AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



581 



Langstroth frames to the hive. It is 

 natural for bees to store honey over the 

 brood, therefore all honey receptacles 

 should be adjustable to the top, and 

 directly over the frames, so arranged 

 that two or more can be tiered up, ac- 

 cording to the amount of honey being 

 gathered. 



The standard section is of one piece, 

 and 4:}4 inches square. Any other size 

 is a drug on the market in the majority 

 of cases. The sections should be so 

 arranged as to be interchangeable, either 

 singly or in rows, as many times bees are 

 loath to work in the outside sections, or 

 those coming close to the ends. By 

 jumping the unfilled sections to the cen- 

 ter all are worked out at once, allowing 

 us to remove the honey in cases rather 

 than by the single section. 



If the hive sets perfectly level from 

 side to side, and wide sections are used, 

 separators are not really necessary. But 

 hives are apt to settle, or we may wish 

 to use narrow sections. Separators 

 afford the safest method of securing per- 

 fectly flat combs inside each section so 

 necessary in shipment to distant mar- 

 kets, or the carting about in a retail 

 trade. Tin, glass, wire and such ma- 

 terials are nuisances about any hive. 



There should be some simple means of 

 clamping the sections tightly together to 

 avoid the deposit of large quantities of 

 glue. By compressing the sections there 

 are no cracks for the bees to stop, and 

 we do not need to spend valuable time in 

 scraping off an unnecessary deposit of 

 useless matter. The cover should be a 

 simple, flat, well cleated board of light 

 weight, and should be kept well painted. 

 All the joints should be square. 



By using top-bars of good width and 

 thickness, there is no need of honey- 

 boards, unless they are queen-excluding, 

 and for a queen-excluder there is noth- 

 ing so good as a solid sheet of metal, 

 well bound. 



Here in New England a hive is not fit 

 to winter out-of-doors unless it has an 

 outside or winter case, to admit of pack- 

 ing with some absorbent material, such 

 as cut hay, straw or chaff. A good sized 

 cusion should be made of this material, 

 to spread over the frames and entirely 

 cover the top of the hive. There should 

 be no packing at the sides until breeding 

 commences in the Spring, as the heat is 

 not sufficient to throw off the moisture 

 until then. 



Ventilating holes should be provided 

 at the ends of the winter case, near the 

 the top, to carry off all the moisture as 

 fast as taken from the cluster. In this 

 lies the secret of successful out-door win- 



tering of bees. Over all comes a tight, 

 well-painted winter roof, which can be 

 screwed down and left until the flowers 

 bloom in the Spring. There should be 

 but one entrance, and that low down, so 

 that the bees enter under the combs. 

 Three-cornered blocks for contracting 

 the entrance, have never been improved 

 upon. 



There are several minor points that are 

 necessary to a perfect bee-hive. The 

 space under the frames should be one- 

 half of an inch, and those at the ends of 

 the hanging frames are three-sixteenths 

 — not over one-quarter. One-fourth inch 

 scant is considered to be the correct space 

 between the top-bars and the sections, to 

 avoid the deposit of burr combs. Brood- 

 combs spaced 1% inches from center to 

 center, will do away with all brace 

 combs. If closed-end frames are used, 

 they should be compressed the same as 

 the sections, to avoid glueing. 



If you decide to change from hanging- 

 frame to closed-end, a new set of brood- 

 frames is all that is necessary. If you 

 think you will have better success in 

 wintering in a double hive, an outside 

 case can be added for a small amount. 



Beverly, Mass. 



ConTention IVotices. 



13^ The eighth semi-annual meeting and basket 

 picnic of the Progressive Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 will be held on Thursday, May 7, 1891. at A. H. W^ill- 

 iama' Hall, Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Those interested 

 in bees and honey are cordially invited. 



Miss Ann Dctton. Sec, So. Newbury, Ohio. 



tW The bee-keepers of Western Connecticut who 

 are interested in forming a Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion, are requested to meet at Mr. Edwin B. Smith's, 

 in Watertown, Conn., May 13, as early in the day as 

 possible. A good time is expected. 



Edwin E. Smith. 



Edward S. andrus. 



iW The Ionia Bee-Keepers' Convention, will meet 

 at Ionia (Mich.) May 6, 1891. It is intended by the 

 management to have a Fair in connection with it. 

 W. Z. Hutchinson, of Flint, Mich., editor of the 

 "Bee-Keepers' Review," will deliver an address. He 

 is one of the leading bee-masters of the United 

 States. You cannot afford to miss his address. Come, 

 and bring your wife with you. Get your neighbors 

 to come. Will you please bring with you samples of 

 hive and frame, super and sections, and samples 

 of honey and mode of putting up, etc., and let us 

 have an exhibition of our own. 



Harm. Smith, Sec, Ionia, Mich. 



t^" The 8th semi-annual meeting of the Susque- 

 hanna County Bee-Keepers' Association will be held 

 at Montrose, Pa., on Thursday, May 7, 1891. 



H. M. Sekley. Sec, Harford, Pa. 



t^" The Central Michigan Bee-Keepers' Conven- 

 tion will be held at Pioneer Room, at the Capitol, 

 Lansing, Mich., on Wednesday, May 6. A cordial 

 invitation is extended to all. 



W. A. Barnes, Sec, Lansing, Mich. 



1^" The Des Moines County (Iowa) Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, will meet at the Court House in Bur- 

 lington, Iowa, on Tuesday, June 2, 1891, at 10 a.m. 

 It is intended to organize a Southeastern Iowa As- 

 sociation. All interested in bees and honey are 

 cordially invited to attend. 



John Nac, Sec. Middletown ,Iowa. 



Geo. Bischoff, Pres., Burlington, Iowa. 



