On sale at PAUL DUPONT, 4, rue du Bouloi, Paris: Price 0fr, 60
ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
OF THE
FRAME HIVES
NEW EDITION
WITH AN APPENDIX ON THE CHOICE OF A FRAME HIVE
By Georges de LAYENS
LAUREATE OF THE INSTITUTE (Academy of Sciences)
WITH 43 ENGRAVINGS IN THE TEXT
I. — Introduction.
The question of the low price of frame hives is undoubtedly of capital importance for the rapid expansion of modern beekeeping.
If a hive with twenty large frames can cost, all inclusive, 11 or 12 francs instead of 22 or 25 francs, everyone will find an advantage, the builders as well as the beekeepers. If someone who knows how to use carpentry tools can set up such a hive himself for 8 to 9 francs, there is no doubt that the new methods will no longer penetrate easily among rural farmers.
By following step by step, to build or have built a hive, the detailed instructions that I am going to give, everyone will be able to convince themselves of the positive reality of the low prices that I have just pointed out.
Mr. Joly, one of our best-known beekeepers, himself built more than 200 frame hives for his own use. Several farmers, my neighbors, also made their own frame hives. All these hives are not masterpieces of carpentry to be exhibited in competitions, and yet to easily govern the bees they provide just as much service as the best polished and most elegant hives. Neither the beekeepers that I have just mentioned, nor myself, who have been using the hives that I build for twenty-five years, have found any disadvantages in the use of this simplified equipment.
I therefore think that those who seek above all economy, without compromising in any way the excellence of the results, will find some advantage in following the practical advice that I am going to indicate: it is to them alone that I am addressing myself.
II. — Preliminary advice.
1. Accuracy to be required in construction. —In the construction of hives, one should not assume that a few millimeters more or less are of no importance, because if the parts were not established with sufficient accuracy, one would experience many inconveniences in the handling of the hives.
If we want to have hives built by a carpenter, we must insist that he does not deviate in any way from the practical advice given below. He will even have to comply with indications of details which might seem unimportant to him at first glance. In general, the carpenter is not a beekeeper, and if he is tempted to modify or innovate it will always be to the detriment of the proper functioning of the hive.
Moreover, whether you build the hive yourself or not, there will be some parts that you will have to have made by a carpenter, these are the guides and the gauges (§§ 8 and 9), which are used to make all the other parts of the hive.
2. Necessary tools. — If you plan to build the hives yourself, a short apprenticeship is essential for anyone who has never used a saw or a plane. The first hive manufactured will undoubtedly be defective, but the defects will be easily recognized and sufficient precision will soon be achieved.
You need few tools to make hives: a workbench, a jack, a fairly strong carpenter's chisel, a fine-toothed saw called a shaving saw by carpenters, pliers and a hammer are the most useful tools. If one has to buy these tools, it is necessary that they are of good quality; those of the Peugeot brand, which are found everywhere, are excellent. For the saw, it would be wise to have it sharpened by a carpenter, because it is impossible to saw squarely with a poorly sharpened saw.
3. Nature of the wood to be used. — In the countryside many farmers have wood, and might think that it is more economical to have it cut up than to buy mechanically sawn wood. This is a mistake when it comes to hive construction. We will be convinced of this when we have read the instructions which follow.
The best and most practical wood for making beehives is northern red fir, in parquet strips, which is easily found commercially. These blades are sold planed on one side and rough sawn on the other; they are mechanically sawn with precision, and carry on one side a tongue (l, fig. 1) and on the other a groove r, so as to fit into each other. The boards that are formed in this way by joining the blades together never deform, which is a great advantage.
Fig. 1. — Two parquet boards fitted one inside the other: l, tongue; r, groove.
Parquet boards of different widths are available on the market; It is necessary to use blades of 115 millimeters width, because these are the ones that cause the least loss of wood.
Northern red fir slats generally cost, at retail, around 1 fr. 75 per square meter.
White fir costs about 20 cents less per square meter, but it lasts much less.
Porous woods such as poplar wood are often wrongly recommended for the construction of hives, under the pretext that this porosity of the wood is favorable to evaporation. However, after a certain time, the bees have completely propolised the wood of the hive inside so as to coat it with an absolutely waterproof varnish; it is therefore completely irrelevant whether the wood is porous or not. In particular, poplar wood, so often recommended, is one of the worst for the construction of hives, as I have been able to see for myself.
III. — Description of a hive to build.
4. Hive taken as an example. — The construction system that I am going to describe can be used for all models of frame hives, but for the precision of the indications to be given, it is necessary to apply them to a specific model. We must therefore choose an example. I will apply this construction system to the horizontal hive type, a type that I prefer to the others because it allows bees to be cultivated in the simplest way (see page 29).
Before moving on to the details of the construction of the parts, it is useful to take an overall look at the model to be constructed which is taken here as an example and which is usually called a Layens hive.
5. Summary description of the Layens hive. — The Layens hive consists of a bottomless wooden box whose lid forming the roof of the hive (TT, fig. 2) is connected to the box by two hinges which we see in figure 2. Both the largest faces of the box constitute what we call the front and back of the hive; the two smaller faces are called the sides of the hive, and the entire box forms the body of the hive (CC, fig. 2). Figure 4 represents this body of the hive isolated. A large part of the front and back of the hive is covered with straw as seen in Figure 2. It is in the body of the hive that wooden frames such as the one shown in Figure 3 are enclosed. frames, twenty in number, are placed parallel to the sides of the hive. We see one of these frames in place in the body of the hive, in Figure 4, above and to the right of the letter A.
Fig. 2. —Layens hive, to be built, in northern red fir: CCC, body of the hive, partly covered with straw and pierced, in front and on the left, with an entrance equipped with a door L. On the right, at the bottom, is another similar entry which can replace the first; TT, roof covered with galvanized sheet metal and connected to the body of the hive by two strong iron hinges; PP, tray projecting forward and carrying a board a in front of the entrance.
Finally, this bottomless box, which forms the body of the hive, simply rests on a board which extends over the front and which is called the hive plate (PPP, fig. 2); a small board a, on which the bees arrive, is fixed to the left and in front of the board.
We will now describe each of the main parts of the hive.
1° Body of the hive (fig. 4). — The front and back of the hive are each formed by a board which carries a projecting crosspiece at the top (A, fig. 4). The two sides of the hive have two crosspieces, one upper (S, fig. 4) and the other lower I.
Fig. 3. — A frame: CC, sides of the frame cut at the bottom at a bevel B; D, lower crosspiece; F, upper crosspiece; E, reinforcement crosspiece.
It is on the part without a crossbar at the front of the hive that a doormat is attached; the doormat covers the front of the hive except for the top crosspiece and except for a height of 10 centimeters at the bottom (fig. 2). On the back of the hive there is also another doormat that extends almost to the bottom. This straw is used to protect the hive against temperature variations; it is useless on the sides which are internally protected by the rays. A hive mulched in this way costs less than a double-walled hive and is just as well protected.
At the bottom of the front of the hive, to the left of the part without straw, is the entrance to the hive which can be more or less closed by a strip of galvanized sheet metal L called a door (fig. 2). To the right is another similar entrance, which is only used in special circumstances (1).
Fig. 4. — Body of the hive: A, upper crosspiece of the front of the hive; B, upper crossbar of the back of the hive; S and I, upper and lower crossbars on one side of the hive; rr, interior edge on which the frames are placed; p, one of the upper reference points marking the intervals of the frames.
Fig. 5. — Body of the hive lying on its front side, showing one of the two lines of hooks CC located inside and at the bottom of the hive, and between which the base of frame I is placed; rr, edges on which the upper crosspieces S of the frames rest. The indications in AA, PP, relate to the construction (see § 15).
(1) In fact, there is only ever one input that works. The second entrance is only useful when the beekeeper wants to transfer the group of bees to the other side of the hive. He then opens this second door and closes the first.
If we now look inside the hive while laying it on its front (fig. 5), we see at the bottom of the hive two lines of small hooks cc equidistant from each other. One of these sets of hooks is nailed to the inside of the bottom front of the hive; the other series of hooks is nailed inside the opposite face.
Inside, the top of the body of the hive has an interior rim all around (rr, figs. 4 and 5); above this ledge and inside the body of the hive are two lines of markers (p, fig. 4} "which each correspond exactly to the middle of the bottom hooks.
Thanks to these hooks and these reference points the position of the 20 frames of the hive is clearly indicated. We place each frame so that its base (I, fig. 5) is placed on each side between two hooks while the upper crosspiece of the frame (S, fig. 5) is placed on each side between two reference points correspondents. We see in Figure 4 a frame thus placed in its natural position. It is also in the same way that you can put a partition board (fig. 6) which is not very useful, but can sometimes be used to reduce the size of the hive.
Fig. 6. — Partition board, formed of two equal planks AB surmounted by two crosspieces DD.
When the frames are placed, there remains a gap between their upper crosspieces which is closed with wooden slats placed on the field (see fig. 42). On top of everything, we put old wool blankets or a doormat.
2° Roof. —The roof of the hive is made up of four slats of wood assembled together, and covered with a sheet of thin galvanized sheet metal shown in a gray tint in Figure 2. The height of this roof allows, if desired, to add inside it are surplus boxes, that is to say small frames intended for making comb honey.
For the roofs of outdoor hives, I tried wood, straw, bitumen cardboard, painted sheet metal and zinc; I ultimately opted for galvanized sheet metal which costs a little more than zinc, but which never warps either in the heat or in the cold. For fifteen years I have had galvanized sheet metal roofs which have never moved. It is, in short, the most economical roof.
I use the thinnest soft sheet metal (half a millimeter thick) which costs at most 80 cents per kilogram.
3° Plateau. — The platform of the hive is simply formed by a board with two crosspieces underneath. It is equipped, as said above, with a small board a, opposite the entrance to the hive.
Now that we know in general the model to be built, we will move on to the practice of building the hive.
IV. — Practical construction of the various parts of the hive.
6. Quantity of wood needed for the hive. — For a hive of twenty frames, including the tray, you will need approximately 20 meters of length of parquet boards; We find blades that are up to 7 meters long, so there is very little loss of wood when sawing. For a hive, the price of wood will therefore be around 4 francs. 20.
The partition board, because only one is enough for a hive, will be made with wood 10 millimeters thick and will cost around 0 fr. 20.
For the frames, I use fir boards, which are available commercially and whose thickness is exactly 8 millimeters. These boards are split into lattices 25 millimeters wide; this trellis must therefore be 8 millimeters thick by 25 millimeters wide and it is very important that it has exactly these dimensions. The trellis returns to 0 fr. 04 per running meter; by sawing large quantities of it we could obtain it at 0 francs. 03.
For twenty frames, you need 36 meters in length, which will be 1 fr. 45.
In short, we see from the above that the quantity of wood necessary for a hive will cost 5 francs. 85.
7. Spikes, hooks, hinges. — I use two kinds of points represented (fig. 7 and 8) in natural size; these points are long and thin: long to obtain the necessary strength, thin to prevent the wood from splitting. For a hive, the price of the tips is around 0 fr. 30.
Fig. 7 and 8. — Points used for the construction of the hive (natural size).
In the construction of the hive, I insert all the points by tilting them a little (fig. 10, right); we thus obtain much greater solidity.
Figures 9 and 10 represent two pieces A and B, fixed together by two points driven obliquely in Figure 10 (right) and driven straight into Figure 9 (left). It is easy to understand that it would take a much greater effort to separate these two parts in the first case (fig. 10, right) than in the second (fig. 9, left).
Fig. 9 and 10. — Two pieces A and B, nailed with two points: straight (fig. 9), and obliquely (fig. 10). The second junction is stronger than the first.
We find on the market, under the name of hooks, curved iron wire ending in a point at each end. Figure 11 (left) represents one of these hooks in real size. As sold, these hooks do not have parallel branches; We will therefore have to use a hammer to tighten the two branches of each of them and we will thus obtain hooks such as the one shown in Figure 12 (right).
Fig. 11 and 12. — On the left one of the hooks for constructing the hive as found commercially (in natural size). — On the right the same hook whose branches have been made parallel.
It is very important that the wire is exactly two and a half millimeters thick, so that the width of the hook is 10 millimeters, after the branches are tightened. The length of the branches should be approximately 37 millimeters. For a hive you need 42 hooks which together cost around 0 francs. 10 (1).
The roof is connected to the body of the hive by two hinges; this arrangement, which I recently adopted after having seen it in several apiaries, is very convenient and increases the price of the hive little; However, we could do without it. The hinges, which must be very strong, will be approximately 16 centimeters long by 3 centimeters wide; the two hinges together cost 0 fr. 80. We see these hinges shown at the top of the hive in the overall figure (fig. 2).
Two small hinges are necessary for the partition board (fig. 6), their price is approximately 0 fr. 10 for both; all these hinges will need to be fixed with screws.
Fig. 13. — One of the small upholsterer's points which are used to mark marks (p, fig. 4) (in natural size).
Finally, we will need to obtain upholsterer's tips whose heads will be 5 or 6 millimeters in diameter; one of these points is shown in natural size in Figure 13.
In short, all of these supplies, except the large hinges, represent an expense of 0 francs. About 70 per hive.
8. Guides for assembling parts. — To assemble, saw and nail the various parts of the hive, I use pieces of wood called guides, which greatly shortens the work; there are four guides which I designate by the letters A, B, C, D. I advise, unless you already have some experience in handling tools, to have these guides made by a carpenter, because that of the hive depends on their good construction.
Fig. 14. — Guide A, used to make the sides of the hive.
1° Guide A (fig. 14). — This guide, as we will see later, is used to make the sides of the hive.
To make this guide I use a piece of blade which I cut according to the dimensions indicated in figure 14. Its thickness is therefore that of the blade, that is to say 24 millimeters.
2° Guide B (fig. 15 and 16). — Guide B is used to place the hooks.
(1) If by chance we could not easily find these hooks identical to those in figure 11, we could replace one hook with two points of the same size and the same length.
This guide, like the previous one, will be constructed with a piece of blade that is 24 millimeters thick; it is used to nail exactly in their place, without having to take measurements, the hooks that are placed at the bottom of the hives (see this, fig. 28). We see in figure 16 (which represents part of the guide B) one of these hooks (c) ready to be nailed (See p. 27, Method for tracing the guide B).
Fig. 15. — Guide B, used to place the hooks at the bottom of the hive: aa, sheet metal latches, each movable around a peg; min, pencil line, in the middle.
Along the blade (fig. 15) small notches 10 millimeters wide and 3 millimeters deep are cut. It is absolutely essential that these notches are exactly 38 millimeters apart from each other, as shown in Figure 16. At each end of the guide there is, in return, a latch (aa, fig. 15 and a, fig. 16), fixed to the wood by a peg; this latch made of a small galvanized sheet metal plate can move around the eyebolt. We can indeed see that, in Figure 16, this latch does not have the same position as in Figure 15.
Fig. 16. — Fragment of guide B, less reduced than in figure 8, showing a hook C ready to be nailed; a, one of the two movable sheet metal latches around a pin.
Fig. 17. — Guide C or miter box, to facilitate sawing of pieces (see fig. 18); nn, kerf to guide the saw.
Guide B is divided in two by a pencil line (mn, fig. 15).
3° Guide C (fig. 17 and 18). — This guide, called by carpenters a miter box (fig. 17), is used to saw blades of different lengths squarely without having to take measurements, as I will indicate later. It is enough, moreover, to see figure 18 to understand how to use this guide.
Fig. 18. — Gauge placed in the miter box (see fig. 17) to guide the sawing of pieces which have the same length as this gauge; p, point against which the caliber hits; nn, conductive saw cut and in which the saw is placed.
4° Guide D (fig. 19 and 20). — This guide is used to nail the upholstery points to the top of the hive (fig. 13).
Fig. 19 and 20. — Guide D, zinc strip pierced with holes for nailing the upholsterer's points to the top of the hive. Figure 19 shows the entire guide D; Figure 20 shows a less reduced fragment.
A tinsmith will have a zinc strip cut 810 millimeters long and 40 millimeters wide. This strip will then be pierced with holes 10 millimeters in diameter, the centers of which are exactly 38 millimeters apart. To check if these holes have been drilled precisely, we must place the strip with holes on the guide B; each hole must correspond exactly to a notch. Figure 20 represents a less reduced piece of guide D.
9. Calibers. — The hive, as I have already said, is made up of blades of different lengths connected together; There are six different lengths. We will have these six lengths sawed exactly and perfectly square by a carpenter, and on each of these six pieces called gauges we will write its length, the number of similar pieces necessary for a hive, and the part of the hive to which this belongs. piece, as seen on the gauge which is in the miter box (fig. 18). We read on this caliber 420 millimeters, 6 pieces, sides, which means that this caliber is exactly 420 millimeters long, that six blades of this length are needed for a hive and that these blades are intended to make the sides of the Beehive.
In this way, if you want to build a hive, all you have to do is saw off, as I indicated below, the number of pieces necessary, using these gauges.
The following table indicates all the sizes necessary for a hive, their length, the parts of the hive for which they are intended as well as the number of pieces corresponding to each size.
Length of gauges expressed in millimeters.
Parts of the hive for which the gauge is intended.
Number of rooms for a hive.
880 mm .... Crossbars for front and rear 2
830 Front and back walls and roof 10
393 Crossbars for sides 4
420 Sides 6
440 Roof 2
880 Tray 4
460 Tray 2 sleepers
10. Method for sawing the blades (see above, fig. 18). — I fix the miter box on my workbench, using the workbench jack; I insert the blade of my saw into the saw cut nn (fig. 17); against the saw, I press the end of a gauge, then, at the other end of the gauge, I insert a point p (fig. 18). I remove the gauge and in its place I slide a blade into the miter box, until it comes up against the point p; I then saw the blade by putting the saw in the saw cut nn, and I thus obtain a blade length exactly equal to that of the gauge. I continue to saw as many pieces as I want.
Before assembling my hive, I start by sawing in this way all the parts which must compose it and whose number and lengths are indicated in the previous table.
11. Assembling the sides of the hive (fig. 21, 22 and 23). — I take three pieces of 420 millimeters in length, and using a jack I remove the tongue from one piece; then, after having fitted the three pieces into each other, I place them on the workbench, the planed part being on top. I then place the guide A as shown in Figure 21; all three pieces must fit exactly.
Fig. 21. — Assembly of three 420 millimeter blades intended for the sides of the hive; we removed the tongue of the left blade and left the groove of the right blade. The three assembled parts fit exactly into guide A.
Fig. 22. — Installation of the crosspieces on one side of the hive: H, top crosspiece placed on the guide A and fixed by 3 points; B, bottom crosspiece fixed by 6 points.
Fig. 23. — One of the sides of the hive finished and seen from its interior face: H, top crosspiece; B, bottom crosspiece.
If the three pieces do not fit into guide A, I apply a stroke to reduce the width of the whole; in any case all three pieces must never be less wide than the inside of guide A (1).
(1)Commercial parquet boards can vary in width by 1 to 2 millimeters. It is therefore very important, when choosing wood, to assemble three boards and to check whether all of these three boards are at least 345 millimeters wide. If the assembly was less than 345 millimeters, you would have to purchase a few blades of 105 millimeters in width (another size that is easily found commercially). We would use this width of slats only for the manufacture of the sides of the hive, the crosspieces of these sides always remaining the same. Instead of three blades, this side board would then be formed of four blades fitting into each other. By removing from each side the quantity of wood necessary for the assembly of the four blades to fit exactly into the guide A, we will have manufactured by this means the boards of the sides of the hive.
It can indeed happen that commercial strips, instead of being exactly 115 millimeters wide, are 114 or 116. When you buy parquet strips, you should therefore try to choose them that are too wide rather than too narrow. .
In any case, it is essential that the board made up of these three pieces enters exactly into guide A.
On this board thus prepared, I nail two crosspieces 393 millimeters long made with boards from which I have previously removed the tongues and grooves (fig. 22). The crosspiece which will form the top H is placed, as seen in the figure, so that its edges coincide with those of the guide A which is placed below, and I fix it with three points to the previous board, formed by the assembly of the three pieces. This crosspiece H extends beyond the board by 40 millimeters (see H, fig. 23). As for the bottom crosspiece B, it does not extend outside (B, fig. 23); it is fixed with six points (fig. 22). The points, once inserted, protrude from behind; they are then curved and riveted on the opposite side, which makes the assembly very solid. Figure 23 shows one side of the completed hive. The second side of the hive is constructed in the same way.
12. Installing the hooks (fig. 24). — I choose a blade 830 millimeters long, from which I remove the groove using the jack. I divide this blade exactly in two with a pencil line (cc, fig. 24). On the non-planed part of this LL blade, I place the guide B, and I rotate the latches aa downwards so that the blade comes up against these latches on the side where the groove is removed and in such a way that the line mn of the middle of the guide corresponds to the line cc of the middle of the blade, this is what figure 24 indicates. I then nail the hooks (fig. 12) in the notches by pushing them flush with the guide B (see figure 24); finally, I turn the aa latches half a turn to be able to remove the guide. The same operation is then repeated on a second similar blade, and the hooks on the front and back of the hive (1) have thus been placed.
Fig. 24. — Placement of hooks on an LL blade using guide B (fig. 15): cc, pencil line from the middle of the blade on the extension of the min line of guide E. The right hooks are inserted, the following are ready to. be, the 3 notches on the left do not yet have hooks.
(1) In the case where, being unable to obtain hooks, each hook is replaced by two points, each point is nailed inside on both sides of the notch.
13. Front and back walls (fig. 25). — I take one of the blades on which I have nailed the hooks (LL, fig. 24), I place it on the workbench, placing it on the edge without the tongue; then, I fit three other blades of the same length (830 millimeters) on top. It should be noted that when you fit the blades on top of each other, you should not hit directly on the blades, as you could damage the tabs; you have to knock on a board that rests on the tab.
Fig. 25. — Construction of one of the front or back walls: LL, hooked blade (see fig. 24) above which are fitted three blades from which the part AB marked by hatching is subtracted at 420 millimeters from the base.
On the board thus formed, I trace a line AB at the top (fig. 25) 420 millimeters from the bottom, then I remove the excess (this wood to be removed is represented by hatching in figure 25). I then build a second board similar to the first. The two boards are intended to form the front and back walls of the hive.
14. Assembly of the hive body (fig. 26 and 27). — To assemble the body of the hive, I start by assembling the front and back walls by nailing them with the sides. It is enough to see figure 26 where only one of the two walls has still been nailed, to easily see this assembly. To finish the body of the hive, I nail to the upper part two 880 millimeter crosspieces (A and B, fig. 27) at the same height as the upper side crosspieces, after removing the tongues and grooves (fig. 27). . 27). To nail these crosspieces, we drive the points inside the hive, and we rivet them on the outside as usual. These crosspieces are also connected by four points with the upper side crosspieces. The body of the hive is then formed.
When the body of the hive has been completed, it can be ensured that by placing it on a flat table, its lower edges do not touch the table everywhere at once. If the body of the hive thus warps slightly, it will be straightened in the following manner: Place the body of the hive on the workbench so that two opposite corners are on the edge of the workbench, then, using with a mallet, we will strike on the top of the outer part, so as to straighten the body of the hive.
Fig. 26. — Assembly of the body of the hive. One of the walls is nailed on both sides.
Fig. 27. — Assembly of the hive body (continued). We nailed the crosspieces A and B which connect the walls to the upper crosspieces of the S sides. The lower crosspiece on one side is figured in I; rr, interior rim formed by the top of the faces of the body of the hive and on which the frames rest; p, one of the upholsterer's points serving as a reference point.
15. Nailing the upholstery points (fig. 28). —Inside the body of the hive (fig. 28), I trace with a pencil a line ooo which exactly divides the hive into two equal parts. Inside, on the crosspiece AA, I place the guide D (see fig. 19 and 20) so that the middle hole is placed in the middle of the pencil line ooo; I fix the two ends of the guide D using two PP broad-headed nails; finally, I nail an upholsterer's point (see fig. 13) in the middle of each hole, pushing it in all the way. We see in Figure 28 the points nailed in part of the holes in the guide. We also see a frame whose lower part I is engaged between the hooks and whose upper crosspiece S is placed in the position it must occupy between two spike heads which serve as a reference point.
Fig. 28. — Body of the hive lying on one of its faces. We placed the guide D (see fig. 19) inside one of the crosspieces AA to insert in the middle of the holes in this guide the upholsterer's points which should serve as marks for the frames. PP, two broad-headed tips that fix the guide D; ooo, pencil line, in the middle of the body of the hive, which coincides with the center of the middle hole of the guide D. We see at the bottom the hooks cc; rr, ledge on which the frames rest.
16. Bee entrance (fig. 29). — At the bottom of the hive, I make a cut at each end 10 millimeters deep and 220 millimeters long (see the overall figure fig. 2). At the level of these notches I fix using two eyebolts (PP, fig. 29) a galvanized sheet metal plate 230 millimeters long and 50 millimeters wide. Behind this plate, slides a tab L made of galvanized sheet metal, serving as a door, the end of which is curved outward in an O shape. This door is 270 millimeters long and 35 millimeters wide.
Fig. 29. — Bee entrance: L, galvanized sheet metal door curved outwards in O, and which slides under the piece of sheet metal fixed by two PP eyebolts above the entrance which is shown in black.
17. Roof of the hive (fig. 30, 31 and 32). — The roof is made up of four wooden slats covered with galvanized sheet metal. I start by assembling four blades, two of 830 millimeters and two of 440 millimeters in length, from which I have removed the tongues, without removing the grooves (see figure 30). Once the four slats have been assembled, the sheet metal must be fixed to complete the roof.
Fig. 30. — Manufacture of the roof of the hive: Assembly of four blades (placed on the field) placed on the sheet metal plate (shown in dotted lines) whose corners have been cut with shears, in DDDD and on the edge of which we have pierced holes oooo, etc., with the punch shown in figure 31.
I cut pieces of galvanized sheet metal (see §5.2°) 480 millimeters wide by 920 millimeters long. Four can be cut from a store-bought sheet, almost without loss; the remaining strips are used to make the doors of the hives. A beehive roof can cost around 1 franc. 50.
I place the piece of sheet metal on a workbench, I place the four assembled blades in the middle of the sheet, so that the side of the grooves is applied to the sheet metal, and using shears I cut the four corners of the sheet. the sheet metal (DDDD, fig. 30). Then, with a punch that figure 31 represents in natural size, I pierce all around, 10 millimeters from the edges, a few small holes (ooooo, fig. 30); these holes are intended to fix the piece of sheet metal to the wooden frame after having folded down the edges. To punch these holes, the sheet is placed on a piece of hard wood, boxwood for example, or on a block of lead, and with a single blow of the hammer given to the punch, the hole is drilled. Once the work is finished, I place the piece of sheet metal on the edge of the workbench and on top I place assembly C (fig. 32), then using two strong PP crosspieces (fig. 32), I securely fixes the four assembled blades to the sheet metal, with the two VV jacks (fig. 32); finally, with a small mallet, I bend the edges of the sheet metal all around the frame. We see in A (fig. 32) part of the edges of the sheet metal already bent and in B the other part not yet bent. This work completed, I nail the piece of sheet metal all around using a few small nails placed in the holes oooo (fig. 30). On each of the two short sides of the roof, it is useful to drill a hole approximately 3 centimeters in diameter, in the middle. These holes will simply be closed with a metal mesh. In summer as in winter, a current of air under the roof, which is established using these two opposite holes, is always favorable.
Fig. 31. — Punch for drilling holes in galvanized sheet metal (natural size).
Fig. 32. — Manufacture of the hive roof (continued): C, wooden assembly placed on the sheet metal; A, part of the edge of the sheet metal already bent with a mallet; B, unbent part;. PP, pieces of wood which, using the VV jacks, are used to fix part C.
The roof is then placed on the body of the hive, and connected to the upper crossbar by two strong hinges that we see in the overall figure (fig. 2). Moreover, everyone can build the roof as they wish with the materials they have at their disposal (see p. 25).
18. Installing doormats. — On the front and back walls of the hive, I nail a doormat (see the overall figure fig. 2), using the same hooks that we have already used (fig. 11). I use doormats similar to those that gardeners use to put on their frames. One worker can make 30 meters length of these doormats in one day.
19. Tray (fig. 33). — To make the tray, I join together 4 blades 880 millimeters long, which I connect by two blades serving as crosspieces, and which are 460 millimeters long.
Fig. 33. — Plate of the hive seen below, formed by five slats connected by two crosspieces and carrying the board of the entrance P.
On the front of the hive and opposite the bee entrance, I fix using two or three double points [that is to say, nails having a point at each end (fig. 34)]. a board to serve as a resting place for bees when they arrive from the fields. We see this board a in the overall figure.
Fig. 34. — Double point for fixing the entrance board, shown in natural size.
20. Bowl mold for making frames (fig. 35).—To make frames quickly and accurately, a mold is essential; it is also very easy to build.
The mold shown in Figure 35 consists of a strong board 30 to 40 millimeters thick, CC, to the sides of which two MM uprights are nailed, intended to securely hold the board placed on the workbench. The CC board must be 410 millimeters high by 460 millimeters wide. On this board, we nail a second R of 25 millimeters thick, and which will be very exactly 310 millimeters wide by 400 millimeters high.
Fig. 35. — Wooden mold for making the frames: R, 25 millimeter thick board nailed to board CC which is held vertical by the uprights MM; PPPP, four screw hooks; NN, points against which the upper crosspiece of the frame must butt.
Fig. 36. — Use of the mold to make frames. The upper crosspiece of the frame is placed on the upper edge of the board R and butts on the points NN; the sides of the frame to be constructed are held on the sides of the board R, by the four PPPP screw hooks, which press on their exterior face.
At the PPPP points, we screw four screw hooks (fig. 37 in real size) which, by rotating on themselves, tighten the sides of one of the frames as seen in figure 36.
On the upper part of the board R we place the upper crossbar of a frame so that it extends equally on each side and, at each end of the crosspiece, we drive a point NN into the board R to mark the place to be give to the crosspieces (fig. 35 and 36).
Fig. 37. — A screw hook (P, figs. 35 and 36), in natural size.
21. Construction of a frame. — A frame is made up of five pieces of three different lengths (fig. 38):
Two lengths of 400 millimeters for the sides (CC, fig. 38);
Fig. 38. — Complete frame: F, upper crosspiece; E, reinforcement crosspiece; C,C, sides; D, lower crosspiece; B, one of the four bevels.
Two lengths of 310 millimeters for the bottom cross member D and the reinforcement cross member E;
A width of 390 millimeters for the upper crossbar F.
After having fixed the two sides against the board R (fig. 36) using the four PPPP screw hooks, rotating them so as to tighten the sides against the board S, I place the upper crosspiece between the points NN ; I then nail this crosspiece to the sides of the frame using four nails; we must insert the points by tilting them as shown in figure 36 in order to obtain more solidity.
Fig. 39. — Continuation of the construction of a frame. We nail the reinforcing crosspiece E to the upper crosspiece of the frame which has been placed upside down.
I remove the frame from the mold, turn it over on the workbench and nail the reinforcing crosspiece E to it as shown in Figure 39, the three points which pass through the two thicknesses of the frames are then bent from behind with the hammer . I then nail the lower crosspiece D so that it is placed on the field (1), as shown in Figures 38 and 40; to finish, using a scissor or a knife, I cut the bottom of the BB frame at an angle (fig. 38 and 40).
Fig. 40. — Junction of the lower crossbar of a frame with one of the sides. The section of the lower crosspiece is represented by hatching; BB, bevels.
(1) The lower crossbar is placed in the field. This provision is important for the following reasons: 1° the frame is thus much more solid; 2° we can, thanks to the arrangement of this crosspiece, finish the frame at a bevel, which greatly facilitates the handling of the frames between the hooks; 3° during winter, if the bees fall on the tray, the space which exists between the tray and the combs is sufficient so that the dead bees do not accumulate there, which allows the air to always circulate around the group of live bees, which is very important for a good wintering.
When a frame is finished, it is rare that it will not be more or less awkward. To make it square, simply straighten it by hand. Moreover, each time we place a frame in a hive, it is necessary to check if this frame is indeed square, because, when the bees have built in a slightly awkward frame, it is impossible to straighten it.
22. Slats between frames. — Between the frames, at the upper part, we simply place slats on the field of the same length as the upper crosspieces of the frames. Figure 42 shows what this arrangement is; we see in place a fragment of one of the slats L between the crosspieces t and t' of two frames. As we put slats at both ends, you need 22 slats for a hive.
On top of these slats, we put, as we said above, a doormat or an old wool blanket.
Fig. 41. — Figure showing the position of the slats placed between the frames: — tt', upper crosspieces of two frames in place; L, strip figured in hatching, placed in the field, between the frames.
I tried oilcloth to cover hives, iron Ys, boards, etc. ; I prefer the slats we just talked about. The slats allow only a few combs to be exposed at a time and prevent bees from building between the upper crosspieces of the frames.
V. — Establishment of the price of a hive.
23. Cost price of a hive. — The following table gives the time to use to build each part of the hive and summarizes the operations to be carried out.
Summary of building a hive.
1° Sawing all the lengths of blades necessary for the hive (using gauges and guide C or miter box)... 40 minutes.
To be postponed.... 40 minutes.
Postponement…. 40 minutes.
2° Assembly of both sides of the hive (using guide A) 30
3° Installation of the hooks (using guide B) and removal of a groove 20
4° Assembly of the front and back of the hive and assembly of the body of the hive 45
5° Installation of upholsterer points (using guide D). 15
6° Notches for entrances 15
7° Installation and cutting of doors and their plates 30
8° Assembly of the four wooden slats of the roof with removal of the tabs 20
9° Installation of the galvanized sheet metal for the roof 25
10° Manufacturing of the partition board 30
11° Sawing and nailing of the 20 frames and cutting of the 22 slats used to close the upper intervals of the frames 110
12° Manufacturing of tray 20
13° Installation of doormats on the front and back of the hive 20
Total 420 minutes.
Cost price of the hive built by the beekeeper.
Wood in parquet strips 4 fr. 00
Doormats... 0 50
Galvanized sheet for the roof 1 50
Hooks, plates, doors, spikes 0 70
Wood for the frames, slats and partition board. 2 20
Total 8 fr. 90
The hive that we have just built economically is not a hive intended for amateurs who want to have fun observing bees without worrying about the honey harvested; it is a hive for the use of the farmer and the industrial beekeeper who seeks by practical means to obtain the most honey at the cheapest possible price.
I do not believe that by overly complicating manipulations and pointlessly embellishing beekeeping tools and hives, we are doing a great service to bee culture. On the contrary, it is by combining simplified equipment with simplicity of methods that we will ensure frame hives the place they rightly deserve. It is by making the tools required by the new culture available to everyone that we will hasten the spread of modern beekeeping.
APPENDIX
Method for tracing guide B (See § 8, p. 10). — As there is a little more space at both ends of the hive than is strictly necessary, and this in order to facilitate the removal of the last frames, here is how it will be necessary to go about dividing the space exactly guide B which is intended for nailing the hooks:
From the middle line mm (t ig. 15), which divides the guide into two equal parts, we draw, to the right and left, two other lines 38 millimeters from the middle line mm-, then two others lines twice 38 millimeters, or 76 millimeters, to the right and left of the middle line mm; then two other lines at three times 38 millimeters, or 114 millimeters, to the right and left of the mm line, and so on until the two ends of the guide. By this way of operating, all the lines which indicate the place of each notch (fig. 16) will be exactly 38 millimeters from each other, and we will thus avoid the errors which could occur if we operated otherwise.
Fig. 42. — Section of the roof of the hive, showing the angle removed at D to prevent rain from entering the joint AB.
Improvements made to the roof (fig. 42 and 43). — In order to prevent rainwater from penetrating through the joint between the roof and the body of the hive (AB, fig. 41), we remove the exterior angle D using the plank, all around the edge on which the roof rests. In this way, water flowing along the wall cannot enter the hive through the AB joint.
Fig. 42. — Roof with two slopes.
If we want to take the trouble, we can easily build much more elegant roofs, gable roofs in the shape of a chalet of the kind shown in Figure 43.
OF THE CHOICE OF A HIVE
THEREFORE THE NEED FOR SIMPLE METHODS
By the committee of the Tarn Beekeeping Society.
The Tarn Beekeeping Society was created to spread the rational cultivation of bees in our countryside and to replace the old hives with hives with mobile frames. Founded at a time when mobile beekeeping had made great progress, it was not, at its beginnings, subject to the problems of trial and error and, from the first attempt, used the tools which seemed the simplest to the most experienced beekeepers.
She immediately adopted and propagated the horizontal hive to 20 and 24 frames; the frames have the dimensions indicated by Mr. de Layens. This hive is the only one in use in the department. Some beekeepers have a few super hives, but only on a trial basis.
We have a hive tested by several years of experience and we have not made any changes to either the shape of the hive or the dimensions of the frame.
Such, at the beginning, who only wanted to have a few frame hives, encouraged by the magnificent results obtained, excited by the pleasure that this culture provides, every year, increased the number of his colonies and created several apiaries often far away. 'from each other.
There are many beekeepers in our region who have acted in this way. It will suffice for us to cite MM. Frézouls and Trouillet who were the first to use the frame hive in the region. They currently have quite a large number of colonies. Very busy with the exploitation work on their property, they visit their bees in April, ensure the sufficiency of the provisions, the good condition of the colonies, place all the frames and only open the hives again to harvest them. The example of old beekeepers who obtain good yields, and watch, as it were, idly by the harvest made by their bees, has had a very great influence on the development of beekeeping in our countryside. The farmer began cultivating bees when he understood the possibility of achieving results without making too many visits to the hives. The words of stimulating nourishment, of replacing mothers, frightened him and distanced him from the mobilist system. Accustomed to extensive cultivation rather than intensive cultivation, people from the countryside hardly understand the complications.
The beekeepers of Tarn have therefore simplified as much as possible the care to be given to their apiary, some after having used complicated processes, others, from the first attempt, taking advantage of the experience of their neighbors. Several have managed to manage fairly large apiaries without disturbing themselves in any way from their daily activities. Colonies kept in good condition by abundant provisions left in the fall, develop normally in the spring and never allow the wax moth to invade the combs, although in some apiaries all the frames are left for wintering. .
We attribute to the ease of handling the horizontal hive, the speed with which our beekeepers were led to practice simple methods. For the majority of farmers, beekeeping is an accessory which does not require assiduous care.
As mobile frame hives become more widespread in the countryside, the methods become simpler. We read in No. 17 of the Bulletin des Hautes-Pyrénées: “In my horizontals of 21 frames, winter and summer, I leave all these frames under the protection of bees which, in sufficient numbers, protect them from wax moth, better than all sulfur fumigations in cabinets or boxes, based on experience of more than fifteen years. » — Mr. Marcel Dupont, professor of beekeeping at Aube, in an article in L'Abeille (no. 4, 3rd year), recommends simple methods and cites facts to support his recommendations. Abbot Baffert, in No. 10 of F Apiculteur (1892), explains the method followed for running his apiary, a very simple and practical method.
According to all these articles, complicated methods are abandoned by a crowd of beekeepers who, in practice, have realized the uselessness of complications and the obstacles that these complications bring to the development of bee cultivation in the countryside. . What then is the aim pursued by the numerous Companies which, in recent years, have been created on the territory of France, if not the dissemination of beekeeping knowledge, the development of a taste for bees and the increase in beekeeping products? , by simple equipment and by simple methods? The day when every farm has its own small apiary, France will hold first place in honey production.
Agriculture will derive the greatest benefit from the development of beekeeping which, far from diminishing its strength or weakening its growth, will bring into its vessels a sap, all the more abundant as it itself grows with more force.
Moreover, clarity and simplicity are the distinctive qualities of the French spirit. To whatever period we refer, whatever branch of human knowledge we consider, we find that our race has always brought clarity where other peoples had found only confusion. We have always remained original, even when imitating. Why shouldn't this be the case with beekeeping? Let us leave confusing science and complicated methods to other countries, let us spread around us the simple methods which are essential to all by the clarity of their presentation and by the simplicity of their application. Let’s create French education.
For this, isolated efforts will remain powerless. It is not enough for one or more Societies to defend simple methods, it is necessary for the Federation of French Societies to become the soul of this propaganda.
We hope that the Federation recommends and propagates:
1° The horizontal hive, which is suitable for the mass of beekeepers;
2° The simplest cultivation methods, appropriate to the region in which they are to be used. The committee.
MM.
Frezools, surveyor in I.abastide-de-Lévis (Tarn).
Délevez, honorary director of École Normale.
Betmale, treasurer of the Albi normal school.
Fourcassié, teacher at Albi high school.
Trouillet, owner in JuSsens.
Teynîér, retired colonel.
Boüsqoel, owner in Saint-Quentin.
Boussac, doctor-physician in Aibi.
Bordage, owner in Albi.
Guyot, owner in Albi.
Coste, owner in Saliès.
Bounhiol, honorary professor.
(Extract from the Directory of the Federation of French Beekeeping Societies.)
PAUL DUPONT bookstore, 4, rue du Bouloi, PARIS
Comes island to appear
FULL COURSE
BEEKEEPING
(Bee Culture)
BY MM.
Georges de LAYENS I Gaston BONNIER
LAUREATE OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES I PROFESSOR AT LA SORBONNE
A beautiful volume of 450 pages, small octavo, illustrated with 244 figs. drawn from nature
BY
A. M ILLOT, P. J AMIN, B. IIERINCQ, J. POINSOT, etc.
Free price: 3 fr. 50
At PAUL DUPONT, 4. rue du Bouloi, PARIS, and at all booksellers.
“There was no French work dealing with the cultivation of bees, in a detailed manner, both by the ancient methods of hives with fixed combs and by the modern methods of hives with movable combs (horizontal hives and hives vertical). The Complete Course in Beekeeping just written by Mr. Georges de Layens, the Master of French Beekeeping, and Mr. Gaston Bonnier, the learned professor at the Sorbonne, is addressed, without bias, to all those who are interested in bees.
“This new work is above all essentially practical and does not assume any prior knowledge from the reader. Everything is laid out there clearly and methodically, in the simplest and easiest to understand way.
“The operations to be carried out are described in detail and anyone starting out in the cultivation of bees is guided step by step, as if they had an experienced beekeeper constantly at their side giving them advice. Summaries placed at the end of each chapter highlight the essential parts it contains.
“Beekeepers will also find in this volume the presentation of many questions which are not addressed in other beekeeping treatises or which are only touched upon. These are the chapters which cover the plants where the bees collect honey, where they draw the sweet liquid from the flowers, the melliferous value of different regions, the comparison of the methods and general principles of beekeeping, the various processes of transfer and artificial swarming, analysis of nectars, honeys, meads, etc., etc.
“The Complete CVApiculture Course is also printed with great care and illustrated with numerous figures due to our best artists, in particular to MA Millot, who knows the bee so well and knows how to capture its physiognomy from life in the movements so varied.
“Any beekeeper, anyone interested in bees will want to own this book which is at the same time a practical guide, a teaching work and a treatise that makes for pleasant reading. »
SUMMARY
OF
COMPLETE BEEKEEPING COURSE
of MM. Georges de Layens and Gaston Bonnier
FIRST PART
Introduction to. the study of Beekeeping
Preliminaries.
Chapter 1. — Bees.
Chapter II. - The colony.
SECOND PART
Learning to be a beekeeper.
Chapter III. - The Beehive.
Chapter IV. — Honey value of the region.
Chapter V. — Establishment of the apiary.
Chapter VI. — Spring operations of the first year.
Chapter VII. — Installations of swarms in k-frame hives.
Chapter VIII. — Summer operations of your first year.
Chapter IX. — Fall operations of the first year.
Chapter X. — Spring operations of the second year.
Chapter XI. — Summer and fall operations of the second year.
Chapter XII. — Operations of the third year.
THIRD PART
Other hive systems.
Chapter XIII. — Equipment for vertical hives.
Chapter XIV. — Management of bees through vertical hives.
Chapter XV. — Management of bees by common hives with fixed combs.
Chapter XVI. — Additional material.
Chapter XVII. — Equivalent operations.
FOURTH PART
General information on beekeeping.
Chapter XV11I. — General principles and comparison of methods.
Chapter XIX. — Products from the apiary.
Chapter XX. — Diseases and enemies of bees.
Chapter XXI. — Nectar and nectaries.
Chapter XXII. — Honey production of plants.
PAUL DUPONT bookstore, 4, rue dü Bouloi, PARIS.
WORKS OF M. DE LAYENS
THE ILLUSTRATED Apiary. Errors to avoid, advice to follow, a beautiful large volume in-8° with 41 plates out of text and figures in the text, new edition,
price (free) • - 2 fr. 50
MANAGEMENT OF AN ISOLATED Apiary (free) 0 fr. %
ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION OF FRAME HIVES (free).. 0 fr. 60
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NEW FLORA for the easy determination of plants, without technical words, with 2US figures, indicating the plants sought by bees, by G. Bonnier, professor at the Sorbonne, and G. de Layens, laureate of the Institute (Work crowned by the National Agricultural Society of France). 1 vol. of pocket. New edition. Price (hardback: 5 fr.). Paperback 4 fr. 50
FLORA OF BELGIUM AND NORTHERN FRANCE, with 2282 figures, by the same authors (Work crowned by the Academy of Sciences and adopted by the Ministry of Public Education of Belgium). New edition. Price (hardback: 5 fr.). Paperback 4 fr. 50
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COMPLETE COURSE OF NATURAL HISTORY (Zoology, Botany and Geology), by Mr. Gaston Bonnier, professor at the Sorbonne. 1 large volume with 787 figures in the text, in accordance with the new programs of 1891, for preparation for baccalaureates, the higher certificate, etc., etc. Price, bound... 4 fr.
THE BEEEKEEPER
BEE GROWERS' JOURNAL
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BEEKEEPING ESTABLISHMENT
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BEEKEEPING ESTABLISHMENT
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