28 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb 



l)iit it scjins to iirove tint iti (),it-doi>r wiiiteiiii r, beus do 

 not (loin uid i)rotec'tioii Ironi tlu' cdli/ so much ns they de- 

 mand thorough vcitilatiun. 1 am trying the vontilatins 

 plan tliis winier 



.). X. AVHiTii:, Wolf Ci-e.-k, Pa,, D.X'. It. '75. 



The straw mtits used by friend Mixth and 

 his neighbors, tmd the invariable success they 

 have given when the hive was properly venti- 

 lated ^ibyve, only corroborate tlie same thing, 

 as does t!ie universal testimony from hives 

 made all of straw. 



On oar price list are six different frames; 

 can you imagine the diffictilty of trying to 

 keep on hand ready to ship, the materials for 

 all these ditfjrent frames ami hives to match, 

 covers to match, quilts to match, etc.? and now 

 comes the task of providing honey boxes and 

 crates to ship them, for all these ifiv different 

 hives. Do you v/onder we have occasionally 

 made blunders when orders came in the height 

 of the honey season V We advised the Stand- 

 ard hive and extractor just to 'ry and get 

 things into some regular channel, but we have 

 had to till orders for ail the different kinds of 

 fraiues and hives each season about the same, 

 •^nd boxes jant rigid for all these began to 

 frighten us. Listen a minute, and see if we 

 cati not show you that light is breaking before 

 us. 



Get a pine boartl any width, and ;} feet long, 

 dressed to '^3 exactly ; now fix a smooth, level 

 board in front of your buzz saw at an exact 

 angle of 45«, or so that when you rip oil" ^4 

 inch strips from your 3-foot board, they will 

 have a sharp mitre bevel on each, as shown in 

 the diagram, which is supposed to be a cross 

 section of one of these strips. 



Noiv we will cut them up as we do frame 

 stuff, on a mitre, and of such lengths — a side 

 and an end from each strip — that we have a 

 frame 10/4 b,y 15}^, inside measure, after the 

 frame is put togetlier with metal corners of 

 galvanized iron. To use the corners on stuff 

 of this shape, we saw into the ends of these 

 pieces as shown in the dotted lines, and to do 

 it quickly we have two very small fine saws 

 arranged on the arbor just Tg of au inch apart. 

 These square hoops as they might be termad, 

 ai'e VQr^ strong aud light, and the bevels are 

 such that they fit on each other very securely. 

 Pile 8 of them one on the other aud j'ou have a 

 hive that will hold 11 L. frames; put on two 

 more and it is just right for 13 Standard frames 

 the otlier way, or 10 Quinby frames, either 

 closed end or suspended. Both the L. aud S. 

 frames recpiire a ;'3 piece of board to support 

 the rabbets, and to close the space at the ends 

 of the frames down to 3 8 of an inch ; by put- 

 ting a small screw in these boards at each 

 coiner. i)ut not so long as to go through the 

 hoops, the whole is held in one solid piece. We 

 secure by this means a very strong light hive 

 that is just right for four of the principal 

 frames in use, and thus are enabled to use the 

 same quilt, bottom and cover, and more than 

 all, can arrange a nice case of boxes to be put 

 over the frames cither one, two, or more tiers 

 high. With tiie folded tin supports mentioned 

 last month fastened to a single hoop, we can 

 remove the set of boxes very easily, and to see 



when they are lilled or ready to raise up, we 

 have only to elevate one of these hoops a lit- 

 tle ; if the3' are ready to raise, lift them up 

 case and all and put another case of boxes just 

 under tliem. Four hoops answer for a set of 

 boxes, and each set can be sent to market just 

 as they came from the hive; the ordinary cov- 

 er answering for top aud bottom. Each hive, 

 no matter wiiat the frame, is furnished with a 

 division board, and this with the end boards 

 makes a thickness of 5^ on all sides except the 

 south, where the sun strikes and where we 

 will have the entrance. This is only I4, and 

 in the spring we will keep the brood close up 

 to it. It may be best to keep the bees well up 

 j to the north side in winter— when wintered 

 : out — with the division board raised that they 

 I may go under it. 



j Now there only remains the American and 

 ! Gallup frames, and if these could be used in 

 I this hive also, we might all use one style of 

 I honej' box aud case for them and still retain 

 the frame we prefer. By using a division 

 board aud taking off a ht)op or two we can do 

 it, and the space left back of this division 

 board can be filled with boxes for side storing 

 on the principal of the Quinby, Alley aud Ha- 

 zen hives. And thus for the first time we have 

 a uuiversal hive that holds all the six princi- 

 pal frames. We forgot to say that in this hive 

 the closed end Q. frames can be used side bj' 

 side in the same hive with the suspended ones; 

 thus, we can use the former for brood combs 

 shipping etc., aud the latter for the extractor, 

 and we haven't told it all yet either ; the hoops 

 of this hive shed water like the shiugles on 

 a house, so there is no need of painting it. 

 The covers are made 3-8 with a frame of gal- 

 vanized iron around them to prevent warping, 

 etc. Judging from past experience that it 

 will save a considerable expense in postals to 

 both you and us, we give prices here. Two- 

 story Langstroth, witii upper one arranged for 

 frames or boxes as you choose, all complete, 

 $3.50. One and one-half story — 11 frame hive 

 and one case of 24 section boxes — $2.75. Hive 

 for 11 frames, no boxes, §1.75. One Ctise of 24 

 boxes, -$1.00. All the boxes will have guides 

 of comb foundation, and a case of boxes can 

 be fitted to any hive with but little trouble; 

 also, they of course fit so that any number can 

 be piled up, one over the other. As we shall 

 have to make the hive 2 hoops deeper for 

 American, Standard and Quinby hives, the 

 price will be 25c. per story more than for L. 

 hive. 



1*. S.— -V bod}' and cover for a one-story L. hive will 

 1)0 81.00; lor any of the others, $1.10. The same iiichid- 

 hig frames and'qnilt, .si. 75 and S-'.OO. it will lie re- 

 membered that ihe Standard, American and Gallup 

 liave Vii frames each, as well as being w hoops higher 

 iu this Univkusal Hive. 



Ba.EACII!IiV« WAX. 



'E purchased tins receipt of Mr. Hibbard, 

 and afterward found the same in two 

 different places iu the back volumes of the 

 A. B. J., but for the life of us v>'e can not get it 

 to produce any v.'ax nearly as nice as that used 

 by Mr. Long. If our readers do Ijetter, will 

 they please report. 



Melt the wax, and for every pound, add 2 oz. of i)ul- 

 verized nitrate of soda, and 1 oz. of oil of vitriol, di- 

 luted previously -fciih 8 oz. of Wi.ter, while the latter is 



