386 
FRUIT BLOSSOMS 
It will be noted that there are two kinds 
of spacing devices. One is made a part of 
the frame and the other a part of the rab¬ 
bet. It would seem at first glance that the 
latter would be a very happy solution of 
the problem of automatic spacing, as it 
would leave the frames without projections 
in the way for uncapping; but the fact is, 
rabbet or hive spaces have never been very 
popular, and therefore are very little used. 
The principal objection to them is that one 
cannot move the frames en masse or in 
groups, thus saving time in handling the 
brood-nest. The advantage of group-han¬ 
dling is made more apparent under Frames 
and Manipulation of Colonies. 
The very fact that no extensive bee¬ 
keeper is using these self-spacing devices 
as a part of the hive, and the further fact 
that all others who try them in a small way 
sooner or later abandon them, should dis¬ 
courage would-be inventors from wasting 
any time on them. 
SELF-SPACING FRAMES—-ADVANTAGES. 
Self-spacing frames make possible 
straight, beautiful, and regular combs; are 
practically free from burr-combs; can be 
hauled without any special preparation 
over the roughest roads, turned upside 
down, and rolled over without disturbing 
the combs. They permit, to a very great 
extent, the handling of hives instead of 
frames. Under Frames and Manipula¬ 
tion of Colonies is shown how frames can 
be handled in pairs and trios—in fact, half 
a hive at a time. They can also be in¬ 
verted, thus causing the combs to be built 
out solidly to the bottom-bar; and, when 
once completed, they can be restored to 
their upright normal condition. They can 
be handled as rapidly as the loose frame. 
Indeed, the inventor, Julius Hoffman of 
Canajoharie, N. Y., owner of some 600 
colonies on Hoffman frames, said he could 
work nearly double the number of colo¬ 
nies with his frame that he could on any 
frame not spaced or close-fitting, and he 
had used both styles. 
SELF-SPACING FRAMES FOR SMALL 
BEEKEEPERS. 
Whatever may bq said regarding the 
adaptability of Hoffman frames for the ex¬ 
pert, it is evident that, in almost every 
instance, they are better for the beginner, 
average farmer beekeeper, or any one who 
does not propose to make a specialty of 
the bee business, but desires to keep only a 
few colonies to supply himself and neigh¬ 
bors with honey. Such persons are apt to 
be a little careless, and, with ordinary loose 
unspaced frames, make bad spacing. It is 
seldom indeed that one can look into the 
hives of this class of beekeepers and find 
their loose frames properly spaced. In 
some instances the combs are so close to¬ 
gether that opposite surfaces are gnawed 
down to give the bees _ sufficient space to 
pass between; and in others they are so far 
apart that small patches of comb are built 
between. This is because it is an invaria¬ 
ble rule laid down in beehive economy, 
not to leave more than proper bee-spaces. 
FRAMES, TO MANIPULATE. — See 
Frames and Manipulation of Colonies. 
FRUCTOSE.— See Honey. 
FRUIT BLOSSOMS. —A very large 
amount of nectar is annually gathered by 
bees from fruit bloom, apples, pears, 
plums, cherries, and peaches; but it is sel¬ 
dom that more than a small surplus is ob¬ 
tained. Apple-bloom honey is of great 
value in stimulating brood-rearing and in 
tiding over a period of scarcity. There is 
a proverb in New York State that “As 
goes apple bloom, so goes the season.” Half 
a century ago Moses Quinby of St. Johns- 
ville, N. Y., wrote: “In good weather a 
gain of 20 pounds is sometimes added to 
the hive during the period of apple blos¬ 
soms.” In 1877, at Borodino, N. Y., a sur- 
plus of 166% pounds of mostly comb 
honey per colony, spring count, was ob¬ 
tained, probably the largest average of ap¬ 
ple-bloom honey ever recorded. But the 
weather is seldom continuously fair at this 
season; often it is rainy, cloudy, windy, 
cool, or there is even a frost, when instead 
of a gain there is a decrease in the stores 
in the hives. If there were a larger num¬ 
ber of bees, a much greater quantity of 
apple-bloom honey would be gathered. As 
a rule the bees do not succeed in getting 
more than a living one year in five. Apple- 
bloom honey is light in color, a little strong 
at first, but acquires a pleasant aromatic 
