AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



447 



in the square comb being at the upper 

 part of the comb, the heat is lost in 

 warming it. — Chas. Dad ant. 



This matter is largely an individual 

 question, but the fact that, the great 

 majority use the shallow frame, is a 

 strong argument for it. This column 

 cannot afford space for reasons why I 

 prefer the shallow frame. — J. E. Pond. 



I claim that the Simplicity frame, on 

 the whole, has no advantage over the 

 square form of frame. For this reason 

 I use and recommend the Gallup form of 

 the Langstroth frame. The Simplicity 

 frame is only that in name. — G. M. Dog- 

 little. 



The Simplicity frames, being shal- 

 lower, present a larger space on top for 

 the placing of sections,^nd, being longer, 

 the bees can increase the brood-nest by 

 going along them instead of over them. 

 An article would be required to explain 

 fully.— R. L. Taylor. 



They give more top room for section 

 honey. In other words, a shallow hive 

 is better to get the bees to store in supers, 

 as they do not have so much capped 

 honey to run over to reach them. The 

 queen laying in a circle is all right, but 

 she will lay just as readily in a very 

 much flattened circle. If the bees are 

 properly prepared, I do not think the 

 shape of hive makes much difference 

 about wintering. — C. H. Dibbern. 



I might answer your question by citing 

 the fact that after volumes have been 

 written on this subject, the Langstroth 

 form of frame — that is longer than deep — 

 has steadily gained in popularity, and 

 the facts show that it is in more common 

 use at this time than all other forms of 

 frames put together. Such a general 

 preference for a frame longer than it is 

 deep, ought to count something in their 

 favor. We do not make hives to winter 

 bees alone — we want a hive that is 

 adapted to honey production. Your 

 climate is much the same as mine, and a 

 practical test will convince you that 

 your " inclination " is in the wrong 

 direction. In a warm climate (and any- 

 where, in fact), we want a large surface 

 at the top of the brood-nest for the sur- 

 plus cases. — G. W. Demaree. 



The " Simplicity" hive takes a Lang- 

 stroth frame, and that style of frame is 

 preferred because it gives more surface 

 for supers, when comb-honey is desired ; 

 and, being shallower than the Adair, 

 Gallup or American frames, it induces 

 the bees to enter the supers earlier. — 

 The Editor. 



Topics of Interest. 



Foul-Brood SDreafl by Comli-Fonndatioii, 



S. CORNIEL. 



The opinion is hold by prominent bee- 

 keepers, both in Europe and America, 

 that the contagion of foul-brood may be 

 communicated by the use of comb-foun- 

 dation made from the wax of infected 

 colonies. Instances are given in which 

 the reasons for believing that the disease 

 was conveyed by this means seem very 

 strong. Other bee-keepers, equally 

 prominent, believe that the degree of 

 heat necessary for rendering the wax, 

 and for manufacturing foundation, is 

 sufticient to remove any taint of disease 

 it might contain. 



The facts required to settle this ques- 

 tion have not yet, so far as I can learn, 

 been determined. They are : First, the 

 lowest degree of heat which will in- 

 invariably kill the spores of bacillus 

 alvei when in the most resistant condi- 

 tion ; and, second, the highest tempera- 

 ture to which wax is invariably raised in 

 the processes of rendering combs and 

 making foundation. 



In the absence of information regard- 

 ing these matters, we may use facts 

 which have been determined as to the 

 death points of other microbes, to assist 

 us in avoiding live germs in the brood- 

 cells built on foundation furnished to our 

 bees. 



Before proceeding further, let it be 

 kept in mind that the seeds of some 

 vegetables are killed by a momentary 

 exposure to the temperature of boiling 

 water, while others will withstand it for 

 hours. The germs of the air vary as 

 much, among themselves, as the seeds 

 of the botanist. In a dry, ripe state, 

 both seeds and germs resist extreme 

 temperatures better than when normally 

 saturated. 



Let it be borne in mind, too, t'hat there 

 is the same sort of difference between 

 the fully-developed microbe and its 

 spores, or germs, that there is between 

 the fully-matured vegetable and the 

 tiny seed from which it grew ; also, that 

 the death point of microbes- is .the maxi- 

 mum temperature at which they can 

 live, or the minimum tentperature at 

 which they cease to live. It is settled 

 that the death point of the least resis- 

 tant fully-matured microbes, is 104^. 



It has been proven that germs, as com- 

 pared with the fully-matured microbes, 



