1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



613 



SWARMING WITHOUT CLUSTERING. 



I know that bees will swarm and g-o to the woods 

 without clustering. When I was a young- man, over 

 40 years ago, my father had an old box gum that the 

 bees hung out of for 3 weeks. We watched them 

 closely. One day after dinner, father and I were 

 sitting close to them, watching them, when they be- 

 gan to swarm; and before they all got out, the first 

 out started for the woods. I started with them on 

 the double-quick, and kept up with them for about 

 300 yards, when they struck the timber and rose up 

 above the trees, and were soon out of sight and 

 hearing. My father said some of the last that came 

 out started, but, not finding the body of the swarm, 

 came back to the old gum. I had one of my own, 

 which, as soon as they all got out of the hive, started 

 olf . I went with them ; they went straight to a tree, 

 and went in it. I cut the tree and got the bees. 



Belmont, Neb. Wm. Allhands. 



, QUEEN-CELLS IN THE PRESENCE OF A LAYING 

 QUEEN. 



Looking into a hive the other day, I found a fine 

 large queen-cell started, where one of my best queens 

 belonged; and, of covu-se, I thought I had lost a val- 

 uable queen. But upon looking through, I found her 

 all right, and Uying. How is it that they would 

 start a queen-cell, and at the same time have a queen 

 among them? I removed the frame with the queen- 

 cell to another queenless colony, and they have fin- 

 ished it up. I bought out friend Draper, thereby 

 falling heir to his subscription to Gleanings and 

 the ABC book ; which, by the way, came through all 

 right, and is just the thing needed by persons as 

 Ignorant in bee culture as— 



Mrs. Nettie C. Locke. 



Farmlngton, New Mexico, Sept. 31, 1883. 



My good friend, if you will examine onv 

 back volumes you will see that this is not an 

 unusual occurrence. Queens whose bees 

 will keep a queen-cell in the hive are valued 

 very highly, because these cells can be taken 

 out, and used as needed. Several queens 

 have been reported that would keep a laying 

 daughter in the hive; and Doolittle pro- 

 nounces such queens equal to any. 



THE DKVELOPMENT OF THE STAND- 

 ARD liANGSTROTH HIVE AND 

 FRAITIE. 



MR. LANGSTROTH'S EARLY EXPERIENCES. 



f|HISformof hive was the result of many ex- 

 periments. In the spring of 18.5:i, as early as 

 the weather would allow the bees to be shaken 

 from the combs of my bar hives (IHigxLS.i^ and only 

 6 inches deep), uprights and bottoms were nailed to 

 these bars, so that in a few minutes they became 

 movable-frame hives. In the latitude of Philadtl- 

 phia, at least, I never knew good colonies to increase 

 faster, if as fast, than in such shallow hives.* 



Not to speak of hives 13x13x13, whose cubic con. 

 tents were about the same with the standard Lang- 

 stroth, and of other discarded sizes, I made, in 1854, 

 hives 13x12x36, with frames now called "Gallup 

 frames." The surplus honey was taken in boxes or 

 frames in the rear of the main breeding-apartment. 

 They had movable tops as well as movable sides. 



* Bingham, Marvin, ani oMier.'^, prefer hives about six inches 

 deep. 



The side doors, being chamfered on their edges, in 

 opposite directions, could always be easily opened, 

 and being suspended like frames, by top-bars upon 

 the frame-rabbets, the size of the hive could be 

 changed at will. Two such hives were placed, 

 Dzierzon fashion, side by side —with entrances in 

 different directions; ci'osswise on these, two more 

 were placed similarly, and the pile continued, in the 

 same fashion, as high as could be conveniently 

 reached for manipulation — the whole colony having 

 a common movable roof. Although my judgment 

 was against such an arrangement, I could not rest 

 satisfied until I had given this system a fair trial, 

 and proved, by actual experience, that the necessary 

 manipulations were so tedious as greatly to out- 

 weigh the advantages promised by such a compact 

 arrangement. However it maybe with our German 

 friends, with us economy of time is of vastly more 

 importance than economy of space. I, therefore, 

 took down the stack, and used the hives as top as 

 well as side openers, until I left New England. I 

 also used frames even larger than the Quinby size, 

 but found them objectionable, because of the weight 

 of the combs when full of honey. 



These facts are suflBcient to show that the stand- 

 ard Langstroth hive was not the result of mere 

 theoretical notions, or traditional prejudices, nor 

 did it come by what some would call a chance "hap- 

 py go lucky " hit. Born out of my experiences, it 

 was deliberately adopted, with the knowledge that 

 at that time the great majority of our best bee-keep- 

 ers did not approve of such " low flat things." So 

 deep was my conviction that its shape was better 

 than the approved forms, that I could not consent 

 to recommend any other.t 



Although the chief reasons for the shallow form 

 have been often given, it may be well, in this con- 

 nection, veiT briefly to repeat them. Those who 

 wish to see the subject more fully discussed, are 

 referred especially to the old volumes of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, where they will find the meriis and 

 demerits of the standard Langstroth hive very 

 thorouarhly canvassed. :|: 



My tenacious adherence to the Langstroth form 

 led some to imagine that perhaps, in some way or 

 other, the validity of my patent might depend on 

 this shape. This reminds me of a once noted writer 

 on bees, who, while warning persons against infring- 

 ing upon his patent (although he had never taken 

 out a patent), closes thus: "Even an external im- 

 itation of my hive will not be suffered to pass with 

 impunity!" 



The broad and low shape which I introduced, in 

 addition to giving the much-desired top surface for 

 surplus-honey receptacles, has the following ad- 

 vantages: 



1. It is obviously much better adapted to the use 

 of upper stories, than taller hives. It seems more 

 natural to bees to place their stores over their cen- 

 tral brood-nest, than anywhere else. When extract- 

 ing unsealed honey, I kept neither honey-board nor 

 any thing else over the tops of the frames to inter- 

 fere with handling the frames, as soon as the roof 

 over them was removed. A glance at the tops of 

 the frames was enough, with Italian bees, to show if 

 extracting was needed, for they would begin to ex- 



t In latitudes where bees can be either safely wintered in the 

 open air, or in proper in-door depositories, a still shallower 

 form of hive may, perhaps, be found preferable. 



X Of all editors whom I ever knew, Mr. Samuel Wagrner was 

 the most judicial in his attitude on all matters pertaining to 

 bee culture. Fair play was to him a precious jewel iadeetl. 



