192 



glea:n]ngs in bee cultuee. 



June 



make just I of an inch. The groove is to be 

 exactly in the centre, and f deep, and is, of 

 course, made in the end of the board before 

 the pieces are ripi>ed off. The top bar is al- 

 so to be grooved on the under side, its 

 ■whole length. Below we show you a section 

 of both top and end bar, Avitli the groove to 

 hold the comb guide. 



As the comb guide is 9-10, and the cut in 

 the end bar f, Ave have o-Ki left for whole 

 Avood in the top bar, as at A, and the table 

 should be so set, as to leave just this amount 

 of wood uncut. 



Even if the fdn. is fastened in the frames 

 with melted wax, as many do, I would have 

 such a comb guide, because it adds so much 

 to the strength of the frame, and obviates 

 the necessity of having a very heavy top bar. 

 The bees Avill, in time, build their combs 

 right over such a comb guide, and use the 

 cells above the brood for honey. 



HOW MANY FRAMES IN A HIVE. 



You will remember that the width of the 

 .Simplicity hive inside, as well as the lower 

 story of the Chaff hive, is just 14i inches. 

 Well, this space is just right for ten frames, 

 bringing them a triHe less than H inches 

 from each other, from centre* to centre. 

 After we have our frames placed in the 

 hive, and spaced with the eye and lingers, 

 so as to have about the same amount of 

 room for each frjime. we are to consider 

 what is to be used to keep the bees dOAvn on 

 the frames, and to ju-event them from build- 

 ing their combs clear up against the cover, 

 and fastening the lattei-down with propolis. 

 Mr. Langstroth used a thin board, and call- 

 ed it a honey board ; but as this is almost 

 sure to kill bees, especially when covered 

 with little bits of comb, I very much pre- 

 fer some kind of cloth, tlint the bees will not 

 eat through, or cover much with propolis. 

 The common black enan;eled cloth, such as 

 carriage makers use. seems to answer the 

 purpose the best of anything yet tried. 



[Sec page 73.) 



HOAV TO USE THE KROAD FRAMES OF SEC- 

 TION BOXES. 



For f'e one story hives, you have nothing 

 to do, li'it to just hang the fr;uiie of sections 

 in the hive. The separators, of course, will 

 be turned toward the brood, and this will 

 serve to keep the bees from putting i)ollen 

 in the section combs, as well as to keep the 



queen out. I have never seen any pollen, or 

 any eggs, carried into a frame of sections, 

 where separators were used. 



Although you can get nice honey from a 

 one story hive, I would not, as a general 

 thing, recommend them ; because almost 

 any swarm of bees will very soon need more 

 room, and if it is not furnished, they will be 

 pretty sure either to swarm or to lie idle, 

 for want of it. With the extractor, we can 

 get along very well with one story, for we 

 can extract the honey ; but we cannot wel 

 take off the sections, until they are capped 

 over, and when the two frames are full and 

 ready to cap, the bees will have little or 

 nothing to do. This is why I would have a 

 two story hive. If you have the upper story 

 filled Avith sections, I do not knoAv that there 

 is any particular adA^antage in having any 

 sections in the loAver story at all ; for, after 

 the bees once get to AA'orking Avell above, 

 they Avill, as a general thing, rather neglect 

 the lower ones. Different colonies Avork 

 differently in this respect, but side storing, 

 unless in hives Avith taller frames than the 

 L., has been pretty generally abandoned. 

 You Avill remember that the Simplicity hive 

 is 14i inches Avide, and that the broad frames 

 to hold the sections are 2 inches wide : 

 therefore 7 of the latter, would fill the hive 

 into about I of an inch. Well, as we wish 

 the tin separators to lie as flat and smooth 

 as possible, Ave Avill AA-edge up in this i inch, 

 to bring the seven frames as closely together 

 as possible, and then, AAiien the AATdges are 

 removed, Ave can get out the first frame of 

 sections Avithout any trouble. As the tops 

 of thes? frames are tight together, we shall 

 haA'e no occasion to use the sheet of enam- 

 eled cloth, and this may be laid away until 

 the season of surplus is over. It is true, the 

 bees Avill get above through this I inch space 

 Avhere our Avedges are put, but we Avill stop 

 this by a thin slip of Avood, similar to our 

 comb guides, only a little longer. Only tvA'o 

 Avedges are required to hold the broad 

 frames tight up to each other, and these are 

 toAvards tlie middle, just opposite the u])- 

 rights of the section boxes. betAveenthe seit- 

 arators and the sides of the hive. The dia- 

 gram below Avill illustrate it. 



irOAV TO AVEDGE UP THE FRAMES OF 

 SECTIONS. 



