Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1896-06-27
FARM AND GARDEN.
a WORD ABOUT HIVES.

Those Made at Home Are as Good ~
More Expensive Ones.
For the ordinary bee-keeper, and for
most bee-keepers. for that matter, no
hive is better than plain, simple Langs-
troth hive. 1t is simply a plain box
without top or bottom, with rabbets
cut upon the upper inside edges of opPo-
site ends for hanging the frames. To
the hive there must be added, of course,
a bottom board and a cover, but these
are not nailed fast as rule Sometimes
the bottom board is nailed fast. If this
is the case the board composing the
front end is three-eighths of an incl.
narrower than the other boards com
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 the upper
side, except in front The leaving or
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
cleat will be needed on the front end of
the bottom board to keep it from warp
ing. If it is loose a cleat will be needed
at each end on the under side. A rim
of wood nailed around the hive near its
upper edge helps to keep the hive in
shape and is very convenient tor han
ding it, The cover is simply plain,
fiat board with cleat nailed on each
end. Langstroth frames are 91s inches
deep and 17% inches long, and the hive
should be of such a size that there is .
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 dovetailing the corners just
plain lap-joint well nailed is sufficient.
The frames are made of seven-cighths
lumber, pieces of boards of the right
length being cut off and then three
eighths-inch strips being sawed off the
edges. The top bar is nailed on with
1l inch wire nails, and seven-eighths
will answer for the other joints. All
these parts can be cut out at any plan
ing mill, or if the bee-keeper has foot
power buZZsaw he can cut them out
himself.
After the hive is made give it 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 be
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 a hive is
needed With such a hive as this ex-
tracted honey can be produced by sim
ply setting one hive on top of the other,
or they may be TERED up three high il
necessary. In producing comb honey
| super will be needed. This IS made
of half-inch lumber and is just about
| the same size as the hive except that 1T ls
not so tall, it being three-eighths of an
inch deeper than the size of the sec
tions used. The usual size of section is
Az by Az, and the super should, in that
case, be 45s 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 a width that they will project be
yond the partitions about one-eightf
of an inch, thus forming sort of ledge
that will support the sections wheI
they are slipped down between the par
| titions. The ordinary hive cover vii
also cover the super.-W. z. Hutchin
| son. in Prairie Farmer.