138 



PRODUCTION OF COMB HONEY 



cipal argument in their favor is to the effect that the queen will 

 require most of the available space in the brood nest and that 

 the bees will quickly be forced to begin storing in the supers. 

 Thousands of colonies of bees have died as a result of the adoption 

 of this hive by persons who were not fully prepared to give proper 

 attention to their bees. Nearly every year a part of the colonies 

 in any apiary will not leave a sufficient amount of honey in the 

 brood chamber of these small hives to winter on, and unless fed 



will die as a matter of course 

 from lack of food. 



The tendency to swarm is 

 much greater in these small 

 hives than in larger ones, and 

 swarm control is important to 

 the comb honey producer. 

 Most authorities now agree 

 that the ten-frame Langstroth 

 hive is better for all purposes 

 than a smaller one. The 

 reason the Langstroth is 

 recommended in preference 

 to others of the same size is 

 because its use is so much 

 more general than any other 

 hive (Fig. 66). 

 If the small hive is used two hive bodies instead of one should 

 usually be used for wintering, when packed outside. 



It may be said in passing, however, that C. C. Miller, who 

 has produced larger average yields of comb honey than any others 

 on record, uses the eight-frame Langstroth hive. It is doubtful 

 whether he would use such a small hive if he was starting again. 

 WTiile the hive is important, the management after all is the 

 determining factor in measuring the profit of an apiary, next to 

 the available supply of nectar in the field. 



Sections. — Next to the kind of hive the question of the kind 



Fig. 66. — Parts of a comb honey hive. 



