THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



235 



irig for his use, but this won't work, for he 

 cau't see the swarms when they issue, so I 

 shall l)uild a small two-story shop addition 

 to tiie west end and have my work bench in 

 the second story overlooking the building, 

 which will give the operator fall view of any 

 swarming that may take place. Any serious 

 disadvantage I have yet to detect, but of 

 very many advantages more than I have 

 here mentioned, I am well convinced. 

 FiJOPHETSTOWN, 111., Aug. 7, 18!)1. 



Doolittle Finds no Advantage in Handling 

 Frames Instead of Hives. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



fHAVE carefully read over the leader in 

 the last Review, and read the article by 

 our friend Gravenhorst over and over 

 again, and have tried to place myself right 

 alongside of friend G. in all of his manipu- 

 lations, going through them as near as any 

 one can in mind, and in this way trying to 

 get in just the position which he and the 

 editor of the Review occupies, to see if 

 there was in reality a "shorter cut across 

 apicaltural fields" than the "round about 

 way" I have been travelling. Well, after 

 turning this thing over and over in my mind, 

 after taking all the steps with friend G. 

 which he takes, and then coming back and 

 taking my own steps over again, I think I 

 see just this difference jetween the two 

 methods; friend G. and the editor take the 

 "short cut" across the field, while I go 

 around; but in the field there is a high hill, 

 and they on their " short cut " climb up over 

 the hill and down on the other side, while I 

 go around, going perhaps the same distance, 

 but save the climbing up and the holding 

 back coming down which they have to do. 

 In other words, I do not see where the aver- 

 age bee keeper, using the regular Langstroth 

 frame, need do one particle more work to 

 secure the same results that can be obtained 

 with any other hive, while by using this L. 

 hive, which he already has, he saves the 

 climbing up (getting new hives and making 

 of the same, etc., ) and also saves the holding 

 back ( necessary cash which such a change of 

 hives will require.) 



Knock the bottom-board off the L. hive, 

 if it is a fast bottomed hive, and you can 

 manipulate it to just as good advantage after 

 the bees have been in it a year as you could 

 a box hive or the G. hive, or the divisible 



brood chamber, (beg pardon, in my opinion), 

 and this I say after having used the divisible 

 brood chamber hives for the past three years. 

 To tempt me to adopt a thing, the " short 

 cut," when viewed from all sides, must be a 

 short cut, not something that lies parallel all 

 along the way of the long route, yet having 

 a different asi)ect. When I commenced to 

 use the shallow frames necessary to the 

 divisible brood chamber, I so made them 

 that should I ever desire to go back, two of 

 them could be put together so as to make 

 one of my regular frames again, and after 

 using them for three years, this summer 

 found me making the 300 back into 150 

 again, so that to-day finds me without a 

 single half depth frame in my yard. Why 

 did I do this ? Because I could not secure 

 any better results, taking all in all, than I 

 could with the others. To be sure I could 

 control swarming almost entirely by a proper 

 manipulation of the brood chamber, could 

 shake out the most of the bees and the 

 queen, could clip tht queen cells by turning 

 up the hive and driving the bees out of the 

 way with smoke, could spread the brood by 

 transposing the parts of the hive, contract 

 the hive for new swarms by hiving them in 

 only one part of the brood chamber, but 

 when the end of the season came around I 

 could not see that it took any less work, or 

 that I had a pound more honey to show for 

 it, than by the old way or with the hives I 

 had been using for the past twenty years; so 

 I said, "I can see no saving here, but I can 

 see a pile of work and expense in changing 

 hives if I go on and adopt this short cut (?) 

 plan. 



Now I will say this, that had I fifty colon- 

 ies in these divisible brood chamber hives, 

 (if I could winter the bees in those hives; 

 so far I have failed in wintering to any de- 

 gree of satisfaction in them,) I would not 

 change and adopt any other hive, and had I 

 the same number in the L. hive, the Gallup 

 or the Quinby, I should stick to them, for 

 any one who can make a success of bee 

 keeping at all can make a success with 

 either, for all are good hives. Because a 

 hive has frames in it, it does not necessitate 

 handling them all the time, neither does it 

 follow that it is necessary to handle the 

 frames to know the condition of the inside 

 of the hive, for it can all be done in the 

 manner pictured out by Mr. G. and in the 

 leader. The question lies right l.ere, is it 

 any easier, or is it any shorter cut in cutting 



