THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



less likely to build Ijrace coml)S above. As 

 soou, however, as brace coinljs are Vjuilt he- 

 tweeii top bar and slat, (and I think they are 

 always built there), the case is reversed and 

 queen and workers will both i)ass more 

 readily over the brace coml)s than if solid 

 wood filled the space. I suspect that bees 

 build no brace corabs over honey boards just 

 because of the actual distance from the 

 brood comb, and an equal or a leps distance 

 miiiht do if wood aloue were used Ijetweeu. 



Makengo, 111., 



Jan. G, 18!)0. 



Proper Spacing Prevents Brace Combs. 



W. T. F. PETTY. 



-q^RIEND HUTCHINSON : — Your re- 

 quest for an article on honey boards 

 and queen excluders has been received, 

 also sample copies of the Review. 

 Many thanks. We like the Review very 

 much and it will be a welcome visitor. 



As we have never been users of either the 

 honey board or queen excluder to a very 

 great extent, it may be thought by some that 

 we have not given them much attention ; 

 but quite to the contrary, as these are two 

 things that we have worked very hard to 

 overcome. 



We have successfully prevented the build- 

 ing of brace combs and the storing of honey 

 between the surplus cases and bi'ood frames, 

 by reducing all passage-ways for the bees to 

 34 inch. 



We use a hive twelve inches wide, contain- 

 ing nine closed-end frames, with top bars 

 1 1-24 inches wide, I4 inch thick; the frames 

 resting upon metal strips at the bottom. We 

 also use and prefer the sectional brood- 

 chamber. With the shallow frame, closed 

 ends can be used, and the proper size bee 

 space can be maintained throughout the 

 hive; with the deei) brood-chamber and 

 hanging frames we find it very difficult to 

 space the frames accurately enough to pre- 

 vent brace combs. After using this plan for 

 several years, we doubt very niuch if it is the 

 instinct of the bee to build brace combs on 

 top of the brood frames or store honey in 

 every "nook and corner," if those "nooks 

 and corners" are passage-ways, for the bees, 

 of i)roper size. 



As to the Heddon honey board: If Mr. 

 Heddon had used a '^ inch bee-space instead 

 of i>-l<) inch between his brood frames, he 

 would probal>ly not have invented either the 

 honey boaid or the queen excluder. By dis- 

 pensing with the honey board and using 

 ?///(( top bars the sections are brought very 

 close to the brood-nest; thus reducing to a 

 minimum the distance to be traveled by 

 the bees. AVhen honey boards are used the 

 distance is greater, — although it has been 

 stated that if xix of these honey boards are 

 used no difference in the amount of lioney 

 stored can be noticed, yet it is likely that the 

 majority of honey producers wish the sur- 

 plus case as near the brood-chamber as it 

 can be placed. 



As to the "break -joint" principle in honey 

 boards it will be seen that where nine brood 



frames are used and six frames in the surplus 

 case to hold sections, that tlie second joint 

 in the surplus case comes directly over the 

 third joint in the brood-chamber, on either 

 side; tlie rest break-joints, and as far as 

 brace combs are concerned, we can si e no 

 difference between those that break joints 

 and those that do not, — all are perfectly 

 clean if the simce is right. And last but not 

 least, the honey board does not, in all cases, 

 prevent brace combs. 



Queen excluding honey boards. Do they 

 exclude? If we are to be governed by the 

 evidence given at the Northwestern conven- 

 tion at Chicago, last October, we doubt very 

 much if they do exclude. In the first place, 

 what is the cause of the queen entering the 

 surplus case? If we can divine the cause, 

 and then remove it, it is better than to use a 

 preventative. This preventative is, we 

 think, in a properly made brood-chamber, 

 its size, and the thickness of combs. Brood 

 combs nine to the foot work about right; 

 the cells can be lengthened but very little 

 beyond the riglit length for the queen to lay 

 in; the bees do not store honey so readily in 

 shallow cells as they do in deep ones, and 

 the consequence is, the qiieen does not be- 

 come crowded out so easily as she does 

 where about eight frames to the foot are 

 used. 



Suppose the queen excluder would in every 

 case keep the (lueen below; will not the cost 

 of excluders and honey that it takes to fill 

 up between the top bars and honey board 

 (which is virtually lost) more than offset the 

 danuvge the queen might do without the 

 excluder? Last season we worked l.oO col- 

 onies for comb honey. Only two queens 

 went above; one spoiled two sections and 

 the other one section. If we had been using 

 queen excluders they certainly would have 

 gotten the credit. How easily it is to be 

 mistaken. 



FlTTSFIELD, Ills., 



Jan. 1, 1890. 



Wide Top Bars Prevent Brace Combs, but 

 the Spaces are Filled with Wax, 



A. L. KILDOW. 



'^irliRlEND H.— Yours of Dec. 21, asking 

 iS|;, how 1 have succeeded without honey 

 JjL,) t boards by using wide top bars, is at 

 hand. 1 will tell i uu in as few words 

 as I can. 



Four years ago I was using a few hives 

 that were composed of frames closed on 

 three sides, with a ^4 inch slot, about four 

 inches long, in each top haw Willi these 

 frames t!ie bees did not build burr combs up 

 throuirh the opening once in a hundred 

 times. 



I did not like this hive, so I thought I 

 would change it and try a lianging frame, 

 and not have the bees build through. 

 Therefore, I made len or a dozen hives with 

 frames 1% wide by }i thick, and placed 

 them 3-l() ax)art. I ihave never had any burr 

 comb built in them yet. 



