66 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



descriptions of the Langstroth, Simplicity, 

 Heddon, and others. The hive preferred by 

 Messrs. Dadant, is a Lanstroth, with hang- 

 ing frames 11}4 deep by 17% in width, thir- 

 teen frames in a hive. Half dep.h upper 

 stories are used for extracting supers. The 

 bottom board is loose. All through the 

 chapter runs a vein of opposition to 

 small hives. The objections are that the 

 queen is not allowed suificient room to de- 

 velope her fertility; the bees are more inclin- 

 ed to swarm, and that not so much honey is 

 secured. We see nothing gained by "devel- 

 oping the fertility of the queen." Were 

 queens expensive there would be reason in 

 trying to secure as many eggs as possible 

 from one queen, but, as they cost the honey 

 producer practically nothing, why not have 

 enough of them to keep all of the brood- 

 combs full of brood without any fuss and 

 bother about "developing their fertility?" 

 Our 111. friends say: "The harvest is in pro- 

 portion to the number of bees in the hive;" 

 ive say it is in proportion to the number of 

 bees, and it makes no difference, within cer- 

 tain limits, whether the bees are all in one 

 hive, or in two hives. A. colony must be 

 large enough to keep up the requisite heat 

 for brood-rearing and comb building, and 

 yet be able to spare the proper proportion of 

 field workers, and when it is sufficiently pop- 

 ulous for this, and the hive is adapted to the 

 size of the colony, nothing is gained, so far 

 as the storing of honey is concerned, by in- 

 creasing the size of the hive and the number 

 of its occupants. For years we were engag- 

 ed in the production of extracted honey and 

 the rearing of queens, and we have many 

 times noticed that, in proportion to the 

 number of combs, the two-frame nuclei 

 stored as much honey as the full colonies. 

 But there are other considerations aside 

 from the storing of honey. These diminutive 

 colonies could not generate sufficient heat to 

 pass the winter, at least, not in northern 

 climates; besides, in working for comb 

 honey, the manufactiire and handling of so 

 many small supers would largely increase 

 the expense and labor. If the hives are too 

 large, wide boards, that are more expensive, 

 are needed in their manufacture, they are too 

 heavy to be handled with ease, and some of 

 the queens fail to fill all of the combs with 

 brood, leaving from !|1.00 to $2.00 worth of 

 honey in the outside combs as dead capital. 

 There is a golden mean in these things, from 

 which we cannot largely depart without loss. 



The Dadants say, be sure and have the hive 

 large enough so that the queen can lay to her 

 utmost capacity; we say, be sure that the 

 hive is small enough so that the queen will 

 keep the combs full of brood. That bees 

 swarm more when kept in small hives, we 

 have always admitted; but they will swarm 

 enough with large hives to need an atten- 

 dant. We are not a little surprised to see 

 our Authors assert that the honey-board has 

 been discarded of late years. If there is any 

 one implement in bee culture that is the 

 most rapidly gaining in favor, it is the 

 honey-board. In closing the chapter on 

 hives, beginners are cautioned to be very 

 careful in buying patent hives. Why, we ask, 

 any more caution when investing in a patent- 

 ed hive, than in one unpatented? 



To be continued, 



Why More Honey is Secured by Proper 

 Contraction. 



tlOlRANK CHESHIRE, in .his excellent 

 (if\) work, "Bees and Bee Keeping," gives 

 "^^^ ' most clearly and concisely the reasons 

 why contraction of the brood-nest, at the 

 proper time, leads to the securing of large 

 quantities of honey. . He says: — 



"It would be easy to give a long catalogue 

 of distinguished honey-producers, who all 

 declare in favor of small brood-chambers 

 when comb honey is the object. In the early 

 part of the season the queen should receive 

 every encouragement to deposit eggs, for the 

 great spring laying is the foundation of all 

 surplus; but, as the summer advances, and 

 the duration of the yield is measured by five 

 or even six weeks ( the date depending upon 

 the flora and latitude), the production of 

 large breadths of brood is fatal to high re- 

 sults. Let us imagine that the brooding, 

 feeding, and sealing of a single bee, from the 

 egg upwards, costs as much to the colony as 

 storing four cells with honey — an estimate 

 which careful attention to this problem has 

 shown me to be moderate, even for ordinary 

 yields. Then the production of one pound 

 of bees, i.e., two pounds nearly of larvie, will 

 reduce the honey stored by Hilb. ; if the comb 

 has to be built, by ^probably 81b. It is be- 

 cause a bee in a fair yield is able to reciuite 

 the colony with many times its cost that a 

 large population means surplus, but if the 

 one pound aforesaid is produced at the end 

 of the honey yield, the expenditure has been 

 made without a possibility of return. The 

 supposition that tremendous laying on the 

 part of the (lueen is requisite right down to 

 grey autumn, is most shallow." 



