b56 



THE BkE-KEkPERS' REVIEW. 



and in wintering bees. I call these inter- 

 mediate because a part of each class is so 

 passionately absorbed in inventing or other- 

 wise securing or in testing a hive specifi- 

 cally adapted to the attainment of one these 

 ends that all interest in the primary objects 

 of bee culture are so lost that they fade out 

 of view, ( who has not met those who are in 

 ecstacies over their large or frequent swarms, 

 yet who either forget to put on the surplus 

 boxes or to take them cff ) while the other 

 part make these objects more or less sub- 

 sidiary to the attainment of the proper re- 

 wards of bee keeping. • The first part of 

 these classes must be relegated to a place 

 with those who are pursuing pleasure and 

 moths ; with the hope, nevertheless, that by 

 chance some device may be hit upon by 

 them sometime that will be found worthy to 

 be incorporatedjinto the mass of real value 

 to apiculture while the latter part will re- 

 ceive such brief attention in connection 

 with hives for honey production as the lim- 

 its of this paper will permit. 



While queen rearing is a legitimate de- 

 partment of l:)ee-keepi ng, yet the character- 

 istics of the hive best adapted to that branch 

 is only of special interest to so few that I 

 would not be warranted in taking time on 

 the topic, even if I could hope to make any 

 valuable suggestion touching it. The hive 

 in use for other purposes will generally be 

 for ud sufficiently serviceable for this. 



rhis brings me to the important point of 

 tnis subject, the hive best adapted to 

 the production of honey. I confine myself 

 to a discussion of the brood chamber and that 

 chiefly in relation to general principles. 



The successful production of honey is the 

 one overshadowing object of apiculture, and 

 to this in my estimation all others ought to 

 be made unhesitatingly to bow. 



For my use. at least, there are certain 

 qualities which a hive for this purpose must 

 not possess. 



1, It must not be expensive. Fifteen or 

 twenty cents should purchase lumber enough 

 of sulficiently good quality for body, cover 

 and bottom. Lumber called "shipping 

 culls, " of white pine, is good enough for the 

 body and a grade or two better will do for 

 covers and bottoms, if the best of it is se- 

 lected for covers. The apiarist must not be 

 be seduced by one or two good crops into 

 failure in point of economy. 



2, It must not be cumbersome. Its bulk 

 and weight should be as small a= may be, 

 loose parts and projections should be avoid- 

 ed except where that is impossible. A hive 

 that cannot be handled easily by one man 

 when it contains a colony ot bees with stores 

 enough for winter is, as a rule, to be shun- 

 ned. There may be an exception where the 

 hive is seldom or never to be moved sum- 

 mer or winter. Even the risk of the dis- 

 placements of the combs would, I think, 

 better beobivated by fixed frames. 



3, It must not be complicated. Slides, 

 drawers and such like traps never work well 

 inside of a box occupied by bees, and if 

 they would, they could hardly accomplish 

 anything which may not be more easily 

 attained by simplicity. 



Besides these negative points there are, in 

 my view, some positive qualities to be sought 

 for in any hive at all well calculated tor an 

 apiary to be conducted for the highest net 

 profit. The first and most important of 

 these is that the hive be fitted to conven- 

 iently repress the production of bees that 

 can only detract from the net income. No 

 doubt there are localities where, on account 

 of the continuous character of the honey 

 flow, or from the fact that the late crop is 

 abundant and equally valuable, or nearly so. 

 pound for pound, with that of the early 

 crop, this matter may not require consider- 

 ation, but in localities like central Michi- 

 gan where the .Tune and early .July honey 

 from white clover and basswood is nearly 

 twice as valuable pound for pound as that 

 gathered in the fall : and where the fall crop 

 is generally scant or entirely wanting, and 

 in any case a period of thirty or forty days 

 of entire dearth between basswood and fall 

 flowers, it is of the flrst importance. 



I have heretofore attempted to show, and 

 have, at least, about convinced myself that 

 it costs two lbs. of honey to rear one pound 

 of brood, and that as a Langstroth frame is 

 capable of containing two pounds of brood, 

 therefore, I hold that one such frame of 

 brood costs four pounds of honey. More- 

 over, it needs no argument to show that 

 five such frames will contain sufficient brood 

 to keep the colony up to the highest strength 

 desireablein this locality for fall and winter 

 purposes. Suppose now the clover and 

 basswood season here, any given year, July 

 inth, i. is evident, since it requires 

 thirty-five days from the laying of 



