236 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



out drone comb, to turn the hive over, rig a 

 tool that will go in between the bottom bars 

 of the frames, and work away, largely by 

 guess, a la Gravenhorst, and finally have to 

 handle " one or two frames " to secure per- 

 fect combs, than it would be to commence 

 and handle the combs (where needed) on 

 the start? Is it any less work to shake away 

 on a hive till the queen is shaken out, and a 

 lot of bees hunted over to find her, and the 

 hive put back in place again, than it is to 

 quietly sit on a stool and lift out the frame 

 she is on, see her and know what she is 

 doing, and place the frame back in the hive 

 again? And so on to the end of the chapter 

 with all the necessary operations in the 

 apiary. If so, then I have handled the 

 divisible brood chamber hive for the last 

 three years in vain. Tt is easy enough to 

 write up a reform on paper, but what we 

 want is reform in practice. My bees, with 

 the use of the hands and brains of one man, 

 have paid me iii;20,0(X) during the past twenty 

 years, as I have hired no help to produce 

 this result. Has any one, single handed, 

 done better with their bees? If so, I am 

 glad of it; and if any one will tell me how I 

 may make $1,500 a year, with these same 

 hands and brains, out of bees, with no more 

 exertion than formerly, I shall be glad and 

 thankful to hear how; but if I am to put out 

 |500 or %iM) into something which will only 

 give the same results attained in former 

 years, then I say no, I thank you, gentlemen, 

 I will put the f.'iOO into something where it 

 will bring me interest to show for it. I 

 presume in the past I have allowed it to 

 appear that I handled frames more than I 

 really do. Three times a year, at the outside, 

 is all that is necessary to handle the frames 

 in a hive having a colony in normal condi- 

 tion, and yet I often do more than this. I 

 am still an enthusiast along the bee line, my 

 wife often saying I had rather work with the 

 bees (I call it play) than to eat my dinner, 

 and this undoubtedly has had something to 

 do with my manner of writing. Now don'^; 

 anybody go and report that Doolittle is 

 worth $20,000. I only said the bees had 

 given me a salary of |1,000 a year for the 

 past twenty years. 



BoKODiNO, N. Y., Sept. .")th, 18<)1. 



Accompanying the above was the following 

 private letter: 



FiUEND H.:— Yours to hand asking for an 

 article on " handling hives instead of 

 frames." Enclosed find the same. While 



you will see that you and I do not agree, yet 

 I have tried to give my views in a way that 

 they should not give offence to any. I think 

 this matter of the " short cut " in bee keep- 

 ing has become a sort of craze and is being 

 overdone. We need sober thoughts in such 

 times as these and not run wild over a new 

 thing, and thus throw away the dollars we 

 have earned in the past. I have tried to 

 answer your question " Why cling to those 

 hives, fixtures and methods that compel the 

 handling of frames ? " in no uncertain way; 

 but to you, privately, I would say that no 

 hive compels the handling of frames, for the 

 frames need not be handled at all if the 

 apiarist does not wish. It is in the handling 

 of the frames, if handled judiciously, that 

 the profit comes.. Where there is no profit, 

 don't handle, that is all. Do you catch on ? 

 G. M. Doolittle. 



The Kind of Hive Needed When Handling 

 Hives. — A Prospective House Apiary. 



GEO. B. WELLEK. 



[^ S I understand it, what we as honey 

 producers want, is to reduce the cost 

 of production. If the net cost per 

 lb., when ready for market, can be reduced 

 one cent, it is that much more profit, no 

 matter at what price sold. The interest and 

 insurance on the money invested in fixtures 

 and appliances, in an advanced apiary, is 

 about fifty cents per colony. The main cost 

 is labor; how to reduce this is one of the live 

 issues of the day. Among those laboring to 

 bring it about, the Review keeps well to the 

 front. Handling hives instead of frames is 

 directly in this line. To accomplish this the 

 hive must be suitable, should be fixed so it 

 can be moved in any way without injury to 

 comb or bees, and yet can be opened and 

 interchanged in any manner with the least 

 time and work, and should be simple and of 

 few pieces. 



The Heddon and kindred hives are an ad- 

 vance on the loose, hanging style; also on 

 the Quinby as commonly used. The box in 

 which the frames set is not necessary, and 

 often in the way. An outside case is con- 

 sidered best by those who winter in the cellar, 

 and is indispensable for the best outdoor 

 wintering, no other protection being neces- 

 sary for the frames. The sides that enclose 

 them are extended enough to allow bolts to 

 pass through, across the ends of the frames, 



