TMM m^mmmiGMM mmm j©iiMifsiLr. 



107 



prove that spring- dwindling, diarrhea, 

 etc., would not liave taken place had 

 the bees atl'eeted with it been wintered 

 in a light cellar instead of a dark one. 



One point remains not yet clearly 

 stated, viz : that it is not light that 

 ranses bees in a cellar to be uneasy. 

 If, then, that is not the cause, of what 

 value is it to surround them in im- 

 penetrable darkness ? We have all 

 seen bees slowly withdraw from ac- 

 tivity to repose, as one by one the 

 plants ceased to yield honey and pol- 

 len ; and wlien no incentive to industry 

 longer existed, how unbroken became 

 their repose. Is there any evidence 

 that darkiicss played any important 

 part in such quiet? Were the bees 

 more at rest in the night than in the 

 sunlight ? 



The fact that bees do winter just as 

 \\ell under apparently much less favor- 

 alile conditions in the open air, is, to 

 say the least, a point in favor of the 

 vitalizing inHuence of fresh air and 

 sunshine ! 



Abronia, Mich. 



BROOD-COMBS. 



Large or Small Combs, and 

 Divisible Brood-Cliambers. 



Written /or the American Bee Journal 

 BY JAMES HEDDON. 



It is with pleasure that I read the 

 article by J. W. CuUinan, on page 39, 

 on the above subject, controverting 

 the mistakes of Mr. Hambaugh, on 

 page 804 of the Bee Journal for 1887. 



It is undoubtedly highly proper and 

 important that we discuss the merits of 

 dividing one brood-chamber into two 

 horizontally divisible parts, interchang- 

 ing these parts instead of inverting. 

 This brings us to the question of Mr. 

 CuUinan's article on page 39, at the 

 close of which he asked me to give an 

 account of my success with the divisi- 

 ble brood-chamber. 



At the beginning, I wish the reader 

 to understand the difference between 

 double brood-cliambers, or several 

 brood-chambers piled on top of each 

 other, and one brood-chamber proper, 

 divided into two parts,and constructed 

 in such a nmnner as to be perfectly 

 adapted to interchanging the parts 

 with each other for special purposes. 

 There has been so much said already 

 that it seems unnecessai-y to enumer- 

 ate and discuss each function by itself. 

 I cannot see how full-grown men with 

 any experience in the business can 

 imagine any objection to the "sticks 

 and spaces " that occur between the 

 sections of the divisible brood-cham- 

 ber. You all know very well that 

 bees never breed up faster, nor winter 



better in any hi\e than in box-hives, 

 so full of cross sticks that oftimes the 

 combs are all in pieces running in 

 almost every direction. Four years' 

 experience has demonstrated the truth 

 of my reply to Query No. 508, on 

 page 39. 



I once paid $18 for a box-hive which 

 was ij full of comb, the capacity of the 

 hive being ten times larger than the 

 Langstroth ; it contained about double 

 the number of bees usually resulting 

 from one queen ; I doted on the large 

 number of frames I should fill with 

 comb when transferring this colony ; 

 upon opening it I found so manj^ sticks 

 running through it that I believe I got 

 only 3 or 4 Langstroth frames of comb 

 out of it ; all the rest being in pieces no 

 larger than your two hands. This 

 colony had wintered safely, when 

 many others had died by its side dur- 

 ing the seven winters they had been 

 in this hive. They had only swarmed 

 two or three times during the seven 

 years, but the swarms that issued were 

 said to be of double size. When one 

 section of the divisiljle brood-chamber 

 is in use in the spring, before breed- 

 ing has reached a status that more 

 room is needed, its smaller size and 

 shallow form both favor the conserva- 

 tion of heat in the brood-nest, and the 

 bees breed faster than in any other 

 hive I have ever used. That bees will 

 breed up faster in the spring and keep 

 warmer in the winter in shallow hives 

 than in deep ones, is proven both by 

 theory and demonstration. As cold is 

 not the main cause of winter mor- 

 tality, experience has shown but little 

 difference as regards successful win- 

 tering. When the single brood-case, 

 which is used in the spring, is well 

 filled with brood, and more room is 

 needed, the second one can be placed 

 under it in the direction which the 

 queen naturally breeds, downward, 

 leaving the brood already on hand in 

 the warmest part of the hive. This is 

 the correct method of giving more 

 breeding room. All can see it in 

 theory, and I know it to be true from 

 four 3'ears of direct experience. 



It seems to me that any experienced 

 bee-keeper should see at a glance, 

 without any experiment whatever, 

 (knowing from past experience that as 

 the brood moves downward the upper 

 portion of the brood-chamber is filled 

 with honey), that the alternating of 

 the two halves should cause the bees 

 to carry this honey above, affording 

 the queen the opportunity, and stimu- 

 lating the disposition to fill that brood- 

 chamber full of brood. 



To close, I will say a word relative 

 to our experience here, which, to me, 

 tells very much. I have in use manj- 

 of the best modifications of 8-frame 

 Langstroth hives containing reversible 



Langstroth frames completel}' filled 

 with straiglit, all-worker combs which 

 I will not tlirow away. Hardly a day 

 passes in the summer time, when my 

 foreman and students are not making 

 remarks something like this: "Oh, 

 if all of your hives were of the new 

 pattern !" " Why don't you transfer 

 them all into the new hive ?" " We 

 can handle twice as many of the new 

 style of hives," etc., etc. 



Mr. Cullinan is quite right when he 

 says we should not " imitate nature in 

 the construction of our hives." Our 

 hives should be fitted to the operator 

 more than to the bees ; and in conclu- 

 sion I will say that we should adopt 

 such hives and other fixtures as ex- 

 perience proves to be best. 



Concerning Dr. Tinker's essay read 

 at the Ohio Convention, and the dis- 

 cussion following it (see pages 86 and 

 87), I am glad to notice what was said 

 about the merits of sectional brood- 

 chambers. I think, however, that only 

 Dr. Tinker could speak from experi- 

 ence — none of the others having more 

 than one of the hives in use, if any. In 

 the light of the article by Dr. Tinker, 

 on page 154 of the Bee Journal for 

 188(J (published also in Okanings on 

 page 203), many will wonder if the 

 Doctor is not now in error instead of 

 then — the two positions being diametri- 

 cally opposed to one another. / know 

 that he . is wrong now, as do many good 

 apiarists who have had experience with 

 the sectional brood-chamber hive. 



Dowagiac, Mich. 



INDIANA. 



Report of the State Convention 

 at Indianapolis. 



Written for the Indiana Farmer 

 BY G. K. HUBBARD. 



In the absence of President F. L. 

 Dougherty, Dr. Collins, of Hamilton 

 county, was made chairman of the 

 convention. 



The discussion of honey-plants re- 

 vealed the fact that Alsike clover is 

 the favoi-ite, being both excellent as a 

 honey-producer and a forage plant. 

 One member said that it was a good 

 feed for milch cows, and thus was able 

 to make " the land How with milk and 

 honey." 



On the question of bees puncturing 

 grapes, the opinion was unanimous 

 that it was out of the power of the in- 

 sect to do so. Mr. Muth, of Cincinnati, 

 said that when wasps and hornets 

 have punctured the grapes the bees 

 will extract the juices, but their man- 

 dibles are not fitted for cutting through 

 the skin. He said that the grapes 

 would not be disturbed by the wasps 



