122 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



hive is V2}i inches wide and a }■! incli board is nailed 

 to one side of brood cliambers to make the right spa- 

 ces at the ends of frames. Again, the little boards 

 N^ovice tells about, used to close the last two cases at 

 top, have cleats nailed to them which are a little long- 

 er than the boards so thsit the attraction of gravita- 

 tion always keeps them in place. We might have 

 told Novice that one reason why we used two boxes 

 in a case instead of four, was that the four box cases 

 would be heavy to shake the bees from, but that is 

 the least reason. As we told him then, so we say 

 now, that in order to secure the best returns in box 

 honey the emi)ty boxes should be placed at the sides 

 and the full ones taken off at the top, as bees build 

 comb much faster at the sides, and store and seal 

 hon'3y laster at the lop. Now if we had a four box 

 case at the sides and a two box case on top we could 

 not work thorn by the case from side to to)) but should 

 be compelled to handle each box scjiarately, taking 

 them out of the side cases and replacing them In 

 those on top. 



Next we llnd that our ''arrangement is both compli- 

 cated and expensive compared with the plan he has 

 adopted," and then he goes on to tell U3 how to man- 

 age hl3 hives for box honey. How many of the read- 

 ers of Gleanings know that up to less than two 

 years ago Novice has written that boxes were things 

 01 the past and that he would have nothing to do with 

 the sticky things? That the only way to secure hon- 

 ey was with the extractor, etc., etc., and now he pre- 

 sume? to 8et himself up as knowing all about how 

 hives should be made, etc., to secure the best results 

 in box honey. Let us look a moment and see wheth- 

 er his plan Is a good one. In the llrst place, he pro- 

 poses to have his boxes two tiers high. Now we be- 

 lieve that all box honey raisers agree that to secure 

 the best results boxes should not be more than six 

 Inches away from the brood in any direction unless 

 they are tiered up, and that Is done by raising the first 

 Set when two thirds iull and placing empty ones 

 under them. But according to his plan we have the 

 Ijoxes two tiers high and empty to start with. Again, 

 he advises to take ofl honey by taking off a full siory 

 at once just at night and setting It near the entrance 

 for the bees to run out. Now there are two serious 

 Objections to this. First, that in order to get the best 

 prices for box honey the comb must be of anowy 

 whiteness, and every day a box Is left on the hive, 

 after It Is capped over It depreciates in value, and 

 two weeks will make a difference of from 3 to .'J cents 

 per pound. Therefore It will be seen that before the 

 OuLglde sections are finished the inside ones are 

 stained badly, thereby making it less salable. If the 

 readers of Gleanings wish to have their honey com- 

 mand a high price and get a name of producing the 

 lluest honey in market, they should take off' each box 

 as soon as scaled. Do you think this is a task V 11 so, 

 as Novice saya, "you are not fit for a bee-keeper." 

 Sei'ondly. during taking off box honey we have some 

 eool nights especially during the latter part of the 

 honey season, (the time when Novice tells yon you 

 will be likely to be troubled with robbers) and when 

 you get up a few cold mornings as soon as daylight 

 and find the bees stupid with cold and that they have 

 not gone out a bit you being compelled to carry them 

 to some place of salcty or put them back and wait for 

 a warm time, you will feel that shaking the bees off a 

 set of cases as you would from frames is not so '-slow 

 and laborious" after all. We never heard Novice say 

 that shaking bees from frames was slow and laborious. 



Since we have got your ear friend Novice a subscri- 

 ber wishes to know where the diagrams and cuts of 



our hive are which you promised in the Dec. No. 

 Lest this should seem too much like an advertisement 

 we will say that we do not care to sell any of our 

 wares and only advertise to accommodate those that 

 are really desirous of a sample to work from. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE, Borodino, N. Y., April 12, '77. 



I believe I deserve all you say friend I)., and 

 fraiikly admit tliat my personal experience 

 with comb honey is but limited. My excuse 

 for taking so much responsibility is that I 

 have been at much expense of both time and 

 money, in making myself thoroughly acquaint- 

 ed with almost all the hives before the world, 

 and with a large proportion of the principal 

 bee-keepers. Many succeed with very com- 

 plicated hives, but I believe others do just as 

 well with very simple ones. As an illustra- 

 tion ; our neighbor Blakeslee obtained 300 lbs. 

 of comb honey from a colony in section boxes 

 placed two high over the brood combs, and 

 his sections were taller than the ones we ad- 

 vise using two high. If one wishes, they can 

 remove the sections as fast as filled from the 

 L. frames, as well as from your small ones, 

 and even if a whole story is taken ofi" at once, 

 I know of no reason why it should be left un- 

 til the combs are discolored. After the bees 

 are all out, you can put the unfinished ones 

 back in the hive with very little trouble. 



I cheerfully submit the matter to bee-keep- 

 ers as follows : 



Can we aflbrd to adopt a case for section 

 frames that will not admit of being hung in 

 the hive or lower story just as the brood 

 frames are? In other words, can we afford to 

 have two kinds of frames, or I'ather frames of 

 two difi'erent dimensions in the same hive ? 



If you decide you can, then consider the ex- 

 pense of the "rigging" — I can call it by no oth- 

 er term — needed to accommodate all these dif- 

 ferent fixtures. 



I did intend to have cuts made of your hive, 

 but the fearful number of different pieces (that 

 I honestly think can be dispensed with) so dis 

 couraged me that I called a "council " of our 

 bee-keepers about here and although I defend- 

 ed it the best I knew how, they very emphat- 

 ically said it must be simplified ; which I feel 

 sure you will do soon, if you have not already, 

 friend I). 



After the weather gets cool, we frequently 

 find the bees out of the boxes without remo- 

 ving the upper story, and by raising the upper 

 story high enough to put an empty one be- 

 tween it and the brood, we get the bees out 

 without the loss of a single one. Perhaps sur- 

 plus boxes had better not be more than 6 

 inches al)ove the brood, yet we last season had 

 over 200 lbs. to the colony stored in upper 

 stories piled up 4 stories liigh. In several of 

 the hives no brood was found except in the 

 lower story, and they stored honey quite rap- 

 idly over 2 feet above the brood. They were 

 prevented from swarming by giving them emp- 

 ty combs as fast as filled. How much labor 

 was required to remove this crop of surplus 

 think you? Had these upper stories betn 

 filled with frames of sections the yield might 

 not have been equal, but we obtained over 100 

 lbs. in sections piled up 4 high, from a colony, 

 and although the greater part of it was re- 

 moved at one time, the honey was beautifully 

 white. The fdu. converted me to box honey. 



