THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



375 



risk with a pint of bees on two frames, 

 properly handled, in the South of Eng-- 

 land, and I have wintered a teacupful, 

 which subsequentl3' built itself into a 

 stock, with no help beyond food. We 

 have no need to see how much our bees 

 can sustain, but should rather desire 

 to bring them throu",-"!! till April, little 

 tried, and ready for the severe labor 

 of g'iving' us the nurses for the heavy 

 population which is to do the work of 

 honej'-gatherino^, and so prevent 

 spring dwindling, which I venture to 

 believe, in common with some of the 

 best observers, is almost always the 

 result of excessive effort, rendered 

 necessary by poor protection. 



Some years since, I made experi- 

 ments on hive walls. 1 took a number 

 of tin chambers, each holding l2oz. of 

 water. After filling with water at 

 two-hundred degrees, they were placed 

 in boxes, representing different de- 

 scriptions of hive sides, all of which 

 had been before carefully brought to a 

 uniform temperature, and then the 

 time occupied by each in falling 

 through a certain number of degrees 

 was noted. For this, very delicate 

 thermometers were used, and tlie cal- 

 culations based on Newton's Eaw of 

 Cooling. The following results were 

 made clear: If a hive side of ^in. 

 pine have its protective povver repre- 

 resented by 1, that of a double side 

 with 1 in. dead (?) air space would 

 equal 4, while the same wooden sides 

 packed tightly with cliaff would equal 

 10. Further experiments proved that 

 cork-dust (a waste product used for 

 packing Spanish grapes, as sent to 

 this country), in lieu of the chaflf pack- 

 ing, gave a non conductivity to be rep- 

 resented by 14. The cork has many 

 advantages; it is perfectly effective 

 even with poor carpentry; it is not 

 liable to mildew, and if it becomes 

 damp, it does not droop down between 

 the wooden skin, as chaff would do. 



In thin hives, in hard weather, the 

 inner face of the wood is too cold to 

 permit the bees to touch it, so tliat they 

 are driven to remaining in the middle 

 of their frames, exposed on all sides. 

 In those packed as described they 

 winter, by preference, against the hive 

 wall, and are tlius only exposed on one 

 side, while they close the frame ends 

 for themselves, and can always pass 

 freely from comb to comb witliout a 

 possibility of getting lost in detach- 

 ments; in addition, by having the en- 

 trance 5 in. or 6 in. long at the corner, 

 the bees have always sufficient air, 



and work round the hive as the store is 

 consumed. 



The idea that thin walls are super- 

 ior to thick because the sun's heat in 

 spring passes through to warm the 

 bees is certainly inaccurate. If the 

 transitory advantage existed, it would 

 be at the cost of constant loss, but it 

 does not exist. Bees maintain sixty- 

 five degrees, and must uninteruptedly, 

 though very slowly, lose heat through 

 the hive walls until this becomes the 

 temperature of the external air. 

 Those, therefore, in the thicker hives 

 will be warmer until this external 

 temperature is reached, but before then 

 the bees would be in full flight, and 

 beyond the need of sun-warming. 



I Strongly advocated, in former 

 years, that ventilation should be al- 

 lowed through the top cover; further 

 developments have made it doubtful 

 whether this is so necessary as was 

 supposed. If a sufficient opening (of 

 5 in. or Gin. at least) be allowed at the 

 entrance (in addition, a ring of wood, 

 2 in. deep, between the hive and its 

 floor board, lifting the frames, is a val- 

 uable assistance), top ventilation may 

 be omitted, and American cloth be 

 placed over the bees. It has, however, 

 many disadvantages. I prefer sloiv 

 upward ventilation, and earnestly ad- 

 vocate a chaft'-tray, regarding the 

 splendid covering it attOrds as far 

 more important than the hive side it- 

 self, especiallj' if we give space above 

 the frames, when uotions of portability 

 and cheapness ma}' make us content 

 with single sides, notwithstanding 

 their inferiority to cork-packed ones. 

 For wintering, the chaff-tray should 

 hold 4 in. or 5 in. of chaff, well patted 

 down. rhe sacking should be loose, 

 so that it may fit the hive top accu- 

 rately, for small crannies allow most 

 damaging leaks of heat. Carpeting 

 fits badly; if creased at all, a direct 

 through current, which punishes the 

 bees severely, is permitted; and on the 

 usual thin hive side it is hardly possi- 

 ble to avoid those gaps which have 

 made many denounce all top ventila- 

 tion, quite overlooking how often this 

 has been given in a manner all must 

 condemn. 



Dampness is a great enerry to 

 wintering bees. Prof. McT^i'n note I 

 the critical temperatu re +o be less in a 

 damp than a dry air. 1 e re ism b^ing 

 that water has .';;i enorm his capacity 

 tor heat (sp'ciiic heat», whnher in the 

 liquid or vaporous form: the latter ab- 

 stracts heat from the bees, and intesi- 



