THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



13 



been different; but, as our fall flow is 

 insignificant, we would simply have a 

 horde of consumers at the close of the 

 season, which would be anything- but 

 satisfactory. 



At one time, I tested fifty 12-frame 

 Langstroth hives for extracted honey, 

 but, for this location, I could not see 

 enough advantage to justify me in con- 

 tinuing their use. They were cumber- 

 some to handle, and, like the large 

 Ouinbys, were slow in building up, 

 for our early honey flow. 



A COMPARISON OF THE 8-AND 10-FRAME 



I.ANGSTROTH HIVE FOR EXTRACTED 



HONEY. 



Were I asked how many Langstroth 

 frames were necessary in the brood nest 

 to build our colonies up into normal 

 condition, for our earl.v honey flow in 

 June, I would say from seven to nine 

 frames. This number would provide 

 all the breeding room necessary, for 

 90 per cent, of our queens, while the 

 other 10 per cent, would be divided be- 

 tween those that were very prolific, 

 and would use more room, and the 

 inferior queens that would use less 

 room. With these calculations, there 

 is allowed room for at least one frame 

 of honey in the hive at all times. Now 

 I suppose if one should see fit, he 

 could by the use of dummies and a 

 great lot of experienced labor, keep all 

 his colonies on just the number of 

 combs, each individual colony would 

 need; but I think the tendency of the 

 times is to handle frames less, and do 

 our different manipulations as much 

 as possible by handling hives instead. 

 If that is true, we will have to decide 

 on a certain number of frames, and 

 build our hives to hold that number, 

 estimating that we gain enough, or 

 more, in convenience, and speed of man- 

 ipulation, to offset what would be 

 gained by giving each individual col- 

 onj' exactly what room it would need 

 and no more. 



If we were to adopt a hive of a size 

 to correspond to the foregoing ideas, it 



is easy to see that the eight-frame hive 

 would be about the nearest right in 

 capacity, to accommodate the largest 

 number of queens, during the early 

 breeding season; and where one is 

 working for comb honey, with the 

 ordinary system in vogue, it is prob- 

 ably as good a size as any; or, if one 

 only has one yard, and is willing to 

 watch it closely, it is all right, If 

 one's bees are already in eight-frame 

 hives, I am not sure it would pa}' to 

 shift them to another size hive even 

 for extracted honey production. 



THE REASON FOR USING 10-FRAME 

 HIVES, IN OUT-YARD WORK. 



Notwithstanding all that I have said 

 about the eight-frame hive being as 

 large as is necessary to produce a full 

 crop of extracted honey, I have 

 reasons for using, and recommending 

 the 10-frame size, for out-yard work. 

 Some one has said, they bear neglect 

 better. While I am not ready to admit 

 that we neglect our bees, still, there 

 is, sometimes, quite an interval be- 

 tween visits, and these two extra 

 combs, usually filled with honey, are a 

 help to us in several ways. 



Then, I like a 10-frame, full-depth 

 super to hold the eight extracting 

 combs; and it is not necessary to tier 

 up so high as with the eight-frame 

 size. This advantage is so apparent, 

 that I have known eight-frame hive- 

 men to arrange their hives so as to 

 take a 10-frame super. The ten-frame 

 super is not unwieldy to handle, and 

 is better in several waj's than the 

 eight-frame, for upper story purposes. 

 The most important advantage in the 

 ten-frame hive is its capacity to hold a 

 fair amount of brood during September, 

 and still hold twenty-five or thirtj' 

 pounds of winter stores; or enough to 

 last a colony, not only through the 

 winter, but clear through the spring 

 breeding season, without any looking 

 after by the apiarist. 



Right here lies one of the most im- 

 portant considerations, in out-yard 



