THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



The writer of this is experimenting with 

 hair felting. Tliis material is used exten- 

 sively for retaining heat in steam pipes, boil- 

 ers, engines, etc. As everybody knows from 

 from practical experience, our dumb ani- 

 mals are securely protected by their extra 

 growth of hair for winter, and we humans 

 are made most comfortable with fur gloves, 

 and caps and hair overcoats. This felting 

 is manufactured in thickness from one-half 

 to one inch, and I think a bee hive enveloped 

 in the inch felting would be as securely pro- 

 tected as if enclosed in three inches of chaff. 



If the bees are wintered in the cellar it is a 

 question whether this felting would beneht 

 the colony while in the cellar. I think it 

 would. But if wintered out of doors, or, to 

 retain heat after setting out in the spring, it 

 would be necessary to have an outside case. 

 This I cheaply supply with a new manufac- 

 ture of oilcloth, light and flexible and thor- 

 oughly water-proof. The advantages of 

 such packing and covering are obvious. It 

 can be stored compactly, and all litter 

 avoided. Though now only in an experimen- 

 tal stage, I hope good results therefrom. 



There is another thing we are happy to see, 

 and that is that the progress of the age is rel- 

 egating to the waste heap all quilts, rags and 

 enameled cloth. The two former are breed- 

 ing and lurking places for ants, bugs and 

 other vermin. A simple board with bee- 

 space is more economical in material and 

 manipulation. 



Now, on the next point, I am going to kick. 

 The shake out principle of a shallow frame 

 hive is a delusion and a snare. When every 

 frame is full of honey, and weighing over 

 thirty pounds, I defy the Editor, or any other 

 advocate of a shallow frame hive, to shake 

 out the bees. Mr Editor did you ever do it? 

 Yea, Mr Editor, did you ever see any one do 

 it? And, if you did once, do you tliink you 

 would have any arms left if yoia followed it 

 all day? Smoke will drive them nearly all 

 out, but sha,ke never, except in brood cases 

 and cases of empty comb. 



When I see the Review, I hope to receive 

 much enlightenment upon this hive question, 

 and am not so bigoted but that I am willing 

 to receive instructions from its many able 

 correspondents. 



Habtfoed, N. Y. 



Dec. 18, 1888. 



The Best Hive Wanting— The Heddon Hive— 

 The Ten-Frame L, Hive a Favorite. 



OlilVEB FOSTER. 



'^i^ HAVE bees in about ST.'j modified L. 

 OK) hives, and in about HO of the new Hed- 

 ^^ don hives. I have used some the latter 

 two years. I have used the L. hives 

 eleven years; and, during this time, I have 

 also tried five or six other kinds. 



I am like Dr Miller, in that I never saw a 

 hive that suited me. I am inclined to think 

 that neither the hive nor the system of man- 

 agement of the honey producer of the near 

 future have yet appeared. While it is true 



that we already have too many diflEerent 

 hives, until we get one that is better adapted 

 to the honey producing specialist than any 

 we now have, we should do all in our power 

 to encourage invention in this direction. 



Were it not for the expense of the Heddon 

 hive, and the dilnculty in handling the 

 frames, we could hardly ask for an improve- 

 ment while we follow the system for which 

 it was intended. It is best adapted to those 

 who produce comb honey exclusively and 

 do not care to keep up the grade of their 

 stock; but where a bee-keeper rears all his 

 queens from his very best, which is very 

 desirable, he hardly finds it praticable to 

 "handle hives instead of combs." 



Should foul brood break out in an apiary 

 of 2U0 or 300 of these hives the apiarist would 

 almost helpless, owing to the extra time it 

 would take to make thorough examinations. 



Making the brood frames shallow and 

 spacing them at a fixed distance apart is a 

 move in the right direction; but, in my judge- 

 ment, the Langstroth method of hanging the 

 frames in the hive, has never been improved. 



The closed ends I find objectionable. If 

 we shove them together squarely, bees are 

 crushed between them. If we slide one down 

 against the side of the other, and there are 

 protuberances of honey or brace combs, bees 

 are ground together between the projecting 

 surfaces. I think the end bars should have 

 bee spaces between them and some sort of 

 projections to hold them at the proper dis- 

 tance apart. I see no reason why the shallow 

 frames cannot be so made that they can be 

 as easily handled as the L. frames and yet 

 retain all their real advantages. 



At present I prefer the ten-frame L. hive, 

 modified as I have it, for all purposes. I 

 think with the proper managment, as good 

 results can be secured with less capital and 

 labor, but the system of management must 

 be different. I have used with the best of 

 satisfaction the Doolittle method of expand- 

 ing the brood nest in the spring so as to keep 

 all the combs nearly full of brood. I use a 

 chaflf filled dummy two or three inches thick 

 and large enough to fit the hive loosely all 

 around except at the rabbets where the bees 

 pass. I keep plenty of honey on the outside 

 of the dummy. By this method a weak col- 

 ony, which would otherwise perish, may be 

 saved with profit. When the honey harvest 

 comes we have the brood just where we want 

 it, in six to eight combs, with no necessity 

 for contraction or removal of brood. It is at 

 this point that economy of time is of greatest 

 importance. 



From this on I follow the plan given by 

 Dr. Miller in his "Year Among the Bees." 



I can see no objection to having the brood 

 all under one side of the super. There is an 

 advantage: when work is fairly begun in the 

 side of the super over the brood, turning the 

 super half way around accomplishes the 

 same object as tiering up, starting the famil- 

 iar impetus much sooner than would be 

 possible by tiering up. 



As for winter i)rotection, whatever is used 

 should be independent of the hive proper. 

 We cannot afford to be cumbered with chafif 

 or sawdust during the busy season. The chaff 

 dummies, however, are just the thing for 



