The division board is sometimes called a "dummy." Yet there is a great difference between the two. A dummy is only a board shaped like one of the frames, and of the same size. It fills the place of a frame, but does not conserve heat any better than the frame of empty comb. Our division board is closed at both ends, with a rounding piece of oil cloth, tacked on it. It effectually prevents the circulation of air on the ends. Of course, if we were to make it of the exact length of the inside of the hive, we would have great trouble in moving it when necessary, because the bees would glue it fast. But with the soft cloth on both ends, it is moved without jar and without trouble. We remove it temporarily when we need room to handle the frames, in searching for a queen, for brood, etc. It is also moved up to the number of combs actually occupied by bees and honey, when a small colony inhabits the hive. The reader will bear in mind that the hive is made for 10 frames and a division board, while an ordinary Langstroth 8-frame hive, when full, has less capacity than 6 frames of the Dadant hive. We may therefore have occasion to winter a small colony on 6 frames, filling the space behind our division board with forest leaves, or other warm material, and our colony will be more compact and will stand a better chance of wintering safely than the colonies in 8-frame Langstroth hives. The division board, however, is not made to touch the bottom of the hive, but a bee space is left under it. Our reason for this is that, often, bees have found themselves imprisoned behind a full depth board. Also, in manipulations, it is inadvisable to use a board which may crush bees when put down in place. Our board does not crush any bees and yet serves the purpose of confining the heat of the cluster. Since heat rises, there is but little deperdition of it at the bottom. Not so, with the dummy, which is open on both ends and serves very little purpose. The top slat, or top bar, of this division board, is made of exactly the same size and thickness as the top bar of a frame. It fits in the same rabbet and is not in the way of the supers.
The oilcloth over the combs has proven very superior to honey boards, as the bees cannot glue it fast as they do a board. When we remove a honey board from the top of a brood-chamber, there is a commotion and a jar, for it is always glued. In cool weather, the removal of such a board sets the entire colony in an uproar, as a kick from the operator might do. A cloth is pulled gently from the top of the frame and "peels off" just as far as wanted, without any jar and without exciting the bees. We have used oil cloths, painted ducking, khaki, gunny cloth, etc. Anything which will confine the bees will do. Some object to these articles because the bees tear them up. It is true that they do so, in the course of time. However, if the cloths are strong and well painted, they last a long time. Their usefulness permits us to put up with their inconveniences. We replace them as often as needed. The oil cloth is constantly kept upon the hive, except in winter. When putting on supers we place it at the top of the supers.
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