THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



43 



below the frames, also the depth of the 

 entrance, is yi inch on one side, and.,^ 

 on the other. 



We are ordering ours made this year 

 the same as above, only the floor will be 

 built of narrow planed and matched 

 material, running crosswise, and cleated 

 at the ends (side of the bottom board) 

 the same as the old Heddon. Blanton 

 cover used to be made. This, besides 

 making a better bottom, will throw both 

 entrances at the same end. and this will 

 allow the bottom board to sit level on the 

 stand, while the regular is ^s low at the 

 back, if one side is up, and ys if the other 

 side up. We have found to our sorrow, 

 that the frail ^4 bottom will not stand the 

 slam-bang handling of moving, etc., in 

 out-yard work. 



The brood-frame, either Hoffman or 

 metal-spaced, will be used. We have 

 both in use. and cannot see much differ- 

 ence. As we rarely ever handle brood- 

 frames, it does not make any material 

 difference whether the staple-spacers are 

 used or not. as far as moving bees is 

 concerned, for when they have had bees 

 in for a year or two, there is no swinging 

 of frames, even if moved on the cars, as 

 the brace combs hold them firm. 



WHY AN EXTRACTING FRAME SHOULD BE ONLY 

 % ALL THE WAY ROUND. 



But when it comes to a frame for the 

 supers, there in no suitable frame listed. 

 They seem to be all designed for the 

 brood-nest, or, perhaps, for comb honey. 

 The wide top-bar and wide end-bars, 

 and narrow bottom bars, are all unsuitable 

 for extracting purposes. What we want 

 and must have, to uncap to the best ad- 

 vantage, is a frame about % wide, clear 

 around. With this style of frame in our 

 supers, spaced 1 -'4 inches from center to 

 center, we get great, fat combs; then, 

 with a long uncapping knife, cut clear 

 down deep, clear to the frame. In this 

 way we get more wax in the uncapping 

 tank; but the greatest advantage is. we 

 can uncap a whole comb at one stroke. 

 Then the item of a thin comb to give 

 back to the bees, thus getting a better 



cured and very much superior article of 

 honey is the main point. 



To illustrate : In producing honey for 

 exhibition purposes, we insert full sheets 

 of foundation in between our extracting 

 combs, in the supers of some of our most 

 powerful colonies; and. after quite an ex- 

 perience along this line, we have never 

 found a better way to produce a superior 

 article of extracted honey. While it would 

 not be practical to produce all our ex- 

 tracted honey, direct from foundation, the 

 next best plan is to fill our supers with 

 these, deeply uncapped combs. With 

 these the cells are only about half an 

 inch deep; and this drawing out of the 

 combs when being filled with honey, 

 gives the bees an opportunity to cure the 

 honey nearly as well as they would in 

 drawing out foundation. Never give thick 

 extracting combs, during a heavy flow of 

 honey. 



The wide top bars do not admit of this 

 deep uncapping, and wide end-bars are 

 inconvenient. The kind we order is a J^ 

 square top-bar, with double groove and 

 wedge, for fastening in the foundation — 

 short top bars, with end-staple spacers. 

 This style of frame needs a Vs thick end 

 bar, as it has to be nailed through the 

 top-bar into the ends of the end-bar, 

 with two 1 ^ inch" cement coated nails. 

 The bottom-bar is '4 inch thick, 1 7 H 

 long, and nails on the ends of the end- 

 bars. 



WHY MANUFACTURERS OUGHT NOT TO MAKE 



HIVES ANSWER FOR CRATES IN 



SHIPPING. 



There is another subject I wish to com- 

 ment on, before leaving this interesting 

 hive and super question, and that is the 

 practice of crating, or, 1 should say, not 

 crating, our hives and supers for ship- 

 ment. These beautiful hive-bodies and 

 supers are made into shipping cases, and 

 then turned over to the freight smashers 

 to do the rest. Did 1 say beautiful (?) 

 Judging from those that were inside and 

 properly crated, they must have been 

 beautiful when they left the factory. I 

 only wish the manufacturers could see 



