. The American bee keeper. Bee culture; Honey. &-<. VOL. I. JANUfVRY, 1891. NO, 1. Fixed vs. Loose Bottom- boards. BY DR. C. C. MILLER. The subject of hives is a somewhat ticklish one to tackle, for fear of step- ping on some 'one's corns, but I think bottom boards belong to all so I am quite safe. We are likely to be prejud- iced ; I atn sure I am. When I first kept bees I had loose bottom-boards and did not see how I could get along without them. Then Vandervort, (he of Foundation Mill fame,) moved away from Marengo and I bought his stock of hives. They had fixed bottoms and I found d
. The American bee keeper. Bee culture; Honey. &-<. VOL. I. JANUfVRY, 1891. NO, 1. Fixed vs. Loose Bottom- boards. BY DR. C. C. MILLER. The subject of hives is a somewhat ticklish one to tackle, for fear of step- ping on some 'one's corns, but I think bottom boards belong to all so I am quite safe. We are likely to be prejud- iced ; I atn sure I am. When I first kept bees I had loose bottom-boards and did not see how I could get along without them. Then Vandervort, (he of Foundation Mill fame,) moved away from Marengo and I bought his stock of hives. They had fixed bottoms and I found decided advantages in them,so great indeed,that I concluded I wanted no loose bottoms, and con- tinued in that mind for a good many years. Years ago great stress was placed on the importance of upward ventilat- ion when wintering in cellars. Before I had any frame hives, I wintered box hives in the cellar, turning them upside down, a la Quinby. It was upward ventilation with a vengeance, but they wintered well. There was no lower ventilation and it was mil strange that upon adopting frame hives there was no great need felt of having much opening below. In the course of years the pendulum of opinion swung clear to the other ex- treme, and hives were put in the cellar with everything at the top sealed up as tight as bee-glue could make it. Some of the veterans then began to insist very strongly that much ventilation was needed at the bottom even to the extent of having the whole bottom entirely open. One of them, H. R. Boa*dman, had notable success in wintering, and I think gave the credit mainly to open bottoms. With the fixed bottoms it was impossi- ble for me to increase bottom venti- lation, and if I wanted the advantage of large bottom ventilation I must resort to loose bottoms. So it was not strange that I should carefully compare the relative merits of loose and fixed bottoms. A fixed bottom has the important advantage of being always ready in its place. If you wish to move
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbeeculture, bookyear1
