64 



THE SEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



necssary. Again, close contraction may 

 throw those little, objectionable spots of 

 pollen into the supers. Either because our 

 management is wrong, or on account of our 

 locality, we now favor a large brood nest 

 the year round. 



We shall also differ strongly with the 

 leader upon spring packing. It is too much 

 work, and too much muss, and too much 

 handling of useless lumber for cases. We 

 allow our bees to remain in the cellar until 

 settled weather ; and when put upon their 

 stands, inside work begins. We find it more 

 profitable to work at the inside instead of the 

 outside of hives. Some argue for protec- 

 tion even for the sections in harvest time. 

 In our experience, strong colonies will keep 

 up all necessary heat in the supers during a 

 good honey flow without protection from 

 packing ; if the flow is light, there is no in- 

 ducement to occupy them. We have seen 

 a surplus stored from fruit bloom early in 

 May in spite of cool nights— even weak colo- 

 nies were all aglow with excitement while 

 the flow lasted. If packing must be done, 

 why not use the light and compact, hair-felt 

 covering mentioned some time ago in the 

 Review ? 



There are many other blocks in your valu- 

 able leader that we could " piece " at, but we 

 fear it would be a sort of "crazy quilt" 

 when completed, so we will leave the rest to 

 hands more systematic than those of the 



Ramblek. 



Cheap Hives— Wide Top Bars With Narrow, 

 V Shaped, Wooden, Comb Guides. 



SMITH & SMITH. 



^E HAVE read with interest what 

 has been said on top bars ; and, 

 as we think the prevention of 

 brace combs depends more on the 

 width than the depth of the top bars, we 

 will describe a top bar that we have used 19 

 years, and not been troubled with brace 

 combs. To make it plain, we will also de- 

 scribe the hive in which it is used. We call 

 it "The Poor Man's Langstroth," on ac- 

 count of its cheapness. 



The part raised is a super, the same as the 

 one at the left. The cover is simply a flat 

 board cleated to prevent warping. To do away 

 with all dummies, false ends, section holders, 

 etc., we use a combined wood and tin T. To 

 hold the sections square. T's are used be- 

 tween the rows of the sections on top. 



The frames are 17% x 9K and the top bars 

 1 1-16 wide and % thick down to the square. 

 By looking closely at the top bar standing 

 at the left of the super, it will be seen that 

 it is V shaped, but the V is not as wide as 

 the top bar. The top bar proper being 

 17-16 wide, and the V only 9-16, we have a 

 flat surface I4 wide on each side of the V. 

 When a comb is built out it is not as wide 

 as the bar, and the bees are not inclined 

 to draw it out over the square edge of the 

 bar as they do where the V is the full width 

 of the bar, giving a slanting edge to run over. 



Kenton, Ohio. April 3, 1890. 



The p Bee-Keepers' + Review, 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY. 



¥. Z. HUTOHINSON, Editor & Proprietor. 



TERMS:— 50 cents a year in advance, two 

 copies for 95 cpiits; three for $1.35; five for $2.00; 

 ten or more, 35 cents each; all to be sent to ONE 

 POST OFFICE. In clubs to different post oflaces, 

 NOT LESS than 45 cents each. 



FLINT, MICHIGAN, APRIL 10, 1890. 



A LOSS BY FIKE — BUT LITTLE DELAY. 



A. F. Stauffer & Co., of Sterling, 111., lost 

 a part of their goods by fire on the 12th of 

 March. They added more machinery, how- 

 ever, and by running night and day had, by 

 March 28th., nearly ceplaced the loss; and 

 expected to soon be able to ship goods with 

 their usual promtness. 



BEE-ESOAPES. 



These contrivances proiivise to relieve us of 

 quite a little disagreable labor — that of get- 

 ting the bees out of the supers, in raising 

 either comb or extracted honey. All the 

 bee-escapes now before the public operate 

 upon the old, cone, fly-trap principle. The 

 Alley, drone and queen-trap illustrates the 

 principle. Mr. John S. Reese, of Winches- 

 ter, Ky., was very much occupied " down 

 town." He wished to make his bees "do 

 for themselves" as much as possible. The 

 upright, or vertical, cone bee-escape was the 

 result. That it works perfectly, all attest 

 who have tried it. It will practically free a 

 super of bees. Mr. C. H. Dibbern, of Milan, 

 111., next conceived the idea of laying the 

 cones upon their sides and flattening them 

 so that they might be used in a bee-space 

 under a board. Then Mr. Reese, in turn, so 

 changed the Keese-Dibbern escape that it 

 might be used in a thin board, instead of 



