22 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



January 



found their way back. But on the 

 lake, where there is nothing for them 

 to find, and where, therefore, they 

 had never wandered, the ill-fated in- 

 sects, finding no guiding marks, no 

 sign-post, to direct them in the 

 proper direction, being left entirely 

 to luck, were all lost, without excep- 

 tion. 



"These experiments were not the 

 only ones that I made upon the bees 

 of our region, but all gave similar re- 

 sults." 



We may add to this information 

 that it is not necessary that the bees 

 should have traveled the entire dis- 

 tance from which they are released, 

 in order to find their way home. In 

 seeking their way back they prob- 

 ably go in all directions until they 

 recognize some familiar features of 

 the country. 



Releasing Bees From Packages 



We have received some enquiry 

 from readers regarding the manner 

 in which bees are released from 

 packages. In this connection we 

 have been reminded that we failed 

 to explain fully the picture on page 

 372 of our November number, where 

 O. J. Jones is shown releasing the 

 bees from a package. 



The hive is made ready by remov- 

 ing four or five of the frames from 

 the hive in which the bees are to be 

 placed. The package is opened and 

 the cage containing the queen is re- 

 moved. If the queen is all right her 

 cage is then placed between two of 

 the combs, giving the bees oppor- 

 tunity to release her. The opened 

 package of bees is then placed in the 

 space left vacant by removing the 

 frames and the cover placed on the 

 hive. The bees will shortly leave the 

 package and cluster on the combs. 

 Where the bees are shaken from the 

 package they sometimes take flight 

 without marking the location, and a 

 part of them become lost. Where re- 

 leased as above described there is 

 little danger of losing the bees and 

 no undue excitement. 



Large Hives Again 



With great interest I read your ar- 

 ticle "Advantages of Large Hives." 

 Although it is not the usual custom 

 to have hives of different size in the 

 apiary, I use the 10-frame Lang- 

 stroth, I wish to introduce some of 

 the so-called Jumbo or Dadant-Root 

 hives and some shallow supers. 



1. Can you use regular Langstroth 

 10-frame bottoms and covers for the 

 Jumbo hives, or are yours wider on 

 account of the lj^-inch spacing? 



2. As you prefer lj^-mch spacing, 

 do you use only 9 frames and a dum- 

 my, or are the 10-frame hives for this 

 reason a little wider? 



3. How high are your shallow su- 

 pers? Are they higher than the 

 regular shallow supers for dovetailed 

 hives, and could two of those supers, 

 one on top of the other, be used for 

 the regular Jumbo frames? 



Wisconsin. 



Answer — If you wish to use the 

 Jumbo hive, 10-frame, with l^-inch 



spacing, it will be necessary to use 

 wider bottoms. 



You can use the Jumbo hive with 

 the same bottom as the ordinary 10- 

 frame Langstroth, by using only 9 

 frames in a 10-frame hive. The Root 

 make of hives are 14^ wide inside. 

 The Lewis make are 14*4. If you use 

 9 frames spaced 1 J-4 inches, you will 

 have, in the first case \ l A, inches and 

 in the second case Ya inch of room 

 for a dummy. This dummy may be 

 used on the cold side of the hive, i. e., 

 the side which is exposed to high 

 winds, usually west or north. 



As we use the regular Dadant hive, 

 we have not had opportunity to try 

 the Jumbo, so have not had to solve 

 this question in our practice. But 

 we would recommend that you use 

 the 9 frames and a dummy, if you do 

 not wish to have bottoms of differ- 

 ent sizes in your apiary. 



This answers your first two ques- 

 tions. Regarding the third, we make 

 our shallow supers, as stated on 

 page 369 of the November issue, with 

 a depth of &/s inches, in the clear, so 

 that the side bar of the frame is ex- 

 actly 6 inches deep. This was the 

 suggestion of Mr. Langstroth, years 

 ago, when we began to use the ex- 



tractor. You might make a super 

 which would enable you to use two 

 in place f a hive body. But we do 

 not advise this. We have never seen 

 the need of using shallow frames in 

 deep bodies and have always kept the 

 brood chambers and extracting su- 

 pers as separate and distinct insti- 

 tutions. We have never regretted it. 



Allow us to say that we have never 

 urged anyone to change from the 

 Langstroth to the Jumbo, simply be- 

 cause we do not know whether our 

 friends feel willing to stand the 

 greater expense of large hives. The 

 matter has been discussed because 

 several requests were made for our 

 views and because the matter was 

 mentioned in Gleanings. But we are 

 very free to say that, personally, we 

 prefer the large hives we use, known 

 as Dadant hives, to any other style. 

 Our experience with these hives is 

 now of nearly SO years, and as time 

 passes we like them better and bet- 

 ter. 



The cheapest way, however, to 

 make the change from shallow to 

 deep hives is evidently through the 

 use of the Jumbo, in the manner 

 mentioned above. — C. P. D. 



Bee-Keeping W), F6r Women 



Conducted by Miss Emma M. Wilson, Mareoeo. III. 



Large Hives and Women Beekeepers 



Nowadays the 8-frame hive is get- 

 ting a black eye from all quarters, 

 and seems to have no friends. It may 

 be a little hazardous to say anything 

 in its favor, but it has one advantage 

 that cannot be denied, an advan- 

 tage that appeals strongly to women. 

 That is its lightness and the ease 

 with which it can be carried as com- 

 pared with heavier hives. This 

 counts strongly where hives are car- 

 ried into the cellar for wintering, 

 and still more strongly where they 

 are taken to outapiaries and brought 

 back home in the fall for cellaring. 

 To be sure, some strong man may be 

 had to do the lifting at these times, 

 even if it be some neighbor a mile 

 away, but it frequently happens 

 throughout the season that it is 

 needed to move a hive from one 

 place in the apiary to another, and 

 at such times it "is not the most con- 

 venient thing to call on a neighbor a 

 mile away. 



In the American Bee Journal for 

 November occurs an interesting and 

 instructive article by our editor upon 

 the advantages of large hives. As 

 might be expected from a man who 

 soul of fairness, the merits and 

 demerits of large and small hives are 

 very fairly discussed, except in one 

 particular, and that evidently Fi 

 misunderstanding. On page 369 oc- 

 curs this: "The addition of a full 

 story to a middling colony gh 

 much space above, in spring, when 

 ather is still cool, as it doubles 

 the capacity of the hive at one 



stroke. The addition of this full 

 story to a populous colony which is 

 overflowing its brood-chamber, en- 

 tices the queen away from the lower 

 story, if the lower story is not suf- 

 ficient for her laying capacity." 

 Clearly the misunderstanding is that 

 the extra story is added above. But 

 among those who use 8-frame hives 

 and add a second story in spring to 

 give the queen more room, is it the 

 general custom to give that room 

 above, or below? What the custom 

 is in this locality may bee seen from 

 the following extract from "Fifty 

 Years Among the Bees," page 105: 



"When the colony is beginning to 

 be crowded and there arc no colo- 

 nies needing help, ami sometimes 

 even when others do need help, a 

 second story is given. This second 

 story is given below. Putting an 

 empty story below does not cool off 

 the bees like putting one above. The 

 bees can move down as fast as they 

 need the room. Indeed, this second 

 story is often given long before it is 

 needed, and sometimes two empty 

 are given, for it is a nice 

 thing to have the combs in the care 

 of the bees. They will be kept free 

 from moths, and if any air moldj 

 they will lie nicely cleaned out ready 

 for use when wanted. 



"Sometimes when a colony is very 

 strong and a story of empty combs 

 is given below, a frame of brood is 

 taken from the upper story and put 

 below, an empty comb being put in 

 its place above. But unless the col- 

 ony is very strong, this hinders 



