40 DADANT SYSTEM OF BEEKEEPING 



necessary, because the bees would glue it fast. But with the 

 soft cloth on both ends, it is moved without jar and without 

 trouble. We remove it temporarily when we need room to 

 handle the frames, in searching for a queen, for brood, &c. 

 It is also moved up to the number of combs actually occupied 

 by bees and honey, when a small colony inhabits the hive. 

 The reader will bear in mind that the hive is made for 10 frames 

 and a division board, while an ordinary Langstroth 8-frame 

 hive, when full, has less capacity than 6 frames of the Dadant 

 hive. We may therefore have occasion to winter a small colony 

 on 6 frames, filling the space behind our division board with 

 forest leaves, or other warm material, and our colony will be 

 more compact and will stand a better chance of wintering 

 safely than the colonies in 8-frame Langstroth hives. 



The division board, however, is not made to touch the 

 bottom of the hive, but a bee space is left under it. Our reason 

 for this is that, often, bees have found themselves imprisoned 

 behindafulldepthboard. Also, in manipulations, it is inadvisable 

 to use a board which may crush bees when put down in place. 

 Our board does not crush any bees and yet serves the purpose 

 of confining the heat of the cluster. Since heat rises, there is 

 but little deperdition of it at the bottom. Not so, with the 

 dummy, which is open on both ends and serves very little purpose. 

 The top slat, or top bar, of this division board, is made of ex- 

 actly the same size and thickness as the top bar of a frame. 

 It fits in the same rabbet and is not in the way of the supers. 



The oilcloth over the combs has proven very superior 

 to honey boards, as the bees cannot glue it fast as they do a 

 board. When we remove a honey board from the top of a brood - 

 chamber, there is a commotion and a jar, for it is always glued. 

 In cool weather, the removal of such a board sets the entire 

 colony in an uproar, as a kick from the operator might do. 

 A cloth is pulled gently from the top of the frame and "peels 

 off" just as far as wanted, without any jar and without exciting 

 the bees. 



We have used oil cloths, painted ducking, khaki, gunny 

 cloth, &c. Anything which will confine the bees will do. Some 



