1890 



GLEAN1^•GS IN BEE CULTURE. 



221 



0a^ QaEgwi6N-B@^, 



With Replies from our best Autiiorities on Bees. 



All queries sent In for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked. "For OurQuestion-Box." 



Question 156 —Is a dimhle-ivalled hive, with a dead- 

 air spdce. ns good for irintrriinj as one of the same 

 kind with this space filled irith cliaff. providing that a 

 chaff cushion ur other absorbent be used above the 

 brood-frames? Have you had any practical tests to 

 lead you in deciding one way or the other? 



No. I learned this from others. 

 New York. C. 



P. H. Elwood. 



Yes, a dcadair space Is the best of non-conduct- 

 ors I have. 

 Illinois. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



1. No. 3. No; and I don't need any to know that 

 much. 

 Ohio. N. W. A. B. Mason. 



We prefer a single-walled hive, yet we have chaff 

 and double- walled hives in use. 

 Illinois. N. W. Dadant & Son. 



I prefer to use chaff, for the reason that I have 

 never succeeded in getting a " dead-air " space. 

 Wisconsin. S. W. Geo. Grimm. 



I should say better, provided you have the dead- 

 air space. 

 Ohio. N. W. H. R. Boardman. 



I have tried both. I should prefer the chaff. 

 Theory and practice both support this opinion. 

 Michigan. C. A. J. Cook. 



I never experimented with double-walled hives; 

 but to guess at it, I think I should rather risk the 

 chaff. 



Wisconsin. S. W. S. I. Freeborn. 



I use straw, and prefer it to either a dead-air 

 space or chaff. As each separate straw contains a 

 dead air-space, I have hundreds of dead-air spaces 

 instead of one. 



New York. C. G. M. Doolittle. 



I've had no experience, but I suspect an actual 

 dead-air space is better than chaff'. But in actual 

 practice I doubt if walls are close enough to be air- 

 tight, so I should prefer the chaff. 



Illinois. N. C. C. Miller. 



I am not in favor of a fixed double-walled hive of 

 any kind. Chaff packing that can be removed is 

 much preferable. I have tested this matter very 

 thoroughly. 



Connecticut. S. W. L. C. Root. 



I have hadbothkindsinmy roof apiary for the last 

 25 years, and still have some of both. There is, per- 

 haps, no difference between them. But T am posi- 

 tive in stating that my strongest colony in spring 

 was never in a chaff hive. 



Ohio. S. W. C. F. MUTH. 



I never saw a hive with a dead-air space, neither 

 do I believe anybody else ever did. Since it is nec- 

 essary—in order to have a dead-air space — that 

 every joint be perfectly air tight, this would require 

 a glue joint at every joint. We have in an empty, 

 well-corked, and sealed bottle, a dead-airspace; and 



to get it in a hive it must be as perfect as in the 

 corked bottle; hence I would consider it safer to fill 

 the space with chaff, as the chaff' itself assists in 

 forming the dead-air space, or, in other words, 

 many little dead-air spaces. 

 Vermont. N. W. A. E. Manum. 



I think not. Coarse packing-material in double- 

 walled hives gives much less protection than does 

 fine material; and as coarse material gives condi- 

 tions nearer like those of a dead-airspace than does 

 fine, I reason that a dead-air space would be still 

 less satisfactory. I speak from a large experience 

 with chaff hives. 



Cuba. O. O. Poppleton. 



I have had no practical experience in dead-air 

 spaces. A deadair space might be effective if it 

 were really a dead-air space; and can you make a 

 really effective dead-air space in an ordinary wood- 

 en hive exposed to all conditions of the atmosphcreV 

 We doubt it. 



New York. E. Rambler. 



We have three or four hives that happened to get 

 into the field without having the space filled with 

 chaff. They have been in use three or four years. I 

 don't know but they are just as good as those that are 

 stuffed with chaff. But we prefer to put in the 

 chaff. There are a great many people living in cold 

 houses, and don't freeze to death; but that doesn't 

 prove that it is better to live in a cold house. 



Wisconsin. S. W. E. France. 



I am a charitable individual, but I sometimes feel 

 tempted to "say things" about the brethren that 

 keep talking about dead-air space in a hive. I 

 should think it derogatory to my own wits if I 

 should say that I had experimented with it much. 

 Dead-air space in a hive is impracticable— summer 

 suns are too hot, and cracks form too easily. If 

 you have a double wall, pack it with something, of 

 course. To be sure, a few boards set up around to 

 break the force of a winter gale will help some; but 

 what would be thought of the sanity of the individ- 

 ual who would prefer to crouch behind a few 

 boards when he might just as well be in a house? 



Ohio. N. W. E. E. Hasty. 



Yes, sir, if your air space is absolutely tight. In our 

 opinion, all chaff does is to perfect the work of the 

 hive-maker. The chaff' that would fill the walls of a 

 hive weighs almost nothing, leaving the dead air as 

 the main filling, after all; but it chinks up little 

 cracks so the space is a dead-air space, not filled with 

 circulating atmospheric air. I prefer a more solid 

 wall, however, made thicker, and filled with some 

 more solid filling, and painted dark red, because the 

 dark color has no tendency to radiate away the 

 heat of the bees in stormy, cloudy weather; and 

 when the sun shines, which is more of the time 

 than many think, it furnishes heat which the bees 

 get, and thus aids them in keeping up the necessary 

 temperature. Yes, I have had lots of practical ex- 

 perience in this line. 



Michigan. S. W. James Heddon. 



If a space of perfectly dead air could be secured 

 it would be theoretically as good a non-conductor 

 as we could secure by any packing. Practically 

 this is never secured, for the reason that, even if 

 the air space is perfectly inclosed, as long as one 

 Bide is warmer than the other, currents of air will 

 circulate, carrying heat to the other side. Packing 



