Mar. 1, U112 



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131 



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IN WHOSE LOCALITY ? 



Paper-covered Hives with Large Entrances versus 

 Double-walled Packed Hives with Moderate En- 

 trances; do Bees Prosper in a Zero Temperature? 



BY ARTHUR C. MILLER. 



So the time has come when one must 

 lieiid every article " In this locaUty." For- 

 suoth, I thought the veterans at least could 

 remember that, but it seems not. Mold! 

 Ah, ha! Ernest is to blame. It seems that 

 he picked out the boys to make the reply. 

 I wonder why he did not pick some one in 

 Texas. 



Little did I think that I was going to step 

 on the i)et corns of those Canuckers when I 

 wrote that article: and, in fact, I was no 

 more thinking of them than I was of the 

 boys in the tropics. Well, boys, see here. 

 Vou needn't give up your chali hives. I'll 

 let you use them as long as you wish. You 

 don't intend to give them up? Well, then, 

 what in thunder are you making all this 

 jKither about? You fellows have forgotten 

 — well, never mind what. I'll just ask the 

 other boys to turn to Holtermann's eulogies 

 of cellar wintering scattered through the 

 bee papers. No, Holtermann, I'll not shut 

 up. If cellar wintering is as fine as you so 

 long and so forcefully maintained, why are 

 you now using the formerly contemned 

 chaff hive? I like to hear a man try to ex- 

 plain away facts — if he doesn't stutter. 



And there is Byer. Hm! Say! just be- 

 cause you got the better of me once, don't 

 let it make you over-confident. Let me see; 

 you once tried my black-paper plan of win- 

 tering and fell down on it. And if memory 

 serves me rightly you modified my instruc- 

 tions j».s^ a lift le because you thought I had 

 erred in some points. And now vou want 

 to put the blame on me. If I am going to 

 try a man's j)lan I'll try it just as he gives 

 it; and then if it does not work with me I'll 

 try it with my notions tacked on. 



Now, you two boys hug yourselves — and 

 each other if necessary to give vent to your 

 ecstasy — and get all the fun you can. The 

 editor has up his sleeve something else along 

 the line of "cokl storage " of bees which, 

 mayhaii, will cause you to let up on poor 

 Miller and take serious thought unto your- 

 selves. 



After the foregoing was written. Glean- 

 ings for Feb. 1 arrived, and I have careful- 

 ly read what is written there. One impor- 

 tant point stands out strongly; that is, that 

 a temperature of freezing within the hive 

 when it is zero outside is considered ''keep- 

 ing the bees warm." In my own experi- 

 ence, bees stand and prosper in a zero tem- 

 perature as well as in one thirty degrees 

 higher. 



It is exceedingly hard not to restrict the 

 entrances in the s])ring, so strong is old be- 

 lief; and restricted entrance with black pa- 



per, when it is unsafe for bees to fly, is sure 

 to bring disaster. 



A careful comparison of two apiaries, one 

 of which had the entrances reduced as 8oo7i 

 a.s i( M'(7.s safe to do so, and the other out of 

 convenient reach at that time, and hence 

 left with the full entrance, showed no api)re- 

 ciable difference in results; and as labor 

 which is not profitable is eliminated I now- 

 let the entrances alone. 



As to the application of black ])aper: As 

 usually put on, it only partly fulfills its in- 

 tended purpose. Tied down with string, or 

 secured with a few short pieces of lath, it is 

 of little help. It should be put on so no air 

 can pass under it— that is vital. One can 

 not blow far into a bottle; and if the neck is 

 crooked and the inside filled with obstruc- 

 tions, no draft will reach the bottom; and 

 on such order is the interior of a properly pa- 

 pered hive. 



Again, the editor makes a most grievous 

 mistake in likening a cluster of bees in win- 

 ter to a radiator. They are the reverse of 

 that, and every effort of their life and be- 

 havior is to minimize radiation. Study 

 such a cluster, and analyze it and see. Also 

 wax is a very y oor conductor of heat, and 

 the combs help materially in maintaining 

 steadiness of cluster temperature. 



I note one factor as I see it, or I may be 

 mistaken. It is difficult to be sure from 

 mere description; and that is, that colonies 

 in the regions of prolonged cold seem to go 

 into winter quarters with more bees than 

 they do here. If this is so, it will explain 

 some of the difTerences between Mr. Holter- 

 mann's 00 ,e. vations and mine. Also these 

 big (normally there) colonies may tend 

 (have?) to breed earlier than they do here; 

 and that, if so, will explain higher internal 

 temperature. 



Another factor is to be noted. The sun 

 is higher at parallel 41-42 than it is at 44-45, 

 and this may be of considerable importance, 

 Xow you boys just stick to every old plan 

 you want to, and jump on any new thing 

 you please, whether it is in " your locality " 

 or not; and the more unnecessary parapher- 

 nalia you cling to, and the more needless 

 operations you go through, the easier it will 

 be for me to compete with you. 



But you may even yet be right for this 

 locality. We are having the hardest winter 

 for bees in thirty-two years; and if the bees 

 come through it safely under my system, it 

 will be fully vindicated. 

 Providence, H. I. 



[Bees can stand a great deal more cold 

 than we think. There are some conditions 

 under which they may freeze stiff, and yet 

 not be much the worse for the experience. 

 The same is true of fish. Admitting all 

 this to be true, we believe that the bee is 

 essentially an animal that thrives best in a 

 moderate temperature. The inside temper- 

 ature of our double-walled packed hives. 



