BEE-FARMER'S HIFE. 15 



prove much of Mr. Miner's notes : the hive is an inch 

 larger than the one he points out as a profitless size. We 

 hived a large swarm into this box four years ago; it still 

 remains in statu quo ; no swarm has issued from it, nor have 

 we had a single pound of honey from it, the population 

 ■dwindles down every winter, and it takes them all the fol- 

 lowing summer to make good their heavy loss. 



Neither is the picture an overwrought one. 576/; 

 ■could be earned from the single colony and its yearly pro- 

 duce, and much more. Mr. M. does not say what could 

 be realised from the honey harvest ; this alone would pro- 

 bably be double the amount estimated ; we generally have 

 two good and early swarms from our hives, which, as will 

 be seen, are slightly smaller than one foot square ; still 

 they are profitable — they are adapted to the requirements 

 ■of the bees, and they return a rich reward for the labour. 



Quinby, whose hives are much larger than ours, states 

 as follows : " A hive 1 2 inches square inside, containing 

 1,728 cubic inches, has been recommended as the best size. 

 This I think is large enough in many sections, as the queen 

 probably has all the room necessary for depositing her eggs, 

 and the swarms are more numerous and nearly as large as 

 from much larger hives ; there also is room sufficient for 

 .honey to carry the bees through the winter." 



Quinby uses a bar-frame hive in his own apiary 12 

 inches deep by 19I inches in length, and 12 inches in 

 width. We have with care tested this hive, of which 

 we had three made, but they never sent out a single 

 swarm, and yielded a very small amount of honey ; how- 

 ever, we would not blame Quinby for this, for he does 

 not farm his stocks for the sake of swarms, or even hi\'e 

 honey; he endeavours to get as much super honey as pos- 

 sible, which he sends to the market in the comb. Again 

 he states, and we are glad to have the testimony of this 

 veteran bee-farmer in answer to those who condemn any 



