The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1896-06-20
FARM AND GARDEN.
A WORD ABOUT HIVES.
These Made at Home Are as Good as
More Expensive Ones.

These Made at Home Are as Good as
More Expensive Ones.
For the ordinary bee-keeper. and for
most bee-keepers, for that matter, no
hive is better than a plain, simple Langs-
troth hive. 1t is simply 4 plain box
without top or bottom, with rabbets
cut upon the upper inside edges OF oppo-
site ends for hanging the frames. 70
the hive there must be added. of course,
Z bottom board and a cover. but these
are not nailed fast as a rule. Sometimes
the bottom board is nailed fast. If this
is the case the board composing the
front end is three-eighths of all inch
narrower than the other boards CEN
! posing the sides. This gives an entrance
the whole width OF the front OF the hive.
If the bottom board is loose. a rim.
three-eighths of an inch high Is nailed
around its outer edges Oh the upper
side, except in front. The leaving oil
Of the rim in front makes an entrance
In either case, small blocks are used
when necessary, for contracting the en-
trance. If the bottom is nailed fast a
cleat will be needed on the front end OF
the bottom board to keep it from warp
ing. If it is loose u cleat will be needed
at each end on the under side. \ rim
Of wood nailed around the hive near it's
upper edge helps to keep the hive III
shaLe and is very convenient TOR han
ding it. The cover is simply a plain,
fiat board with Il cleat nailed on each
md. Langstroth frames are 91s inches
deep and liz. inches long, and the hive
should be of such a size that there is d
space CT thrce-eighths of an inch be-
tween the frames and the bottom. top
and sides of the hive. In this climate
here is no necessity for halvlng, mi
tering. or dovetailing the orHer just
a plain lap-ioint well nailed is Sufficient.
The frames are made of sevcn-cighths
lumber, pieces OF boards of the right
length being cut eff and then three
eightEs-inch strips being sawed off the
edges. The top bar IS nailed on with
~ inch wire nails, and seven-eighths
will answer for the other joints. All
these Darts can be cat out at any plan
ing mill. or if the bee-keeper has a foot
lt'NNi tNlLL@"" AI NhiA u AAANAAA ~
himself.
After the hive is made give it two
good coats of white paint. White Is
preferable because this color does no:
absorb the heat as is the case with dark
~colors, and such hives can usually be
used in the sun with no shade boards
over them, and there will be no danger
- Il. 49,. L. r,oI+S-- 1--, C,,,l lIv-nS
can be made by anyone who Is at all
handy with the hammer, ard they an
swer every purpose for which d hive is
needed. With such a hive as this en-
tracted honey can be produced by SIM
ply setting one hive on top of til: other,
Or they may be TERED up three high if
necessary. In producing comb honey
a super will be needed. This IS made
of half-inch lumber and is just about
the same size as the hive except that it is
not so tall, it being three-eighths of an
inch deeper than the size OF the sec
tons used. The usual size of section is
Az by AZ, and the super should, in that
case. be s3s deep. There will need to be
three partitions crosswise of the super,
and to the bottoms of these partitions
and to the bottoms of the end pieces
must be tackled some strips o. tin OF
such a width that they will project be-
yond the partitions about o~ne-eightl.
of an inch. thus forming a sort Of ledge
that will support the sections when
they are slipped down between the par
%titions. The ordinary hive co"er wi!
also cover the super.-W. L. Hutcnin'
son, in Prairie Farmer.