1877 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



35 



all losses resulting from bees freezing at the 

 outer edges of the cluster. Thosp we have 

 had well protected, seem to have lost almost 

 no bees at all. 



Our thin section boxes, arc of course to be 

 shipped inside the frames just as they come 

 from the hives, and to support the bottom 

 bars of these frames during transit, we will 

 lay a ^^^ board on the bottom board that they 

 may rest on it as well as the rabbets. To 

 economize space in shipping, we can easily 

 make bottom boards that will reach clear up 

 to the frames. Perhaps no case can be 

 made so cheaply for shipping, as the Simplicity 

 hive in which the honey is stored ; they pack 

 together perfectly close, and yet have very 

 convenient handles for lifting them, both at 

 the sides and ends, and cost only 50c. when 

 finished and painted. The covers need not be 

 sent to market, for the tojis of the frames make 

 a complete cover when under shelter. 



VENTILiATIOlV AND COMB Bmi.]DI]\G. 



m 



?[ for bees in this locality ; quantities of honey 

 and of excellent quality. By the by, we are 

 making a bee hive that "takes the rag ofl" the bush" 

 and "knocks the socks'' from everj-thing it comes in 

 competition with. Wc placed a few of them in diCTer- 

 ent apiaries last season and in ev£ry instance they 

 came off with first honors. Ono in the apiary of John 

 Mass, in which he put a second swarm by the side of 

 six Langstroth hives, produced more comb honey 

 than all the rest put together. W. A. Douglas put 

 young swarms in two; they tilled the lower set of 

 frames solid full, and made liini an average of 40 lbs. 

 of surplus honey besides ; how is that for young 

 swarms ? There is no patent on this hive and it can 

 be built for S3. 00. I started out with the idea that 

 thousands of bees had been ventilated to deatli and 

 kept that idea steadily in view. I first started with 

 the common box hive, changed to J^angstrcth, and 

 then bought a patent hive of a man by the name of 

 '•Brat" and Brat he was by nature as well as name. 

 Gave ?5.C0 for right of township. We don't begrudge 

 the money as wc got some good ideas from it, and 

 have made so many changes we don't think any of 

 the Brat family would know the hive now, and this is 

 the hive with which we expect to beat the world. If 

 it takes 100" of heat for bees to build comb it is no 

 wonder that so many hives of the country are fail- 

 ures, for it would take a half bushel of bees to get up 

 that temperature. Wc claim that a quart, or two 

 «iuart8 at most, can build comb in our hive, and comb 

 iioney is the only honey that will sell in our town 

 without putting the price down to that of molasses ; 

 hence the advantage of a hive for comb honey. 



John R. Lee, Oxford, O. Jan. ."ath, 187G. 

 We feci pretty well satistied that one great 

 trouble in getting comlj honey, is having too 

 much draught through the liive, or having the 

 surplus receptacles protected by nothing but 

 thin vvooii. It is l)y no means necessary to 

 throw our hives away and get new ones, for 

 we can ])rotect any hive, or almost any kind 

 of honey boxes with the cliafi' cushions in 

 what seems to us to be the best manner im- 

 aginable. 



CHAFF CUSHION JIIVISION BOAUDS. 



Division boards, are a nuissance, as almost 

 every one has had occasion to feci, but the 



chart' cushions can be handled, and tucked u[) 

 closely around the bees with such facility, 

 that it hardly seems a task. The Indian head 

 is much the cheaper material, but we fear tlie 

 bees may bite through it. Wc hardly think 

 they will be as likely to however, as with the 

 quilts, but if they do, wc shall have to adopt 

 the duck, which would make a very durable 

 article. To have them nice, a band should go 

 clear around, that the edge instead of being 

 sharp, may be square, making a shallow square 

 box as it were, of cloth, before the chatl" is put 

 in. 



ENTRANCES. 



In connection with close warm hives we 

 Avould remark that we have always had a 

 sort of preference for an entrance a few inches 

 above the bottom board, were it not seemingly 

 more difficult for the bees to clear out the hive. 

 This may be but a notion after all, for hiveH 

 well tilled with bees with entrances thus, keep 

 quite as clean as any. Quinby recom- 

 mends in his book, boring a hole in the front 

 of the hive, and gives as a reason that the 

 bees will quickly show which one they prefer. 

 Such an entrance would certainly do much to 

 keep the hive warm in early spring, for they 

 go out and in without even stepping on the 

 cold floor of the hive at all, and we confess 

 to having quite a fancy for seeing the bees go 

 in such an auger hole when busily laden with 

 pollen in the spring. After the season gets so 

 far advanced that they need a larger entrance, 

 the hive can be moved forward and those that 

 prefer the lower entrance, allowed to take it. 

 We are reminded here that our handles- ol" 

 rather the places cut in the Simplicity hives 

 to lift them by, will make beautiful entrances 

 if a hole is cut clear through with the point 

 of a knife. Lest friend Lee should think wi-. 

 had forgotten all about his hive, we will ask 

 him to tell us how it is made, and describe the 

 handles under another article. 



THE BEST H1V£. 



^^RIEND NOVICE:— Within the last few weeks I 

 jSfi have been traveling all over the country, not 

 ^^' for pleasure only, although it has been very 

 pleasing to me, but to gain if possible important in- 

 formation on a certain point or question in bee cul- 

 ture wliich has not been tiilly seitled, viz: What hivf 

 ■IS best for (/aihcring honey in boxes or small 2')acka(jes i 

 And now before I lorget it, let me say that I did not 

 travel by rail, but mostly by all the bee journals pub^ 

 lished within the four or five years past. And per- 

 haps I ought to say that I am so constituted that it 

 gives me always the greatest pleasure to share with, 

 others any seeming good. Why, I am so singular ia 

 this regard, so made up, so to speak, that I really bo 

 lieve I enjoy a good hearty laugh better with friends, 

 than to go behind the barn and laugh alone ! 



But what has all this to do with that hive ? Did yon 

 find it ? Of course 1 did. The very first successful bee- 

 keeper I came to had it. It was an improved Lang- 

 stroth, and the gentleman claimed that it made it "so 

 veyij cowvenient a.n({yiii\ia\ so simple— so easy to ma- 

 nipulate that it left nothing to be desired," etc., etc. 

 Well, I found about .^0 diflerent styles of hive, more 

 or less, in my travels', and most of them were improved. 

 —all the way up to Quinby's, and thai was improved 

 too. In fact, I believe he improved it three times 

 himself. I have named my discovery "The Im- 



