512 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



from those whom, a few minutes before, 

 they had been trying to rob. If there 

 are more colonies than one engaged in 

 the robbing process, I change them with 

 others that are not so strong. 



Now, tliis is no theory, as I have prac- 

 ticed it for several years, and always 

 with success, and if there are any sug- 

 gestions, improvements or criticisms 

 from our bee-keeping brothers, tliey will 

 all be accepted in a spirit of friendship. 



Slippery Rock, Pa. 



Most Practical All-Pnrpose Hive, 



ROBERT E. A8HCRAFT. 



The subject which our Secretary has 

 assigned to me is a delicate one to 

 handle, and, as I may step on someone's 

 toes, perhaps I had better begin by ask- 

 ing pardon, if I should do so. 



First, let me ask you to remember that 

 it is only for this latitude that I am 

 speaking, and that "the most practical 

 bee-hive " for this locality, may not be 

 the most practical in some other latitude. 



The most practical all-purpose bee- 

 hive, is the one that, all things consid- 

 ered, is best adapted for producing either 

 comb or extracted-honey, and for either 

 out-door or cellar wintering. 



vSucli a hive should admit of being 

 tiered up ; and should be ample protec- 

 tion against heat or cold. The brood- 

 nest should be of just the right size — 

 neither too large nor too small ; if too 

 large, too much honey will go into the 

 brood-nest when comb-honey is the ob- 

 ject sought ; if too small, excessive 

 swarming will be the result, and in 

 either case the bee-keeper will be de- 

 feated. It should also admit of easy 

 manipulation. 



After testing several styles of hives, I 

 find the one known as the " Hilton chaff 

 hive" comes nearest to this ideal. With 

 the system I practice when working for 

 comb-honey, I can use any number of 

 sections, from six to forty-eight, and one 

 or two tiers deep. 



For extracted-honey, supers holding 

 twelve frames, the same size as the 

 brood-frames, may be used. It requires 

 no shade board in Summer, and no but- 

 side protection in Winter. The brood- 

 nest contains eight Langstroth frames, 

 93>^xlT% inches, giving the amount of 

 comb surface recommended by nearly all 

 prominent comb-honey producers. 



Having worked two seasons in an 

 apiary where part of the bees were cel- 

 lar wintered, and a part packed in chaff 



on the summer stands, I have had an 

 opportunity to compare the two methods, 

 and it is my opinion that the saving of 

 stores, so much talked of as an induce- 

 ment to cellar wintering, is not as ap- 

 parent at the opening of the honey har- 

 vest as at the time of taking the bees 

 from the cellar. 



However, if the bee-keeper desires to 

 winter his bees in the cellar, the chaff 

 hive will be just as safe there as a 

 single-walled hive, and when those sud- 

 den changes of temperature occur, as 

 they often do during the months of May 

 and June, and the mercury goes down to 

 40-, or perhaps lower, he will be de- 

 lighted to find no chilled brood in the 

 chaff hive, as is so often the case with 

 single-walled hives. 



With such a chaff hive as I have 

 described, there is less danger of rob- 

 bing, as there is less scent of the honey 

 coming from the hive, the double wall 

 and chaff confining the heat and honey 

 smell. 



Again, the supers and honey-boards, 

 or whatever is used above the brood- 

 frames, are protected from the weather. 

 The sections are not swelled and dis- 

 colored, as the effects of a beating rain. 



There are many more reasons that 

 might be urged in favor of chaff hives, 

 but my time for writing is limited, and 

 as enough has been said to start the dis- 

 cussion, I will leave the subject in your 

 hands. — Read before the Neioaygo County 

 (Mich.) Ftinncrs:' and Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation. 



m Bees in a 



C. H. DIBBERN. 



I had thought I knew all about mov- 

 ing bees, as I had gained some little 

 experience on a former occasion, but I 

 did not yet know it all, as I soon learned 

 to my cost. 



The time had come when the bees 

 must be moved, and I hired a boy with 

 a spring wagon and one horse to help 

 me. I had determined this time to 

 fasten the bees in with wire cloth, as I 

 was not going to get into any trouble, 

 for I had promised the boy and his father 

 that, or I would not have got the rig 

 at all. 



The entrances to the hives were about 

 13^x3 inches. Over these I nailed little 

 patches of wire cloth, and also over the 

 auger-holes, bored a few inches higher up. 



As the hives appeared to be well 

 glued down on the loose bottoms. I con- 



