ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



95 



the course of a year a good many 

 of us seem to think — while I happen to 

 think of it, there is a pair of com- 

 mon pocket scissors. I don't know of 

 anything more convenient than that 

 for clipping queens' wings. Those are 

 in my pocket all the year around. 



A Member: Ever prick yourself on 

 them? 



Dr. Miller: I can't because I carry 

 them in my trousers' pocket all the 

 year around. I only mention that be- 

 cause it is often spoken of that you 

 must have a sharp-pointed pair of 

 scissors for clipping queens' wings. 



A Member: What do you want to 

 clip their wings for, Doctor? 



Dr. Miller: So that they cannot fly. 

 Latterly the idea seems to be gain- 

 ing ground, at certain times of the 

 year at least, that it is desirable to 

 have a larger space under the bot- 

 tom-bars. A few years ago I in- 

 vented what was called a reversible 

 bottom -board. It ia now called the 

 Danzenbaker bottom-board. What 

 change has been made in it to warrant 

 that change in name I don't know. At 

 any rate it was a reversible bottom- 

 board having one side so that there 

 would be between three-eighths to 

 half an inch between the bottom-bars 

 and the floor, and the other side so 

 there would be a larger space. I 

 used that with no little satisfaction; 

 but it was a good deal of trouble to 

 lift the hive off and change the board, 

 so that, although it was convenient, 

 I have gone back on it and wanted to 

 have something easier, and I finally 

 came to have a bottom -board so deep 

 as to allo^v a space of two inches be- 

 tween the bottom -bars and the floor. 

 The objection to that is that while it 

 gives you a fine space under for win- 

 ter — ^and I find that two inches is 

 none too large a space to allow things 

 to be kept clean under there — during 

 the time the bees are at w^ork in the 

 summer there must be something to 

 prevent their building down, and I 

 used for several years a box, simply 

 a box turned upside down in there, 

 which made a solid floor, and they 

 couldn't build through. Well, I 

 wanted something that would allow 

 the space there, and that would keep 

 the bees from building down, but still 

 allow the air, and finally the thing 

 that has suited me better than any- 

 thing else is just what you see there. 

 All there is of it is two sticks and 



slats across, and there is nothing spe- 

 cial about them. I happen to have 

 two top-bars, but a straight stick of 

 any kind will do, and then the slats 

 across. There is no trick about it. 

 All there is to it is to have something 

 that will come wuthin" an inch of the 

 bottom-bars, and it took me some time 

 to come to it and feel that I was safe 

 in having as imuch as an inch during 

 the building season, and I am none too 

 certain that I can always have that 

 amount of space. So far, I have had 

 no trouble with that. 



A Member: Does it sit under the 

 hive that w^ay? 



Dr. Miller: Under the brood-frames, 

 on the bottom-board. Understand, 

 there is that space of two inches from 

 the bottom-board, and that will stay 

 two inches — for instance, it is two 

 inches now. That gives me that two 

 inches during the winter in the cel- 

 lar, and it will stay two inches until 

 dandelions are in bloom and there is 

 danger of the bees building dow^n; 

 and when dandelion bloom comes this 

 device goes under to prevent the bees 

 building down, and stays there until 

 the harvest is over and all danger is 

 over. 



Mr. Wilcox: Did you ever try one 

 thicker at the back end than at the 

 front, so that the space would be 

 deeper at the front than at the rear? 



Dr. Miller: No. 



Mr. Wilcox: I have used such a 

 hive. 



President York: "What do vou call 

 it? 



Dr. Miller: For want of anything 

 better, I have called it a "bottom 

 rack." The other thing I called a 

 "fa'Ise bottom," but this could hardly 

 be called a false bottom. I call it a 

 bottom rack. I would be much 

 obliged if anyone would suggest a 

 better name. 



Mr. Baxter: I suppose this is ex- 

 clusively ^ for producers of comb 

 honey, but you would not suggest 

 that at all to people who produce ex- 

 tracted honey. 



Dr. Miller: Why? 



Mr. Baxter: Tou don't suppose they 

 would ever build under the bottom- 

 boards in my hives. I raise my hives 

 every spring, put a block under at 

 least an inch high, and there is over 

 two inches space between the bot- 

 tom-bars and the bottom of the hive. 



