Don’t go to the expense of coming here, friend J., it would hardly pay you we fear, but do keep on giving us just such sketches from your Apiary. We do believe you have hit on a plan that will prove many times quite practicable. For instance the Simplicity hive with, Langstroth frames, so long as one story will hold the bees, is to us the simplest, and easiest handled of any thing we have ever used in the shape of a bee hive, and we have studied long and earnestly in regard to some plan of uniting two of them side by side. All of these plans required too much tinkering. If we made holes for communication, through either hive, bottom board, or cover, these holes would have to be plugged up at other times, and would look ungainly. Your plan of using them without other means of communication, than through the entrance, we confess is novel and so far as your experiment is concerned, seems quite practicable.
He who shows us how we can keep pace with modern improvements, and still keep the hives we have already in use, is truly a benefactor. To use the Simplicity hives thus, both entrances should be turned to the south, and the two hives placed close together. The covers in this case should be hinged to the front so as to turn up against the grape vine trellis, or hinges may be dispensed with entirely. In the height of the season, both hives can be pushed, well forward over the bottom boards, thus making the entrances the whole length. Should this prove “too much entrance,” bank sawdust up by the outside corners. In making so many new colonies last season, we governed the size of the entrances to exclude robbers, almost entirely with sawdust, and it answered the purpose more completely to our satisfaction, than any other plan we have ever used. Also, when the nights became cool, we banked sawdust clear around the hives, to close the cracks between the hive and bottom board. We are a great friend to sawdust; it keeps down the weeds, gives you a clean place to work, is clean and orderly for a small dooryard for the bees, and enables you to make just such an entrance as you desire. Beg pardon we forgot sawdust wasn’t our topic.
Our Standard hive with its permanent bottom board without cracks, and its capacity for 18 or 20 combs without any fussing etc. etc., would perhaps be best, but then, “we haven’t got ’em,” as friend J. says, and just at present we rather prefer to use the hives we have already in use.
DIMENSIONS OF FRAMES ETC.
MR. NOVICE & CO:—Arn’t we greenies glad that we settled down on our own Standard frame before you decreed something that one must print the dimensions with chalk over his work bench lest he forget it. We dislike the everlasting vulgar fractions and odd and even numbers about the size of frames. We adopted 12 inches inside of frame—144 square inches of emptiness—until filled with comb. Now any body can remember this size—and every one can build outside their frames just what kind of hive he pleases. It is just the nicest frame for taking in one hand, and for turning this way and that way for inspection and work, and also for leaving one hand to do something else, and we do find plenty for the free hand to do—all it can do sometimes. Then for shipping, why they are just the nicest and handiest frames ever made, and for housing too, hives of 10 frames pack away like brick in a wall. So you see we are not a bit sorry for ourselves—and we are so glad to have the ladies with us, we have Mrs. Tupper who is a representative character and carries the women with her in this matter. Of course we are sorry your wind-mill won’t work for us in the wood work of our hives at the “Standard prices” but we can’t be driven by wind into abandoning our 12×12—“On this firm rock etc.” Why our hives are so jealous they won’t let one frame of the Factory of the Wind, enter their yard now—we have no doubt that to set down one of your vulgar fraction and odd number frame hives would raise a mighty buzz and set all the 12 inches on a revolution against any such vulgar innovation. By the way we have got a hive “the likes on’t you never did see.” We took the Alley hive—paid the right to it too—and now we have some Alley, and some Quinby, and some of our own whims, and it is going to be just the nicest and handiest of a’ the bee gums that can be found in Patentdom or out of it. May be we’ll tell you what it is some day—if you want us to bother you.
We—that is we greenies—use the Isham honey box—the nicest, staunchest, and handiest honey box we ever saw. We know him he lives round here, he has a patent on his box—we saw his papers, all reg’lar—he deserves them too—has lately sold three counties to an apiarian who has seen a good many such affairs, and sold for a handsome sum. If you saw it, you would want a State at least—the work would suit your taste.
Now to finish all this rigmarole and to convince you that we are your friend, tho’ we expect you will blow us with a stiff breeze, we say—we frankly confess, that we have tried your tin corners for frames, after using wooden ones, and we don’t want to see in our hives another frame that has not those same tin corners. And our green advice to all beginners is, don’t make a single frame till you get these corners. We shall get rid of all our frames which have not these corners just as fast as we can. We have tried several hundred of them and now we send our orders for 6500 more with the cash, as evidence that we mean what we say.
2. Eroappians.