THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



307 



f 



this fact, is, that the combs thus built con- 

 tain too much wax to be pleasant to eat. 

 But if we owe the heavier honey combs to 

 the heavier foundation, does it follow that 

 we should use heavy foundation for surplus 

 honey ? and does not the better quality of 

 the comb honey produced on light founda- 

 tion make up for the less weight ? Undoubt- 

 edly, if lighter combs are produced, more of 

 them will be tilled, and this will also make 

 up the difference. 



The idea of friend Taylor, that the differ- 

 ence in the filling of the combs is due to the 

 difference in quality of the wax, is not ad- 

 missible. Aside from the fact that the sam- 

 ples on which he experimented came from 

 experienced men, who surely know as well 

 as he does how to render wax, the fact that 

 the greatest difference exists among the 

 combs built on Given foundation is sufficient 

 to show that it is to the irregularity in the 

 amount of wax in those sheets, and to noth- 

 ing else, that the differences are due. It is 

 evident, from this also, that the Given foun- 

 dation is the least regular of all the grades 

 tested. 



Why is it so irregular ? Because, instead 

 of being rolled, it is pressed, and none of 

 the imperfections of the s'heet are laminated 

 out. When the first praises of the Given 

 press were published, we secured samples, 

 and wrote over and over again to the man- 

 ufacturer. Never did we see a full-sized 

 sample that could be called fair. The lubri- 

 cant used, whatever it be, must of necessity 

 remain on the sheet, and is an objection. 

 The sheets made are always brittle, and, un- 

 less used at once, can not be handled with- 

 out breaking. The shipping of this founda- 

 tion, without its being more or less broken, 

 is out of the question. When it was first in- 

 vented, the press was lauded to the skies by 

 Heddon and others : but they did not use it 

 long. Why ? They said it was because they 

 could not get the foundation made right. 

 Aye, there is the rub. An amateur can make 

 a few pounds that will prove satisfactory ; 

 but show me the man who has made it in 

 any large quantity and has given satisfaction. 

 Hundreds of Given presses have been sold ; 

 and to-day, in spite of the praise the Given 

 foundation has received, you can count its 

 friends on your fingers. C. P. Dadant." 



Hamilton, Ills. 



The Tlering-Up Principle of the Eight-Frame 

 Hive ; The Eight and Ten-Frame Tried 

 Side by Side, With Results in Favor 

 of the Former, and Why. 

 The discussion regarding the value of the 

 eight-frame hives compared with those hav- 

 ing ten frames is still " on " in Gleanings. 

 The following from the pen of M. A. Gill is 

 a good sample of the articles, and is given 

 not so much because it defends the eight- 

 frame hives in which I believe, as because of 

 the excellent reasoning exhibited : 



'' What has become of the tiering-up prin- 

 ciple of the movable comb bee hive ? It 

 seems to have become one of the lost arts to 

 at least some bee-keepers, for they have for- 

 gotten that they can tier up and thus meet 

 the requirements of an increasing colony, 

 but are taking up the old ' long idea ' plan, 

 not back of the brood nest with the Adair or 

 Gallup frame, but off sideways with the 

 Langstroth frame. 



Where one writer suggests from eight to 

 ten, another from ten to twelve, and another 

 suggests fourteen frames, what is it but the 

 old ' long idea,' and that off sideways, as 

 though they had forgotten both principles — 

 that of tiering up, and the long idea. I have 

 not been without both eight and ten frame 

 Langstroth hives side by side for the past 

 ten years ; and I must say I decidedly prefer 

 the eight-frame hive for my locality, and I 

 live less than thirty miles from Bro. Hatch ; 

 but I am aware that our forage is somewhat 

 different. My surplus comes from bass- 

 wood, having only three times in eighteen 

 years secured a small crop of clover honey, 

 but nearly always enough to build up on, 

 ready for the basswood flow. 



Now, if any ten or twelve frame advocate 

 were in my location, and would agree to use 

 no dummies in the spring, and only one su- 

 per in the harvest, I think I could convince 

 him that his hive was too large in the spring 

 and too small during the harvest. Our spring 

 seasons are usually cold and backward, and 

 bees do not build up fast until after May 20 

 That leaves us only three weeks to secure 

 our basswood workers. Like Doolittle, I do 

 not want them any sooner, for there is noth- 

 ing for them to do but consume ; and I have 

 always noticed that a colony whose queen 

 has exhausted herself early in the season 

 comes up to the honey season much behind 

 the colony that has reserved its force until 

 the proper time ; and bees in ten-frame hives 

 are not so provident in early breeding, on 

 account of the extra honey the hive will con- 

 tain. I find that, in any size of hive contain 

 ing L. frames, after bees have six or seven 

 frames ivell filled with brood, they would 

 much rather occupy two frames directly over 

 the seven than one at each side of the seven. 

 Heat rises, as any one can see by watching a 

 burning brush pile. One will notice, too, 

 that the heat will seem to come to a point at 

 a limited distance, the outside heat being 

 drawn to the center by its intensity. To il- 

 lustrate, go out some morning when the 

 hives are covered with frost, and look at the 

 size of the melted spot on a one-story, two- 

 story, and three-story hive. My bees, at 

 least, much prefer to economize this heat 

 for breeding purposes than to warm up more 

 room at the side. 



Candidly, it seems to me that eight frames 

 is the 'happy medium" between too much 

 and too little ; and with that splendid fea- 

 ture added (tiering up), all that conld be 

 asked in a bee hive is obtained. 



Right here I wish to go on record as say- 

 ing that I do not consider any colony in 

 prime condition for the basswood flow with 

 less than 24 L. frames. Going farther, I 

 know that the same colony will gather as 



