GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE: 



Jan. 



QUERIES ABOl T HIVES. 



TAI.L AND SH.ALLOW FRAMES FOR WINTERING. 



!JILL the Lang^itroth frame, as you use it in 

 chaff hive, winter as well as a deep frame 

 like the American ? 



I think a shallow frame, even better for 

 wintering, if the apartment is made small, 

 as we have directed, for the bees can then 

 cluster clear to the bottom board and keep 

 even that warm. With a deep frame, there 

 Is always a cold space below the bees. Large 

 apiaries liave been wintered in L. frames 

 Avithout the loss of a single colony, but we 

 have few if any, such reports from deep 

 frames. Even Doolittle with all his skill, 

 and with his small Gallup frame, reports a 

 much smaller number of colonies each 

 spring, than the fall before. 



WIDE OR NARROW HIVES. 



Would it be advisable to make the Simplicity 

 wider, so as to hold 4 wide frames in lower storj- ? 

 This would make the upper story more cumbersome, 

 but give necessary surplus room without a third 

 story. 



Many experiments have been made with 

 wider "hives, and we have this season tried 

 just the arrangement you propose, but the 

 outside sections were very imperfectly filled ; 

 I suppose they were too far firom the' brood. 

 The width of "the hives, as we make them, is 

 I think about right, if an upper story is used ; 

 and this we can not aiford to dispense with, 

 unless the colony is very small. A third 

 story will seldom, if ever, be needed if the 

 sections are removed as fast as filled and 

 capped. 



SIZE OF SECTIONS. 



Throwing aside the convenience of having the sec- 

 tions fit the frames of your hive, would you advise 

 4'4X-lf4, in size, in preference to larger ? 



I would prefer sections 4i inches square to 

 any other size for several reasons, aside 

 from their just filling an L. frame. 



BEST HIVE FOR COMB HONEY. 



Do you think I can obtain as much comb honey, 

 using a 2-storj- Simplicity or chaff hive, as I could 

 from a Quinby, Adair, or Gallup, using their frames 

 and other arrangements ? 



I think you will get just as much from the 

 Simplicity, as from any of the hives you 

 have meiitioned. On account of the chaff 

 lacking. I think the chafi hive, (or house 

 < piary, which amoimts to the same thing), 

 would give better results than any hive that 

 does not protect the surplus apartinent from 

 extreme changes of temperature. There 

 vras very little swarming among the bees in 

 the house apiary, and they are much better 

 i)rovisioned tlian the out-door Simplicity 

 nives. 



CHAFF HIAT:s ; AVHY THEY ARE TWO-STORY. 



Could not a chaff hive be made, single story ? I 

 am pretty sure I would not like the two stories to- 

 gether. 



A chaff liive could he made single storv, 

 of course, but to get the best ]n-otection for 

 winter, and for surplus, as I have just men- 

 tioned, you would need a chaff ujiper story 

 also. Now, even if you could manage such 

 an arrangement, yovi would have a joint be- 

 tween the two that^vould be almost sm-e to 

 let in frost and cold winds. I find it a very 

 easy matter to handle the frames in the low- 

 er story, and I can look at the bees during 

 this pleasant December weather almost as 



easily as in the summer time. I have only 

 to raise the light cover with one hand, the 

 chaff cushion with the other, then turn up 

 one corner of the duck, and there they are, 

 as snug and bright as if frost were unknown. 

 Is not this better than tearing doAAii a lot of 

 unsightly boxes filled Avith cnaff and loose 

 straw, every time you wish to take a look at 

 your bees V A chaff hive costs more than a 

 one story Simplicity it is true, but it is al- 

 ways a two st(u-y hive, and only costs SI ,00 

 more than a two story Simplicity, besides 

 having a much larger upper story. 



Do you not make your broad frames with metal 

 corners ? 



We do not use metal comers for the broad 

 frames, nor is it desirable, for we do not 

 want the bees to get above them at all. A 

 little more care is needed in replacing them, 

 to avoid killing bees, but cases of sections 

 of any kind, must be handled slowly and 

 with care, compared with handling combs 

 for extracting. 



AMOUNT OF ROOM NEEDED FOR SURPLL'S. 



What do you find to be the average surplus room a 

 stock requires (in lbs.) for comb honey '? for ex- 

 tracted ? Theo. Van Allen. 



Adams Station, N. Y., Dec. 4th, 1877. 



Doolittle uses a suri>lus capacity of about 

 45 lbs. if I am correct ; we use from 50 to 80 

 1 lb. sections at one time. If you give too 

 much room, you hinder the bees by making 

 their chamber too cool. If you do net give 

 enough, they are very apt to swarm, umess 

 they have constant supervision. For 

 extracted honey, much depends upon the 

 season. Some seasons it will do to extract 

 the honey as fast as gathered; at other 

 times, their hives may be full clear do\m to 

 the lower outside corners, and still the hon- 

 ey will be like sweetened water. In such a 

 case I would raise up the upper story, and 

 put a third under it; they will ripen and 

 seal it uj) nicely in this position, and the 

 empty story between the two, Avill be filled 

 with a rush. Even where a colony is bent 

 on swarming, this will start them at work. 

 Friend Betsinger who has just paid us a 

 visit, insists that we lose much Ijv giving 

 them so much room, which woidd be true, 

 v/ere we working with section boxes, and 

 advises that the honey be all extracted, ev- 

 ery other day if need be, to give them room. 

 To get the thin honey ripened, he would let 

 it stand in shallow vessels protected by 

 gauze or some thin fabric. I have tried both 

 ways, and am inclined to think that honey 

 ripened artificially, will never have the pure 

 rich flavor of that which is left in the care 

 of the bees. I grant that he will get more, 

 but I think ours will be much nicer. You 

 see my friend, how much is to be consid- 

 ered, before we can decide upon the amount 

 of room needed for surplus. 



TEASEIi CUtTXIKE. 



^^plKpE are requested by several to give the mode 

 VP^I ^^ Teasel Culture. The plant is biennial as a 

 \* t'/ rule, although a part of the plants (the small- 

 er ones) may net produce hoads till the third year, 

 and in that case they are called "Voors." The ground 

 is prepared much the same as for corn, being marked 

 but one way, the rows being from 3 to 3' i feet apart. 

 The seed is then sown, and as a rule, left for the 

 rains to wash the dirt over it, as it is sown as early in 

 the spring as the ground can be worked. Some, how- 



