18 



The Bulletin. 



TYPES OF HIVES. (SEE ILLUSTRATION ON FRONT OF BULLETIN). 



In the studies under the headings "Eaces or Varieties of Bees" 

 and "Prices for Honey" we have already referred to the matter of 

 hives for bees, since it seemed in each case to be relevant to the sub- 

 ject under discussion. But here we wish to refer to the matter 

 directly and by itself. A study of the reports shows that the old 

 hollow-log "gums" are in much more common use in the east than in 

 either the piedmont or the west, as shown by the following table : 



TYPES OF HIVES, "GUMS," ETC., IN "USE. 



Section of State. 



Bast 



Piedmont - 

 West 



Number Per- 

 sons Using 



Frame Hives, 

 Bought or 

 Homemade. 



Number 



Persons Using 



Old Log 



"Gums." 



Number Per- 

 sons Using 

 Plank Hives, 

 Boxes, etc., of 

 Crude Make. 



-43- 



-144- 

 -36- 



-24- 



— 1- 



The next step is to find out which of these types of hives actually 

 brings in the most money to the bee-keeper. Since the east is the 

 only section which uses enough of all three types of hives to render a 

 fair judgment possible, we will confine our calculation to that section. 

 It is a long calculation, but, wheii carefully compiled and put in 

 tabulated form to show the average of yield, price, and total cash 

 return from each type, we get the following : 



EELATIVE RESULTS FBOM DIFFERENT HIVES. 

 (Based on comb honey only, and only on data from eastern counties). 



Type of Hive. 



Log "Gums" 



Plank boxes, etc. - 

 Frame hives 



Number Average 



Reporting. Yield. 



-16- 

 -40- 



-13% pounds- 

 -2V/s pounds- 

 -37M! pounds- 



Average Price 



Per Pound 



in Cents. 



Value. 



—9 (less) — -; $1.11- 



-10 (less) — -i 2.60- 



-11 (more)— i- 4.13- 



The majority of those who use the log "gums" either report the 

 yield in gallons or do not know the yield, so that we were able to get 

 the desired figures in only three instances. This is too small a num- 

 ber to give conclusive results, but, so far as they go, they show that 

 the average yield of comb honey obtained from the "gums" is 13% 

 pounds ; that it is worth a little less than 9 cents per pound, giving 

 an average value of $1.11 worth of honey per year for each log 

 "gum." The roughly made square plank boxes— often with a re- 



