1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



79 



this other slat over the frames, leaving a crack % or 

 ?^ inch wide between slat and end of hive, the whole 

 width of hive; over this crack I place a strip of 

 common wire screen (used for doors and Avindows), 

 so the edge of screen will fit tight up against the end 

 of hive, and the other edge lap on the slat; then set 

 the honey-rack on, and every thing is bee-tight, 

 and there will be a constant draft of fresh air 

 through the hive from the entrance to the opposite 

 upper end all the time; and in this way I can regu- 

 late the amount of air by simply moving the slat out 

 or under the honey-rack. 



As proof of the value of this kind of method in 

 hot weather, 1 had one hive ventilated as above de- 

 scribed last summer, which gave me over 150 lbs. of 

 honey, while right beside it sat one old-fashioned 

 box hive, tight all around, in which the bees didn't 

 make one pound of surplus, and clustered out all 

 over the front of the hive. C. J. Sample. 



Mount Sterling, la., Dec. 29, 1883. 



Our friend Adam Grimm once wrote quite 

 strongly in favor of ventilating for comb 

 honey, but I believe his plan was simply 

 using hives without bottom-boards. With 

 the Simplicity hive we get all that can ever 

 be wanted, by simply moving the hive for- 

 ward on the bottom-board, and I hardly 

 think any simpler way will ever be devised 

 for ventilating for any purpose whatever. 

 With the chatf hive we have ventilators in 

 each end of the cover, and a wide entrance 

 always open. As the hive-walls protect it 

 from the direct rays of the sun, I have al- 

 ways thought this ventilation enough. I 

 know bees will at times be driven out of 

 their hives by excessive heat, and this is 

 surely a great loss when it occurs in the 

 midst of the honey-flow. 



REPORT FROM MAINE. 



ALSO eOME HINTS IN KEGARD TO WINTERING. 



^j BEING SO many reports in Gleanings from all 

 ^)] parts, and not one from this part of the State, 

 '^ I have decided to run the risk of your putting 

 me in Blasted Hopes. Now, I charge you, friend 

 Root, not to put me in the above-named department, 

 for my hopes are not blasted. 



I commenced in the spring of 1883 with 26 stocks, 

 all strong the first of April, and our hopes were nev- 

 er brighter; but the weather came off cold, and our 

 bees held their own in numbers only by our feeding, 

 and not until the last part of June did our bees in- 

 crease much. We had the most extended bloom of 

 white clover I have ever seen here, but it contained 

 no honey; and not until goldenrod blossomec^ did 

 we get any honey. 



I increased from 26 to 73; sold §300 in bees, and 

 $125 in queens, and have now 4" stocks left; not a 

 pound of surplus did I get. 



langstroth frame. 



Down hei-e. in Maine our bee-keepers are crying 

 out lustily for a standard frame, still holding on to 

 the old-fogy notion that we must have a tall hive; 

 and, what seems most strange, is that they should 

 call for a tail hive, as though it were some new pro- 

 ject, when, in fact, it is just what we have always 

 had, and it has never given satisfaction, and it is the 

 one great drawback in bee culture, this difference 

 of opinion in regard to frames. 



MAKING A TALL HIVE WITH THE L. FRAME. 



Now, friend [toot, I have an idea. I don't know 

 but it has been advanced before; but if it has, I 

 have not seen it. Can't you contrive some way 

 whereby our friends who think they must have a 

 tall hive can have one and still use the regular L. 

 frame? Take your Simplicity two-story; set the 

 frames on end, one end resting on the projection of 

 frame on the bottom-board, with a piece put in 

 crosswise of hive, on the bottom, for the other side 

 of end to rest on; now put in division-board cross- 

 wise of the hives, reaching clear down through both 

 stories; now make some arrangement to fasten the 

 upper ends of frames, and they can put on a third 

 story, and put in their chaff cushion, and have a hive 

 all rigged for winter, and tall enough to suit any 

 one, I should think, and still use the standard L. 

 frame. James B. Mason. 



Mechanics Falls, Me., Dec. 27, 1883. 



If you sold all those bees and queens, 

 friend ^I., I should think you must have 

 had at least some honey to do it with, unless 

 you fed considerably. — The idea is old, of 

 standing frames on end for winter, and I 

 believe it was lirst given by Mr, Quinby. 

 It has also been published in Gleanings, 

 and the manner you mention, of putting 

 them in a two-story Simplicity hive, so as not 

 to need a chaff hive. Several friends have 

 tried it, but I don't know now that I have 

 had a report from them, after having tried 

 it extensively. While writing, it occurs to 

 me we now have a readier means of doing it 

 than ever before. Let it be remembered, we 

 now make our shipping nucleus hives for 

 three frames, by nailing a very thin board 

 on the sides of two of our regular spacing- 

 boards, as shown below. 



Of course, they are made so the three 

 combs slide down into the proper grooves. 

 For shipping, we cover both top and bottom 

 with wire cloth, when the weather is warm. 

 For wintering, we would let burlap take the 

 place of wire cloth, perhaps. For an en- 

 trance, let the burlap project a little at one 

 end. Put in three combs, and let them be 

 those containing brood, if any such there 

 be, when preparing for winter. Stand this 

 three-frame case on end, in a two-story Sim- 

 plicity hive, or chalf hive, as may be conve- 

 nient, with the entrance fixed so it can not 

 well get obstructed. Now pack your chaff 

 all around, either loosely or with cushions. 

 If lixed on a day when the bees can fly, you 

 can shake them all down before the en- 

 trance, and they will go in of themselves. 

 As the 3 frames are further apart than in 

 summer, they will easily hold all the colony 

 needs for winter, unless it is an extremely 

 large one, and then you can use six combs 

 instead of three. I am now quite sure I 

 would rather have the stores in three combs, 

 put a little further apart, than to have them 

 in more. Our losses this winter have all 



