258 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Last year I followed Mr. Boot's advice, 

 and had a garden in connection with my 

 apiary. It proved to be a profitable ven- 

 ture, as I received good prices for my 

 vegetables, it being an off year for gar- 

 dening. I shall repeat the experiment 

 this year. 



Some time since I received a postal 

 card from G. M. Whitford, of Arlington, 

 stating that 1 might expect a call from 

 him on his return from Red Oak, Iowa, 

 but I was disappointed. 



Visiting bee-keepers should remember, 

 when they reach the depot (if they come 

 by rail) that my apiary and grounds are 

 IK miles south of Main street, near the 

 southern limits of the city. They must 

 not expect to see a place like A. I. 

 Root's, and conducted on a large scale, 

 but look for a more modest establish- 

 ment, and they will not be disappointed. 



My chaff hives are 20x21 inches in 

 size, and two stories high, each story 

 containing frames of the same size— 

 91^x17%. The upper story can be 

 , taken off or not, as the operator may 

 choose, in handling the frames. The 

 lower story is packed with chaff, when 

 the hives are made, which remains there 

 permanently. I have wintered my bees 

 in just such hives for a number of years, 

 and with good success. 



The Nebraska Bee-Keeper, hailing 

 from York, Nebr., deserves recognition 

 as a spicy little magazine, published in 

 the interest of the pursuit. Its editor is 

 an experienced bee-keeper. 



Plattsmouth, Nebr., Feb. 7, 1891. 



HanaiinE tie Closed-End Frames. 



W. M. WOODWAKD. 



On page 51 of the present volume of 

 the Bee Journal, Rev. W. P. Faylor 

 gives his experience with the closed-end 

 frame, and his views on the same. He 

 says, also, that he should "like to hear 

 from others who have experimented on 

 this line." 



I have been experimenting "on this 

 line " for the past five years, with some- 

 where about 50 hives in all. I have 

 tried all depths of frames, from 9-inch 

 end-bars down to 5% inches, and widths 

 from IH to 1}4 inches. I have tried 

 clamped frames, just as described by Rev. 

 Faylor, pretty largely ; but I drive two 

 wire nails in each end of the side boards, 

 instead of one, and place about one- 

 fourth the width of the board from each 

 side, as they hold the frames more firmly. 

 I make the ends to project H of an inch 

 beyond the top and bottom bars, and 



stand the frame, as he says, upon the 

 bottom-board of the hive. 



Now, as to results : In the first place, 

 for comb-honey exclusively, and in con- 

 nection with cellar wintering, I find that 

 1 5/16 inch ends give the best results. 

 But, as Dr. Miller has said, old comb is 

 thicker than new. Now, when we apply 

 this spacing to the production of ex- 

 tracted-honey, and use old combs at all, 

 the bees do not find room to extend the 

 cells enough for the uncapping knife to 

 glide over the cocoons, and the spacing 

 is thus shown to be too narrow for an 

 all-purpose hive. In fact, I am satisfied 

 that a spaced frame, of any width, is not 

 quite the best thing for the production 

 of extracted-honey. In working for 

 comb-honey, it offers advantages in the 

 use of side-storing (I practice this with 

 new swarms only), which can be had in 

 no other way. On the whole I prefer to 

 use 9 frames, 9 inches high (that is, on 

 the end-bar), and the length of the 

 standard Langstroth hive. 



These hives are clamped by a wire 

 loop drawn over 4 nails, and tightened 

 by drawing the centers together ; and 

 keyed up by means of two p^-inch blocks 

 about 2 inches long, with two saw kerfs 

 to slip over the centers of the wires. 

 They are then spread to tighten up. For 

 nuclei I use strong twine, instead of 

 wire. 



And now, my final conclusion is this : 

 That in the bee-yard, so long as the bees 

 are kept on the frames, or the hive 

 handled as a whole, this hive is the most 

 satisfactory one I have ever found. It 

 has all the advantages claimed for it by 

 Mr. Ernest Root, and more ; but when 

 we make use of it for extracting pur- 

 poses, or have to handle the frames for 

 any purpose, off of the hive bottom- 

 board, it at once becomes an unmitigated 

 nuisance. The frames cannot be han- 

 dled with any satisfaction at all. 



This fact, after five years experience, 

 has driven me to the opposite conclusion 

 from that of Rev. Faylor, where he says : 

 "I do not think it practical to iise 

 closed-end frames inside of box-en- 

 closures." I cannot endure any rattle- 

 trap fixtures about the bee premises ; 

 and, for that very reason, I am doing 

 away with the clamped frame, and sub- 

 stituting a closed-end frame just like 

 the other, but enclosed in a plain box of 

 K-inch lumber, and made flush with the 

 end-bars, when the material is thor- 

 oughly dry. This gives me a reversible 

 hive, by first placing an extra bottom- 

 board upon the top before reversing, 

 after which the original bottom is re- 

 moved, and a plain board cover substi- 



