BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
Care is the only necessary trait required in putting a hive together. Take nothing for granted; see that every piece of wood is cut to the proper size; all the corners right angles; and when putting the hive together, have a bar frame handy, and see that you have proper bee-space allowed in every place that has been advised. In making a hive, keep this last paragraph before you, and note carefully its axioms.
## 11 The Langstroth Hive--its Fittings.
On other pages there are illustrations--Bee hive and its fittings, the details of the hive is also given; therefore the following must be read in connection therewith.
In looking at the illustration it will be seen that it is numbered from 1 to 13, No. 1 being a complete 10-frame Langstroth hive in working order.
The brood chamber with four full-sized frames, and the dummy or division board with two frames on either side of it.
Half-sized super, showing five shallow frames, a shallow dummy, and a cradle or section-holder containing four 1-lb. sections. Bear in mind, the half-sized super is half only in depth--that is \(4^{3}_{4}\) inches--sufficient to carry the shallow frame and to allow bee space between it and the top-bar of the brood chamber.
The roof or cover.--In this case the roof is a gable-end, having a ventilator in either gable formed of perforated zinc. There is one advantage in having the roof raised some 2 or 3 inches above the super or brood chamber. In summer time it admits cf a cool current of air passing over the hive. In winter, the space can be occupied by packing to keep out the cold. In the illustration the roof is made of rusticated weather-boards, which form an even surface on the inner side, and are not so liable to crack and split as full-width boards. The roof may be of skillion form. It answers
precisely the same purpose, and is more easily made; or it may even be flat; but in this latter case it does not throw off the water as in either of the two former styles. Whatever may be the design chosen, it should be of a size to allow eaves of sufficient width to carry the drip well from the sides of the hive. If a flat cover is perfectly water-tight it is equal to either of the two other kinds mentioned, with the exception that there is no cool current of air immediately passing over the top of the frames. It is both easier to make and to handle. It can be overlaid with tin or painted, and whilst the paint is wet a piece of calico put over it, and another coat of paint on the top of that. The paint should be rather thicker than is usually used. If occasionally painted it will last for years, and remain water-proof to the end. A bit of ruberoid, a new material used for roofing purposes, is one of the best water-proof coverings that can be used, and is very cheap.
5. _Quilt of American Cloth.--_The more flexible or leathery the material the better. Of late there has been much discussion on its merits or demerits, some affirming that the bees quickly gnaw through it, others that it creates dampness within the hive. Where there is an imperfect knowledge of how to use this quilt,both arguing, undoubtedly, from experience, if I may be permitted to use an illogical phrase, both were right and both were wrong--right in that the glazed side is for summer use, when, the bees having a sufficiency of storage room, they would not waste their labour in trying to perforate the leathery side, it being too smooth for their mandibles to work upon--_i.e.,_ if a material of good substance has been used, but I will not argue the point if a cheap, flimsy article has been chosen. I have quilts that have been in use for about four years, and fairly good to-day, only they are rather thickly covered with bee glue. In the winter, the glazed side being non-absorptive, the stratun of cold air without the hive coming in contact with warm air within, condensation is the result, and produces those globules of moisture seen on the glazed surface in winter months. Wrong, in using the woolly side next to the bees in summer, as they object to a fabric of that nature so near to them. They are always labouring to get rid of it; hence they quickly gnaw through it. The others who argue that it creates dampness, use the glazed sides next to the bees. They therefore, in winter months, find dampness on the underside of the quilt next to the bees. Under these circumstances both were right, and both were wrong; but if the glazed side had been placed next to the bees during summer and the woolly side in the winter, neither of the two troubles named would have happened. Again, some good practical bee-keepers object to the use of the quilt altogether. That may do for men of exceptional experience, but to my mind no hive is complete without a quilt. The hives with a flat cover are the ones that are so used. Let us see. We cannot make sure of bees being perfectly subdued without the aid of smoke. When the flat cover is placed over the super, or over the brood-box, there is sure to be some space between it and the upper hedges of the hive that the bees object to, and stop up with propolisis. This always fixes these two portions of the hive firmly together, and to separate these more or less force has to be applied. The result is that the cover comes away with a jerk, which always greatly annoys the bees, after which a good deal of time is required to subdue them to that frame of mind that will be congenial to the bee-keeper; but where the quilt is used in the manner before described, the cover is easily removed. The quilt is glued to the sides of the hive instead of the cover. One corner of this is easily turned back, the nozzle of the smoker applied to the opening, and the bees are easily driven down. As the quilt is peeled off, so the inmates can be driven away with the aid of smoke. Other material than American cloth may be used. I have used leather, bagging, tin, paper, &e., but I find nothing equal to that advised.
6. For particulars of _full-size Langstroth frame, see_ page 221; and also for
7. _ShaLow frame_ for half-size super.
8. _Dummy or Division Board_. This is similar in form to a full-size frame. It is made of one piece of wood--that is, it is not a frame, neither can it be so used. It is a very important adjunct to all hives, both for full and half-size super, and also for the brood chamber. For the latter it is almost indispensable, especially so when a new swarm is first hived. This is fully treated under "Swarming." Where used in the supers the object of it is, as can be seen in the diagram, to keep the bees well together in the early part of the honey flow or where supplies are coming in slowly. It should be made \(\lx@sectionsign\)in. wider and deeper than a frame, so as to prevent the bees from passing under or around it into the unoccupied portion of the line.
9. _A cradle of \(1\) lb, sections.--_For private use nothing in the form of honey can be more tempting than these sections. They are supposed to hold just \(1\) lb. The internal measurement is \(4\) in.
x 4 in. and the outer \(4\frac{1}{4}\) in. x \(4\frac{1}{4}\) in., the wood being \(\frac{1}{3}\) in. thick. They are American-made. As yet no attempt has been made to manufacture them in the States. They are sold in the flat, and are very cheap. Before putting them together, take all that is intended to put into use; hold or tie them firmly together, and pour hot water direct from a tea-kettle over the whole of the V joints. Do not let the water spread further than is necessary, because if you are going to put in the starters at once it will be rather a difficult matter to get the foundation comb to firmly adhere to the wet wood. Under no circumstances let the dove-tails become damped, because if they swell it will be a trouble to put them together, and cause many of them to break. The starters used in them should be of the thinnest grade foundation comb made. A small triangular piece is all that is necessary for the starter. A piece of foundation the full size of the section is frequently used. It is a saving in labour for the bees, but it is not so good for the consumer. Place the starters on that part of the sections that has been cut out for bee-space, and in placing them in the eradle, or whatever appliance is used in the hive for carrying the sections, put the dove-tail joint uppermost; by so doing they are not so liable to come asunder. The side of the section containing the starter should form the upper side of the section.
10. _Dummy or division board for half-size \(\omega_{\mu\nu}\), see_ No. 8.
The little diagram, Fig. 11, is of simple construction, and adaptable for the purposes required. It can be made in one piece or in two; the latter is the easier. When made in one piece, select a bit of cedar or redwood, or any wood that will not warp; the length of the top bar 19 inches, and about 3 inches wide and an inch thick. Put in a saw cut not less than \(1\frac{1}{3}\) inch from each end, and \(1\frac{3}{8}\) inch deep, and a similar cut lengthwise of the same depth, but only about half an inch from the edge. When the superfluous wood is removed the frame will sit neatly in it. One of more simple construction is made with a strip of \(\frac{1}{2}\) inch soft wood not less than 19 inches long, 3 inches wide, and another piece 16 inches long, and \(2\frac{1}{4}\) inches wide, nailed together in the form seen in the diagram; this will answer the purpose equally well as that before-mentioned. Before using, soak it in soap-suds, pipe it dry, place the frame on it in position, and lay the foundation starter, so that one edge rests against and along the centre of the top bar. Put some molten wax in a jam tin, to which a lip has been formed; hold the frame, foundation, etc., at an angle of about 45 degrees, and pour the wax along the whole length of the angle formed at the junction of starter and top bar. The wax will cool in two or three seconds, when the starter will be found firmly attached.
In connection with the Allwood and other machine-made frames, foundation fasteners of other construction adaptable to frame used are obtainable, and will be described under 'appliances.''
\(Fig\) 12, _Cradle or Section Holder_.--If the brood chamber be the most interesting part of a hive, and the knowledge and manipulation of it be the key to successful bee-keeping, then the knowledge and manipulation of the super and its adjuncts are the most interesting from a commercial and domestic point of view. The surplus honey stored in the super is the just reward of the bee-keeper. To obtain it in its most attractive and purest form should be the aim of both the practical and the amateur bee-keeper. For home consumption the most attractive form in which honey can be sent to table is ''honey in the comb,'' although not the most profitable, and that stored in 1 lb. sections is much neater than that cut from larger slabs or frames. The beautiful whitewood American section to my mind is the apex of perfection.
## 11. Sections, Etc., for \(\Lambda\) L.N.GSTROTH HIVE.
(See diagrams on page 228).
Section-holders are of two forms, as seen in the diagrams. A is worked exactly as the shallow frames, that is, it has shoulders that rest on the rebates in the same manner, and they are handled in the same way. The ends are the full width of the sections (C), \(i.e.\), \(1^{7}_{8}\) inch, the bottom bar on which the sections rest is \(1^{1}_{2}\) inch, and is fixed to the ends so as to leave bee-space on each side. The shoulders are the full width of the ends. They are made to fit into the hive with bee-space on either side. But the internal measurement of the cradle is of more importance than the outer. It must hold four sections, that is, it must be 17 in. x 41 in. The internal measurement of the section is 4 in. x 4 in., external 41 in. x 41 in. The closer the sections fit in the cradle, and the closer the cradles fit to each other, the less chance for the bees to use propolis to stop up the interstices; by so working the cradles and sections, the latter are kept cleaner and more attractive. An eight-frame Langstroth hive will take six cradles of four sections each.
K is a separator. One is put between every cradle. Their use is to prevent the bees building their cells so as to project beyond the walls of the sections, and also to construct a more even surface to the comb. It will be noted in diagram E that there is bee-space (3-16 inch) on the upper and lower sides of the sections; consequently if the starter has been put in the centre of the top side of the section, the cell built on either side of it is \(\frac{3}{4}\) inch, or in other words, the completed comb within the section is \(1\frac{1}{2}\) inch thick. If these separators are not used, the comb protrudes beyond the distance required, which frequently produces disfigurement. It will be noted that the separator K has four bee-spaces similar to those in the section E. Where home-made tin separators are used, these bee-spaces are not necessary. In home-made appliances tin or other metal is more procurable than the American machine cut. Before putting the sections in the cradle A, carefully fasten the separators, wood or metal, with \(\frac{1}{4}\)-inch gimp-pins; this keeps them in position when completing the fittings of the super. If home-made tin separators are used, they must be cut the full length of the cradle, and not more than 4 3-8 inches wide, and fixed to the cradle so that the bee-space will permit the bees to enter the sections at the bottom only.
Cradle J is more simple in its construction than A. It has no shoulders. Externaly it is longer, but the difference in measurement is made up in the thickness of the wood used in the ends. Instead of hanging from the rebates, it rests on two strips of tin. On the underside of the rebatted ends there are strips of tin about an inch wide, and the full length of the end pieces of the super. Strengthen with \(\frac{1}{4}\)-inch gimp-pins. These tin strips must protrude about 3-8 inch, so as to form ledges for the cradles to rest upon. Cradle J has eight bee-spaces, four on either side, as shown. The bottom bar may be made one uniform width, as in A.
D is a newly-designed section imported from America by Lassetter & Co. The four sides are of a uniform thickness; there is the absence of bee-space seen in those of the older type. In width, they are \(1\frac{1}{2}\) in. throughout. A specially-designed separator (I) has been made for them. It is termed "the fence separator." The uprights are 3-16 in. thick on either side of the rails. This will reduce the thickness of the combs in the sections \(\frac{1}{4}\) in. The bees will leave bee-space between the separator and the comb. The only advantage that I can see is that by containing less honey, they will be the more quickly filled.
Metal separators for sections C are best made from queen-excluder zinc, the same length and width as that already mentioned. Indeed, the queen excluding zinc could be used for separators to the plain sections D, and answer the same purpose as the fence-separator. I have used them with success. Broken sections cut up into excellent uprights.
The wire cradle is designed to contain six rows of four sections each as in A in the diagram; two of the sides work with collapsible springs, thus the sections are always compact and firmly held together. The writer has used them with marked success. They were first used at the Sydney Agricultural College Apiary.
The berlepsch IIIVE.
This is another make of live that has still a remnant of admirers even in New South Wales. Men, who in their early bee-keeping days, learned the manipulation of bees with these hives, still eling to them, perhaps for the sake of 'Auld Lang Syne,'' and seem loth to go in for ''innovations,'' notwithstanding that where one Berlepsch admirer is to be met with, there are hundreds of bee-keepers who use the Langstroth hives. Many of the Langstroth devotees can date their bee-keeping days back to the use of the Berlepsch, and were loud in its praise till a new love drew off their attention, and they are now wedded to the much plainer, simpler, and economical Langstroth. Once having tasted the sweets of the Langstroth, you never hear them even hinting that they are contemplating a divorce, so that they may be in a position to return to the old love.
This hive is named after its inventor, Baron von Berlepsch, of Seebach, Thuringia. The diagram 1 represents the hive closed with the ventilator open, and two of the bar-frames used in connection therewith resting against the side. In diagram 2 the larger is the one used in the lower or brood-chamber, and the smaller belongs to the super or honey chamber. It will be noted that the larger differs but little in form from the Langstroth frame, and from out to out contains about the same superficial measurement. The chief difference in its construction is that the foundation comb is attached to one of the two shorter sides, and its greater length is used vertically, and not longitudinally, as in the Langstroth. The smaller frame is the one used in the honey-chamber, and is half the depth of the larger. The hives are worked from the back, where the manipulator stands. The back is a movable door or shutter; in some cases it swings upon hinges, but more frequently it can be detached and removed, as shown in the diagram 2.
On removing the back for the purposes of operating, etc., two glass-doors are seen, the smaller one in front of the honey-chamber and the larger, which encloses that of the brood. These glass-doors are not a fixture, and are used for a threefold purpose--first, for confining the bees till subdued; secondly, for observation --but like all hives constructed for observation purposes, one side only of a comb is visible, or the end bars of the whole of the frame; thirdly, to keep the frames securely in position. Diagram 2 gives a view of the internal fittings of the hive and of the construction of the frames. The bars of the shorter sides project beyond those of the longer. These shorter bars are not of equal length, the one used for the top being about half an inch longer than the bottom ones. The brood-chamber is separated from that of the honey super by a fixed division board or floor, in which there are one or more holes leading from one to the other for the purpose of giving ingress and egress to the inmates of the hive. In both sides of the brood-chamber, which is made of inch wood, a groove is wrought half an inch wide and three-eights of an inch deep, so as to allow bee-space between the top bar of the frame and the fixed division-board. These grooves carry the frames in the same way as the rebates in the Langstroth hive; the longer projections of the shorter sides of the frame resting therein, but instead of being placed in position from above, they are inserted from the back of the hive. Bee-space between the sides of the hive and that of the frames is preserved by the shorter projections of the bottom bar of the frames. Space between the frames is secured by four nails, two driven in the top bar on the one side. and the other two in the bottom bar on the opposite side of the frame. The length of the frame is constructed so as to admit bee-space between the frames and the floor of the hive. The glass-like nature of the hive is not clear, but it is not clear that the hive is not clear.
Figure 1: The Berlepsch Hive
doors are so made as to wholly fill the space, the one of the larger chamber, and the other that of the smaller. They must be so made that they can be inserted or removed without the least jarring, and not so loosely as to allow the escape of the bees, but to easily follow the last frame placed in position.
Thus it is immaterial whether there are only two or the full complement of frames in either chamber. The glass back will, by pressing it against the last frame placed in the chamber, firmly fix the whole in position. Sometimes additional grooves, one on either side of the brood-chamber, are made in each side of the hive, about mid-way between the fixed division board and the floor-board. This is for the purpose of using two half-size or short frames.
The honey-chamber or super is in every respect a counterpart of that of the brood-chamber, only the frames are of a shallower construction.
The only part of the hive proper that is movable is the back. This is pierced for the purposes of ventilation. The piercing is covered with perforated zinc and a sliding shutter, as shown in diagram 1.
The bee entrance is cut in the front of the hive, and is sometimes protected from the weather by a miniature verandah.
The Berlepsch hive is always placed on a stand 2 or 3 feet above the ground, and frequently in two tiers, one above the other. For the reception of these hives a shed is necessary, open on all sides, the tiers of hives occupying the two sides of the shed, so that the manipulator is always under cover.
One great drawback to these hives is the difficulty in manipulating them. If there are eight or ten frames in a hive, and you wish to remove the one nearest the entrance, all the others must be lifted out and placed in a receptacle made for the purpose, and again replaced in the same order as they were taken out, while the bees that have been taken from the hive and have fallen from the comb, must be swept back and gently returned. If twenty hives have to be examined, this receiving-box has to be carried from hive to hive, and the withdrawal and reinsertion of the frames, and the sweeping up of the bees repeated at every hive.
Some of my earliest experiences of bee-keeping in bar-frame hives were with the Berlepsch, but I soon abandoned it for the Langstroth. In my transition stage from Berlepsch to Langstroth, I so altered the honey-chamber of the Berlepsch that I could work the frame for extracting purposes from the top, as in the Langstroth. I found this alteration a decided improvement, and particularly convenient for working the one-pound sections.
It was this alteration I made in the Berlepsch that convinced me of the drawbacks it had, and in the following season I was soundly converted to the Langstroth pure and simple.
The ordinary Berlepsch hive is made to carry pound sections.
## The Combination Hive
This hive was introduced to bee-keepers in 1878, by a Mr. Abbott, whose name it bears. The inventor claimed for it all the requirements necessary for a perfect hive--ease of manipulation, full control of the bees, every facility for the bees to store surplus honey, queen-rearing, and above all "the only hive in the world in which swarming can be positively prevented." Notwithstanding all that was claimed for it, it reigned but a short time with British bee-men. The diagram shows the general arrangement of the interior of the hive. Brood frames, frames for surplus honey, and broad frames or crates for sections, are all contained in the one chamber. For wintering, the brood-frames can be closed in behind by a tightly-fitting dummy. The frames are the ordinary Langstroth measurements, and are arranged transversly, and not at right angles, as in the Langstroth Simplicity. This hive has a few advocates in this State, and some of the largest yields of honey have been obtained from it.