1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBE. 



91 



DOUBLE VS. SINGLE "WALL HIVES. 



THE ADVANTAGES OF THE FORMER, BOTH SUMMER 

 AND WINTER. 



In determining which is the better, a double or a 

 Bingle wall hive for practical results, we should 

 consider not alone the winter problem. At the late 

 International Convention, where the matter was 

 fully discussed, it was not, nor can it be shown to 

 be, that a properly constructed double-wall hive 

 packed with suitable material will not winter bees 

 as well as the single-wall hive in a good cellar. 

 Though it was shown, I think, conclusively, that 

 there is a small saving of stores by cellar wintering, 

 I think it must also be conceded that it is, on the 

 whole, the most economical system of wintering. 

 Here, then, are two points conceded in favor of 

 single-wall hives; but I propose to show that these 

 are more than offset by the superior advantages of 

 the double-wall hive in spring and summer. 



The saving of stores by cellar wintering is not 

 over four pounds to the colony; and the saving in 

 the cost of hives is not more than the value of four 

 pounds of honey per year. Now we come to spring 

 brooding; and my experience is, that there is a net 

 saving of not less than ten pounds of stores to the 

 colony by the use of the double-wall hive up to the 

 first of June, in this locality; and I believe the sav- 

 ing would be still greater at any point further 

 north. If we calculate, then, from the first of No 

 vember till the first of June, we have a saving of at 

 least six pounds of stores in double-wall hives over 

 the best possible showing in single-wall hives. 



But we will not stop here. There is another ad- 

 vantage in double-wall hives that has not hereto- 

 fore been recorded; and it is the chief considera- 

 tion with me in deciding in favor of them. We can 

 7-aise one-third more brood and heet< in a double than 

 in a single wall hive hy the first of Jane! We have the 

 facts and figures to prove this point, and they will 

 be given if desired. I will here simply allude to the 

 fact that bees in protected hives in spring are 

 stronger, and are able to gather stores, and to 

 breast strong cold winds, when the bees from sin- 

 gle-wall hives, being comparatively weak, fall to 

 the ground, or become chilled on the flowers, and 

 die. The cause of this state of things is undoubt- 

 edly due to the greater labor required to keep the 

 brood warm during the cool nights and days of 

 April and May, in single-wall hives. 



Thus it will be seen, that the two points above 

 conceded to the credit of the single-wall hive be- 

 come a small matter when we compare the grand 

 results that can be achieved with the double-wall 

 hive in spring brooding, preparatory to securing a 

 crop of honey. But I shall fall short of doing this 

 subject justice, by not saying something upon the 

 proper construction of double-wall hives and their 

 winter and spring management. I know that 

 many have failed with such hives, and I think I 

 know why. I have said, and 1 desire to emphasize 

 the fact, that a chaff hive, with damp packing, and 

 damp walls and combs, is a poor place for bees. 

 Indeed, it is far inferior to a single-wall hive in 

 outdoor wintering, if it is allowed to get into such 

 a condition; and I know that the ordinary manage- 

 ment of these hives leads to more or less dampness, 

 which is either death to the bees or there is a par- 

 tial or complete failure in results. Double-wall 

 hives, then, must be kept dry, and the packing 

 must be thoroughly dry to begin with. Again, the 



packing must be quite porous or it will require to 

 be of ten changed. Thus, fine sawdust, clover and oat 

 chaff, that mat down close, are objectionable. For- 

 est leaves, planer shavings Irom dry wood, and the 

 excelsior sawdust obtained in sawing sections, are 

 preferred, and from 3!^ to 3 inches of packing 

 aliout the brood-chamber is enough. 



DAMPNESS IN HIVES. 



In preventing dampness I rely much upon proper 

 ventilation, and practice two methods, both of 

 which succeed well. The first is free bottom ven- 

 tilation, and it seems best adapted to this locality. 

 The second is upward ventilation in connection 

 with a small entrance (3 inches by %). This latter 

 system seems better adapted to points further 

 north, though I am not sure it is. With free bottom 

 ventilation there is more and purer air furnished 

 to the bees, and they appear to be able to keep the 

 hive as warm as by the other plan, as the follow- 

 ing will show. 



About 50 miles due west of here are quite a num- 

 ber of apiaries of from ten to fifty colonies of pure 

 black bees in box hives, where for more than 50 

 years they have held their own, and where, up to 

 this time, the frame hive and the modern system of 

 bee-keeping have been unknown or ignored. What 

 impressed me most was the fact that all of these 

 hives, without exception, were set on four small 

 flat stones, from K to 1 inch thick, and they were 

 left so the year round. I inquired of one old and 

 intelligent bee-keeper why he let so much air in at 

 the bottom of his hives, and he replied that they 

 could not winter their bees in any other way ! that 

 the combs and hives, without the large openings at 

 the bottom, would become dqmp, and the bees 

 would die; that, as long as the hives and combs 

 were dry, the bees were never injured by the cold ! 

 I suppose I have seen this same fact stated in the 

 bee-papers a hundred times, and yet it does not ap- 

 pear that the mass of bee-keepers are profiting bjit. 



BEST MODES OF VENTILATION. 



It is now a well-known fact, that bees in winter, 

 at intervals of three to five days, aiouse from their 

 torpid condition, and feed. During the intervals 

 they take no food until the sense of hunger again 

 arouses them. This is an interrupted hibernation. 

 I have thought that they often go as long as a 

 week without food; but when they do rouse up 

 they raise the temperature and warm up their 

 stores before they can feed; and in the operation 

 they set in motion active currents of air. Now, I 

 have observed that bees can not properly ventilate 

 a hive except from the bottom; and the experi- 

 ments of Mr. Cornell have shown that free bottom 

 ventilation can not be had through a horizontal en- 

 trance of the usual size, without other openings in 

 the bottom or other part of the hive. Bees then 

 may, at their feeding-times, ventilate and dry out 

 their hives in winter to some extent, where free 

 bottom ventilation is provided for. The plan that I 

 have tried, and which seems to answer every pur- 

 pose, is to give a full entrance ( '« x 13 inches), and 

 in the bottom of the winter-case, at the rear end of 

 the brood-chamber, make five one-inch auger- 

 holes, which are to be covered with tinned wire 

 cloth. Upward ventilation is prevented as far as 

 possible by the use of an inside cover for the brood- 

 chamber, made of wood. The hive stands near the 

 ground, and a few leaves are placed loosely be- 

 neath to keep the bees from trying to get under 

 the hive, when they can fly, where the auger-holes 



