Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-07-30
No. 80
a MoRo ABOUT HIVES.
Those Made at Home are ms Good ~
More Expensive Ones.

Those Made at Home Are ms Good ~
More Expensive Ones.
For the ordinary bee-keeper, and for
most bce-kecpers, for that matter, no
hive is better than plain. simple Langs-
troth hive It is simply a plain box
without top or bottom, with rabbets
cut upon tlle upper inside edges of oppo-
site ends for hanging the frames. To
the hive there-must be added, of course,
Il bottom hoard and a cover, but these
are not nailed fast as rule. Sometimes
the bottom board is nailed fast. III this
is the ease the board composing the
front end Is three-eighths of an inch
narrower than the other boards com.
posing he sides. This gives an entrance
the whole width of the front of the hive.
If the bottom board is loose, a rim
three-eirhths Of an inch high is nailed
around It's outer edges on the upper
side, except IL front. The leaving of
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 1t from warp
ing. II il is loose n cleat will be i.ceded
at each end on the under side. A rim
Of wood nailed around the hive ar its
upper edge helps TO keep the !ive in
shape and is very eopvenient tor ham
ding il. The cover is simply plain.
fiat board with cleat nailed on each
end. Lnngstroth frames are 91A inches
deep and 17%s inches long, and the hive
should be OF such a size that there is O
space of three-eighths of an inch be-
tween the frames and the bottom, top
and sides Of the hive. In this climate
there is no necessity for halving, mi
tering, or dcvetailing the corners. just
plain lap-joint well nailed is sufficient
The frames are made of seven-eighths
lumber, pieces of boards of the right
length being cut off and then three
eighths-iuch strips being sawed of the
edges. The top bar is nailed on with
III inch wire nails, and seven-eighths
viii answer for the other joints. All
these parts can be cut out at any plan
ing mill, or Il the bee-keeper has a foot
power buzzsGw he can cut them out
himself
After the hive Is made give 1t two
good coats of white paint White is
preferable because this color does not
absorb the heat as is the case with dark
colors, and such hives can usually DO
used in the sun with no shade boards
over them, and there will be no danger
of the combs melting down. Such hives
can be made by anyone who is at all
handy with the hammer, and they an
swer every purpose for which hive In
needed With such hive as this ex-
tracted honey can be produced by SIM
ply setting one hive on top of the other,
or they may be tiered up three high II
necessary. In producing comb honey
a super viii be needed. This IS made
of half-inch lumber and is just about
the same size as the hive except that is
not so tall, Ii being three-eighths of an
inch deeper than the size of the Sec
tions used. The usual size of section lis
Az by ~, and the super should, In that
case, be 4Ss 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 OF tin OF
such width that they will project be-
yond the partitions about one-eighth
of an inch, thus forming a sort of ledge
that viii support the sections when
they are slipped down between the par
titions The ordinary hive cover will
also cover the super.-W. z. Hutchin-
son, in Prairie Farmer.