THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



no Hj'stem of contrnctioii so porfoot, rapid 

 and safe as that made possible by tlio iiso 

 of the horizontally divisible brood chamber 

 which is of the capacity of the ten frame 

 Lan^'stroth hive and the exact length and 

 wi Mil of tlio eii,'lit frame li. hive, composed 

 of two cases, each containing a coin)>lelo set 

 of shallow frames resi mi,' upon a bottom 

 board containing a bre space in its top sur- 

 face, and perfectly iiiterchaiit;eable witli 

 eacii otiier. During the breedinj,' season and 

 the surplus honey season combined, that 

 is, during tliat season when the two before 

 mentioned seasons lap u[)on each otluir, 

 wlion tlie complete brood chamber is used, 

 a very important and most useful fuiuition 

 rests in the ease with wiiich we can alternate 

 or interchange the separable halves of this 

 brood chamber. This interchanging, gives 

 us larger (piantitius of brood than can ptwsi- 

 bly be obtained in any otlier practical way. 



My its use we can keei) the brood always 

 close up to the surplus receptacles, and when 

 the ui»i)er iialf is found to contain consider- 

 able honey, alternating it to the bottom 

 causes tlui bees to take the honoy out of it and 

 place it in the suri)las receptacles, which 

 gives more room for tlu^ queen, aiui stimu- 

 liiim her to renewed activity, 'riu* splendid 

 l)racticability of this urrungenient is that the 

 manii>ulation can l^e performed so ([(lickly 

 that n(jt even a robber b(^e, if sucli are about, 

 can get a tasle; antl sucli nuini|)ulati()n in an 

 apiary of two or tliree hundred colcmies can 

 !)e done in so few hours, by twopersi)ns,tiuit 

 tli<^ job lias no terror foi' the bee-keejier. 



t^ufc this is by no means all; betrause the 

 brood chamber is thus divisble, all ijuei n 

 cells can be clipped out without removing a 

 frame; (jueens can be found almost instantly 

 without renu)ving a frame or exposing any 

 honey to the most determined rol)ber. So 

 quickly aiui safely can a case of this brood- 

 chamber bo divested of its entire force of 

 bees by revolving niid shaking, in tiui hands, 

 that we (!an work for extracted lion(*y with- 

 out exposure to robbers, and with luithing like 

 tiie laborious work out in the sun to which we 

 have hitherto ))een subjected; nearly all of the 

 manipulation can be done in doors. Nor 

 is this all. It is th(^ first system of brood- 

 chamber arrangement by which "lixed 

 frames" that are always solid and in position 

 can be used; offering to the apinrist the 

 greatest comfort and safety wh(in shipping 

 bees or moving them in and out of reposito- 

 ries, about the yard, or in handling the hivi^s 

 in various other ways; not sul)jecting the bee- 

 keeper to the serious ol)jection of slow and 

 tedious manipulation of the frames, crush- 

 ing of bees, and other serious loss in franut 

 adjustment, l)ecause(jf discarding tiu^ lateral 

 movement of tiie franuw. Non(> of thesii oii- 

 jections exist, witli tlie arrangement above 

 doscril)ed. Tlie screw pressure u*ed in hold- 

 ing the frames in p<)rfect p.wition, aiding in 

 the reversibility of the cases, is at once the 

 cheapest aud most pi rftict arranirement for 

 frame compression y<vt discovered. Tlie 

 method of adjustment to the i)oltum board, 

 and the bottom-board to the boltom-stand, 

 gives the hive nearly every advan1iii.;<> f)f the 

 tight bottom hive, wiiile it has all tlm iidvan- 

 tfl^os of tlio loobo bottom oo<*. 



This l)rood chamber is particularly adapted 

 to the break-joint, bee-sjiace honey-board, 

 wliich I inventinl nearly ten years ago, and 

 on wiiicli 1 have a patent in combination with 

 tlu^ hoi'izontally divisible brooil diamber. 

 The invention consists of iUo bee-space in 

 its surface, and the arrangement of the slats 

 and openings bc^tween tliem, so that they 

 bre.nk joints with the top l)ars and tlie open- 

 ing between tiitMii in the iirood rianuw below. 

 I have for several .veai's made tiiese boarils 

 queen-excluding, by slipping strips of jier- 

 forated zinc in saw kerfs niaile in the eilgeof 

 the slats fi)rming tlie general surface, 

 wiiich arrangement makes a very complete 

 honey-board. 



Any of the surplus storing cases of the 

 day are perfectly adai>ted to this hive. 



DowAoiAO, IVlion. 



Dec. IH, I8«8. 



Detachable Bottom-Boards; Square Joints; 



Wide Hives; Eight L. Frames all the 



Year; No Use for Inversion; A Word 



in favor of Oil Cloths. 



UK. C. 0. MILI.Klt. 



"Wr DON'T think it improper to discusa the 

 W) subject of hives, although I don't sup- 

 J^ pcjse wt< can ever settle upon a hive that 

 will suit all. I don't even know just the 

 hive that would suit me, but I will mention 

 some things that I liki^ or ilislik<>, premising; 

 that in a dilVerfiit jilace or with different 

 plans I might liiic a iJilferent liiv(\ 'I'he sub- 

 ject is too large to admit of full discussion 

 in a single paper, so I'll just make a ft^w 

 sallies upon ditfertwit points without pretend- 

 ing to any ordisr. As i hav(i out apiarieH, f 

 must have a hive that will bear transporf.a- 

 iion well, so I must have the bott()m-i>()ard 

 fast, but it is so imiioifant, I think, to have 

 llui bottom dilfercnl: in wint,(<r, that I believe 

 I should prefer a liottom-board fastened on 

 with clasps or screws, so that in wintcu'a space 

 of two inches or so could be under the frames. 



1 want sijuare joints, and think it desirable 

 to iiave hives Iniived at the <v)rners, or better 

 still, doiible-iialved. 



I don't know wlijit width is best. On some 

 accounts a biood-i^hamlxM' measuring lil'teeu 

 inches oi' more inside is desirable. KiSjiecial- 

 ly is this the case in sjyring, when a divisi^in 

 board can be [iiif in and two colonies can bo 

 l)Ut in on(( iiive till warmiw wtiatluu- comes, 

 or till they need more room. I am, however, 

 growing toward a pi'ofenMicc* for a hive that 

 will hold eight liangstroth frames, twelve 

 inches or less in width, and if \ had a few 

 hives of thatsi/e I think f should try leaving 

 them full si/,e, HUinmer mid winter; for it is 

 a ((uestion in in.\' mind whetli(»i', take it all in 

 all, we gain enoiigii to pay for tlm trouble of 

 of changing tiie cajjacity of brood-chambers 

 at any time in t iiti year. 



If eight Iranie hiv(>s are used, a single 

 lioard, strongly cleated at the ends, makes a 

 good cover. If the hives are much wider I 

 tliink 1 should prefer tin over the cover, hav- 

 ing the cover made light and I'm afraid it 

 would have to t,tO.CBCO()e ou the hive. 



