804 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUKNAL. 



^oxxtsjfuoufitntt. 



Thlg mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near tne center ot the state named; 

 5 north of the center; $ south; O* east; 

 ♦O west; and this (< northeast : x> northwest: 

 0« southeast; and P southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



For tne American Bee Joumai. 



A Plea for km Frames. 



J. M. HASIBAUGH. 



It seems to me that the most im- 

 portant feature of bee-culture is 

 either ignored or carelessly over- 

 looked, in the bee-lore of our best 

 modern apicultural writers. It is a 

 fact that none will dispute, that we 

 measure our harvest by the strength 

 of our colonies numerically ; and to 

 achieve the best results in this direc- 

 tion should be the guiding-star of the 

 apiarist, and the brood-chamber 

 should be constructed in accordance 

 with the natural laws governing the 

 household economy of the honey-bee. 



Let us take a peep at the bee in its 

 natural habitation, where they be- 

 come their own architects in the con- 

 struction of their own combs, and 

 what do we find ? I have transferred 

 hundreds of colonies, in all kinds of 

 hives, nail-kegs, log-hives, box-hives, 

 and from bee-trees in the woods, and 

 the same principle that governs one 

 governs all, in the main, and that is, 

 large, deep, roomy combs, with stores 

 above, brood beneath, and combs 

 spaced from IJ^ to 2 inches from cen- 

 tre to centre. In the early part of 

 the season sealed brood can be found 

 in the centre of the combs, next to 

 which can be found larvae in all 

 stages, and on the outside of all, eggs; 

 showing conclusively that the queen 

 first commenced her laying near the 

 centre of the comb, and like a spider 

 spinning her web, she plies her voca- 

 tion from centre to circumference- 

 Nature's most economical method of 

 time-saving to the queen in her voca- 

 tion of reproduction. 



We should imitate nature in the 

 construction of our hives, especially 

 in that of the brood-chamber, that 

 we may bring about the greatest 

 strength possible, numerically, from 

 the prolificness of the queens. To 

 accomplish this, I contend that the 

 most essential point in apiculture is, 

 our combs should be so arranged that 

 not one second of time need be lost 

 by the queen in her onward march 

 from cell to cell, depositing in the 

 heighth of her fecundity about two 

 eggs per minute, or nearly 3,000 eggs 

 in 21 hours. In order to do this, she 

 should not be confronted with hori- 

 zontal bars and bee-spaces in the 

 centre of her brood-nest, as they are 

 certainly a great barrier against her 

 fecundity, being contrary to the laws 

 of her natural domain. Being thrown 

 out of her natural circuitous orbit, 

 she loses time in passing over bars 

 and bee-spaces, and shifting from 

 side to side, thus losing the benefits 



of the queen's functions, which means 

 a serious detriment to the strength of 

 the colony. 



Mr. Heddon has the lasting grati- 

 tude of the apicultural world for his 

 many discoveries and substantial in- 

 ventions, and we certainly have no 

 desire to rob him of his justly earned 

 fame ; but we do take issue against a 

 shallow sectional brood-chamber, for 

 reasons heretofore mentioned, and 

 sincerely believe that had he exer- 

 cised his ingenuity and inventive 

 powers on a hive with combs of larger 

 dimensions, he would have come 

 nearer " the hive '■ that will come to 

 stay, and would have opened a new 

 era, far in advance of that realized by 

 his present device. 



My argument i? not altogether 

 from the reasoning of Mr, H's de- 

 parture from the theory governing 

 their household economy, but years 

 of practical experience with small and 

 large hives has confirmed my state- 

 ments in every particular, as regards 

 the superiority of large combs over 

 small ones, for obtaining strong 

 colonies. 



Let those who doubt my statement 

 try an equal number of colonies with 

 queens of equal fertility, and report. 

 It is said that " the proof of the pud- 

 ding is in the eating thereof," and if 

 Messrs. Heddon, Hutchinson and 

 others can give reports of larger yields 

 of honey from the sectional brood- 

 chamber hives,than can be given from 

 hives of large, roomy combs, I will 

 have to acknowledge the fallacy of 

 this article. I wish to get at facts, 

 and if " the new must give way to the 

 old," and the time is near at hand 

 when " we will manipulate hives more 

 and frames less," we wish to know by 

 actual test the reasons, why's and 

 wherefores. 



Spring^,»o Ills. 



Glasgow, Scotland, Herald. 



Bees anil Bee-KeepE in Scotlanil. 



THE PRACTICE OF TEAKS AGO. 



Of the various employments of an 

 industrial character that in former 

 times engaged the attention of trades- 

 men and laoorers in many rural locali- 

 ties in Scotland, in addition to their 

 stated avocations, that of bee-keep- 

 ing was pretty widely followed. In 

 many farm-places, and in every ham- 

 let and village there might be seen, 

 placed in the sunniest nooks and ex- 

 posures of the gardens, bee-hives 

 varying in number from three to 

 forty or fifty. These formed quite as 

 common features in the cottagers' 

 "yards "as a drill of potatoes or a 

 row of cabbage. In addition to the 

 common cottager, nearly every village 

 blacksmith, joiner, shoemaker, tailor, 

 and weaver was an apiarist. Atten- 

 tioD to their bees occupied their odd 

 times, at certain seasons requiring 

 more time, which was ungrudgingly 

 given by the tradesmen portion of 

 them. 



Whilst this work was a pleasure it 

 was also a source of profit, forming a 

 much-needed addition to their scanty 



incomes. From £8 to £15 in many 

 cases were realized. In .the case of 

 those who kept a greater number ot 

 colonies (of which there were a few). the 

 return of course was greater. For 

 the districts within moderate reach, 

 Edinburgh and Glasgow were the 

 principal marts for the sale of the 

 noney, which was conveyed thither by 

 the village carrier. The apiarists, if 

 they belonged to the tradesmen class, 

 usually accompanied their goods 

 (getting a "casi on the way" from 

 the carrier) in order to negotiate the 

 sale with the city merchants. This 

 was an important transaction, and 

 when they got a good price they re- 

 turned home in high spirits with the 

 results of their honey season. 



The system of bee-culture, however, 

 then followed was not fitted to pro- 

 duce the largest harvest. The plan 

 of swarming then in vogue reduced 

 the strength of the pareirt colonies, 

 producing a number of weak colonies, 

 which, in many cases, stored just as 

 much honey as sufficed to keep them 

 throughout the winter. The cruel 

 practice of " brimstone smoking," by 

 which bees were sacrificed, was simply 

 a destruction of honey-producing 

 power. The system required good, 

 genial summers to secure moderate 

 profits. So long as the warm sum- 

 mers of former years continued, bee- 

 culture was so far a fair success, but 

 with the change into cloudier and 

 colder summers of succeeding years, 

 the honey harvest greatly decreased. 

 Many colonies died out, leading in the 

 great majority of cases to the giving 

 up of bee-cultivation by the ordinary 

 cottager. 



The modern system of bee-culture 

 —the " depriving system " and bar- 

 frame hive, by giving additional 

 gtorage-room, preventing swarming, 

 thereby strengthening colonies— has 

 wrought quite a change in the plan 

 formerly pursued, resulting in the 

 production of a larger, yield and bet- 

 ter quality, thus opening up the way 

 for the return of more than the former 

 prosperity. 



Under the old system the idea of 

 giving additional storage-room was 

 given effect to only occasionally, and 

 in the case of exceptionally good 

 colonies. The much greater results 

 from this new system are full of hope 

 and encouragement to the cottager- 

 class of apiarists and others, already 

 noticed as having been in former days 

 so numerous, to their resuming the 

 cultivation of this branch of industry 

 with greater certainty of success. 



War the Amencan Bee Ammal 



Oriinary Bnsiness Sasacity. 



M. M. BALDRIDGE. 



This year there is no surplus honey 

 worth mentioning in northern Illinois. 

 The Oatman Brothers have about 700 

 colonies of bees, and have been 

 obliged to feed them, more or less, all 

 through the past season. Last year 

 they bad, so report says, about 40,000 

 pounds of honey, all in the square 

 one-pound sections. Report also says 



