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THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



147 



have queens which thej did not have 

 when they separated, and have nearly 

 as many hees as any of the first swarms 

 that came out in June. We did not get 

 suflScient into one hive as wo afterwards 

 found, but took out about a quart subse- 

 quently and fastened them up until the 

 evening of the second day, when none of 

 them returned to the old hive, seeming to 

 have lost all knowledge of it. In some 

 cases, perhaps, the bees might fail to 

 raise a queen until the working brood in 

 the combs are all hatched, when of course 

 the colony would be ruined if not cared 

 for. As soon as the young bees in the 

 comb are all out, it should be examined, 

 and if no queen is found, they should 

 have more comb given them from an 

 old stock that has a queen, when they 

 will go at work again. When the prop- 

 er season returns we intend to give the 

 modus operandi more minutely, also the 

 cause of failure, &c., as by this way of 

 raising new colonies we are in no danger 

 of losing them hy running away, and al- 

 so save a great deal of time in watching 



them. * 



■•» 



For tho Illinois Farmer. 



Different Hives Adapted to different Bee Keep- 

 ers nnder E. W. Phelps' Patents 1851 and'58. 

 The Section Hive is in two depart- 

 ments with a shutter between, opening 

 or closing a slat 3-4 by 7 inches, thro' 

 which the bees can pass. The sections 

 are set in a case, the top, back and 

 bottom hung on hinges, (and here let me 

 say no bottom should be fast on a hive.) 

 When bees are to be put in, the bottom 

 is let down, and closed after they get 

 in. These hives are adapted to all 

 such as dare not go and take their bees, 

 comb and all, for fear of being stung, 

 (and at least one half that keep bees 

 are of that stamp.) Under these sec- 

 tions is pi aced ^the moth trap on the 

 bottom of the hive, which is a groove 

 one sixteenth of an inch deep, one fourth 

 of an inch wide, and twelve inches long, 

 both sides making two parts for them to 

 hide in. This can be removed from the 

 outside without disturbing the bees, or 

 being disturbed by them. In the back 

 of these sections is a glass six by eight 

 inches, which enables you to see all the 

 workings of the hive. On the top of 

 these are small honey boxes, two or more 

 according to size. The Dees work in 

 both sections, and breed their young. — 

 Should the moth trap be neglected and 

 moths get in, the bees can be removed 

 from one to the other without touching 

 a bee, or resorting to smoking. On the 

 front of the case is an alighting board, 

 through which the bees enter the case 

 into both sections. You place a stick in 

 this alighting board slanting so that it 

 stops the bees entering the aection you 

 wish to remove, and the bees pass into 

 the other side. Then move the shutter 

 between the sections inside the hive that 



cuts off the communication between 

 them. The consequence is that on one 

 side the bees are working out and in 

 freely, on the other they cannot get out 

 at a'll. Under each of these sections is 

 hung a tin ventilator. By putting your 

 hand under and turning a wire it falls; 

 this opens a three inch hole. The bees 

 come out of this, and when returning to 

 the hive again, enter the alighting board 

 and are conducted to the opposite side. 

 In twenty four hours or less all the 

 bees will be out, and you can remove it 

 and anything you choose in it. Place it 

 back again, reverse the stick in the 

 alighting board, close one ventilator and 

 open the other, and the bees are changed 

 into the opposite section; all accom- 

 plished without the least exposure to the 

 bees, or enraging them at all, and not 

 one minute is required to make the 

 changes, and no excuse is left on ac- 

 count of fear for not keeping bees, or ne- 

 glecting them, for if this trap is attend- 

 ed to, the moth will not trouble the bees. 



THE BOX HIVE. 



The next is the box hive with the 

 sectional frame, patented in 1858, which 

 is two or more frames attached to gath- 

 er either with blind staples or encircled 

 by a large frame. The advantage these 

 frames have over others are : the hives 

 can be made tall, and the comb will not 

 break in handling, (and I agree with 

 most writers that hives should not be 

 less than twelve inches high — I would 

 sooner add three inches than diminish 

 one.) The brood frame is two frames 

 one above the other, the upper one is 

 stored with honey, the lower with honey 

 bee bread and young bees. If the bees 

 have not eaten the honey out of the up- 

 per one during winter, it can be removed 

 in good order for family use or market, 

 but if needed it can be placed at the bot- 

 tom and the lower one placed at the top, 

 where the heat rises, thus facilitating 

 the raising of the young. The outside 

 frames are made in joints, as young 

 bees and polen are seldom found in 

 them. They can be removed and are in 

 the most suitable form for market, weigh- 

 ing from -one to two pounds. It is many 

 times the case that bees have not empty 

 comb enough to raise their young, and 

 honey remaining in the hive more than is 

 needed is a detriment to the bees. In 

 this frame the choicest pieces can be se- 

 lected and their places supplied with 

 empty comb or a frame to build new in, 

 and I am becoming more and more sat- 

 isfied that more surplus honey can be 

 found in this way than in working thro' 

 into boxes. The different reasons space 

 will not admit of this time. If the bee 

 moth should take possession of part of 

 the sheet that portion can be removed 

 without cutting or maiming the rest. I 

 have practiced artificial swarming alto- 



gether this season. By combining the 

 two patents we get five other styles, and 

 by cutting the box hive in two in the 



middle the part containing the frames 

 one hall can be removed and an empty 

 half added, making two swarms in less 

 time than they could be hived if left to 

 swarm naturally. Should either half 

 not be supplied with queens, the same 

 course can be resorted to, taken by all 

 using frames. H. B. Gr. 



REirAE,Kjg. — From what we see and 

 hear of the double hives first described, 

 we have[not been as favorably impressed 

 with it, as by dividing the bees they oft- 

 en freeze out in winter, but this we think 

 need not occur as they can easily be put 

 into one hive. That they work well in 

 this double hive we well know, and when 

 better understood it may prove valua- 

 ble. It has great advantages in di- 

 viding bees as they will all pass out 

 themselves, and into an empty hive if 

 you wish, without any trouble/ and to 

 that class of bee keepers who do not 

 like to handle bees it is certainly an 

 excellent hive. And as we said be- 

 fore, the objection to it is the loss of 

 bees in winter. Now by having a dry, 

 dark, cool cellar, not below the freez- 

 ing point at any time, they will win- 

 ter very finely, as they can be put 

 into one of tlie boxes, and when they 

 have eaten out the honey, can, on a 

 warm day, be transferred to the other 

 hive.- "■-'"'■- ;■' ■■' ■■■ -■■■■■•■ ^-^ ■■■•/'■■•■■ 



We have one swarm in this kind of 

 hive, and intend to give it a thorough 

 trial. The "box hive'* with the move- 

 able frame we have thought highly of. 

 These movable frames have been in use 

 over twenty years in the west, and of 

 course there can be no patent that would 

 stand a moment's investigation. Mr. 

 Phelps bases hia on an improvement, 

 that is, by putting frames inside of the 

 long movable frames, or what he calls 

 sections, whether these are of any ad- 

 ; vantage we cannot say. We know 

 this : that bee keepers pay thousands 

 of dollars every year to these patent 

 bee men, when we think they have no 

 more legal claim in them than the man 

 in the moon. That the double hive and 

 moth trap of Phelps are patentable we 

 have no doubt. The moth trap is valu- 

 able, and when the objection ofwinter- 

 i ing the bees in the double hive is over- 

 icome, either by a change in the hive 

 jor by a better understanding of its 





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