brood-chamber and 

 not go up into the sections. without the use 

 of excluders. It is also the limit that insures 

 having the pollen stored in the brood-frames 

 and none in the section. It is the limit at 

 which bees will build no brace-combs. My 

 experience with brace-combs is not worth 

 mentioning, as the very small amount I have 

 had has been the fault of the queen and not 

 the hive. The present tendency among many 

 bee-keepers is for a frame somewhat shallow- 

 er than the standard Langstroth, for the rea- 

 son that they want very little honey stored 

 in the brood-chamber during the honey-liow, 

 as they want it in the sections, and this is 

 overcome by the use of this frame, while with 

 a deep frame there is always from one to two 

 inches of honey stored above the brood next 

 to the top-bars. 



Another thing, as the brood extends clear 

 up to the top-bars it is a very easy matter to 

 examine a colony without removing a single 

 frame. By blowing a little smoke over the 

 frames the bees will run down out of the 

 way, and you can tell just how many frames 

 of sealed brood they have, and as to the pres- 

 ence of the queen. If present, drone brood 

 can also be readily seen. 



I have used this hive since 1900, and with 

 this amount of experience and close observa- 

 tion I believe bees will winter better in this 

 hive than in any other hive on the market. 

 I wintered bees in these hives right alongside 

 of chaff hives; and the bees in these hives al- 

 ways came out away ahead. 



The chaff hive has seen its day. In win- 

 tering bees on summer stands, it requires 

 several days of wai'm weather to warm up a 

 chaff hive, and befm'e this time has arrived 

 the warm weather has passed without the 



bees having had a flight; but with this hive, 

 an hour or two of warm weather will warm 

 it up sufficiently for the bees to fly. I have 

 never had a case of spring dwindling or a 

 queenless colony show up in spring; in fact, 

 I have never lost a single colony in these 

 hives with the exception of the winter of 

 1903, when so much loss in bees prevailed all 

 over the country, and my loss was due entirely 

 to starvation. There never will be a hive 

 invented that will winter bees without food. 



This is practically a double-walled hive. 

 The frames being closed-end, there will be 

 no currents of cold air passing up through 

 between the frames, as is the case with loose 

 hanging frames. Bees will build up in spring 

 in this hive with amazing rapidity. I have 

 never failed to have the nives fairly boiling 

 over with bees at the approach of white-clo- 

 ver bloom, and this season I had honey seal- 

 ed in the sections during apple-bloom. I be- 

 lieve it is the opinion of the majority of bee- 

 keepers that bees will build up more rapidly 

 in spring on closed-end frames. In the use 

 of tliis hive, if the bee-keeper will see that 

 his colonies are supplied with plenty of well- 

 sealed stores at the approach of winter, there 

 will be no need to "jockey" his bees in 

 spring with daily applications of syrup to 

 get them up for the honey-flow. When I 

 read about this work in the joui-nals I always 

 imagine there must be something wrong. 

 To tamper with bees daily in early spring 

 results in more harm than good. 



In preparing these hives for winter, lay 

 two sticks, about the thickness of a leadpen- 

 cil, across the tops of the fi-ames, so the bees 

 can get from one frame to another without 

 going around below; push several thickness- 

 es of paper down between the outside frame 

 and the hive, allowing it to extend several 

 inches above the frames. Now put on an 

 empty super; cover the frames with a porous 

 quilt, and place a wheat- chaff cushion on top, 

 and an outer case over all, and with plenty 

 of well-sealed stores I would not give a great 

 deal to have them insured. By this method 

 of wintering in this hive I have not had a 

 single moldy comb in spring. I allow a |-inch 

 entrance the width of the hive during win- 

 ter, and I during the honey season. 



The adjustable bottom-board is another 

 grand feature connected with this hive, as it 

 permits of any size of entrance, from the 

 smallest to the | inch the full width of the 

 hive. In case of robbing, the entrance can 

 be reduced to such size in a few seconds as 

 will insure protection. 



In the production of fancy comb honey it 

 is very necessary to have the maximum 

 amount of honey stoi'ed in the sections in a 

 minimum period. The faster this work is 

 accomplished, the nicer the product. This 

 is of the utmost importance in localities 

 where the honey-flow is short. So you see 

 that, by the use of this shallow frame, most- 

 ly occupied with brood, all honey is rushed 

 into the sections; and with a strong colony 

 it is surprising how rapidly the sections are 

 drawn out and completed. My experience 

 has been that bees will draw out and cap 



