116 DR. miller's 



some of the hives are not more than 9}i deep, although I think 

 they were 9]/i when new. 



Q. Do you think the bees will gather more honey in a 10-frame 

 hive than they will in an 8-frame? 



A. Not necessarily. Of course, a stronger colony ought to get 

 more honey, but just as strong a colony can be in an 8-frame 

 hive as in a 10-frame, for two stories of the 8-frame can be used 

 if need be. Of course this would be a 16-frame hive. 



Q. I would like to ask a few questions concerning that large 

 hive. 



(a) When you take that second hive off, don't you have trouble 

 with brood, or do you use an excluder? 



(b) Do your bees go to work in the supers as readily as when 

 only one hive-body was used? 



A. (a) I use 8-frame hives which can hardly be called "large 

 hives," so I suppose you refer to my using two stories as brood- 

 chambers, making practically a 16-frame hive. I put on a second 

 brood-story whenever the first becomes crowded, unless I take 

 away some of the brood to use elsewhere. I reduce to one story 

 at the time of putting on supers for surplus. There is so little 

 trouble with brood in sections that I don't think it worth while 

 to use excluders. But if I didn't fill the sections full of founda- 

 tion, I should have to use excluders. 



(b) Yes, perhaps more readily. 



Q. What kind of a beehive do you prefer, without porch or 

 with porch, and why? 



A. The Langstroth hive was at first made with a portico. 

 Latterly very few have the portico, perhaos chieflv because it fur- 

 nishes such a nice refuge for spiders, causing the death of too 

 many bees. 



Q. Is a hive supposed to sit level? 



A. It should slant a little to the front, the front end being an 

 inch or two lower than the back end. It should be level from 

 side to side. 



Q. I have seven colonies of bees, four in 8-frame hives and 

 three in 10-frame hives. At 1 :30 today the bees of all the smaller 

 hives were flying, while the others were not. I examined them, 

 and found one of the colonies dead, though there was about 30 

 pounds of nice honey left. In the dead colony there was a double 

 handful of bees and lots of drones. 



I cannot account for this. It looks as if 8-frame hives were 

 better for wintering in northern Iowa than the 10-frame. All the 

 colonies had plenty of honey. (December 28, Iowa.) 



