THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



97 



tering- is not over four pounds to the 

 colony ; and the saving in the cost of 

 hives is not more than tlie*vahie of 

 four pounds of iioney per year. Now 

 we come to spring brooding, and my 

 experience is, tiiat there is a net sav- 

 ing 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 

 farther north. If we calculate, then, 

 from the first of November 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 advantage in double-wall 

 hives that has not heretofore been re- 

 corded ; and it is the chief considera- 

 tion with me in deciding in favor of 

 them. We can raise one-third more 

 brood and bees in a double- than in a 

 single-wall hive by the first of June. 

 "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 single- 

 wall hives, being comparatively weak, 

 fall to the ground, or become chilled 

 on the flowers and died. The cause 

 of this state of things is undoubtedly 

 due to the greater labor required to 

 keep the brood warm during the cool 

 nights 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 become a small 

 matter when we compare the grand re- 

 sults 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 do- 

 ing this subject justice by not saying 

 something upon the proper construc- 

 tion of double-wall hives and their win- 

 ter and spring management. I know 

 that man}' have failed with such hives, 



and I think I know why. I have said, 

 and I desii'e 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 in- 

 ferior to a single-wall hive in out-door 

 wintering, if it is allowed to get into 

 such a condition ; and I know that the 

 management of these hives leads to 

 more or less dampness, which is either 

 death to the bees or there is a partial 

 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 pack- 

 ing must be quite porous or it will re- 

 quire to be often changed. Thus, fine 

 sawdust, clover, and oat chatf, that 

 mat down close, are objectionable. 

 Forest leaves, planer shavings from 

 dry wood, and the excelsior sawdust 

 obtained in sawing sections, are pre- 

 ferred, and from two and one-half to 

 three inches of packing about the 

 brood-chamber is enough. 



In preventing dampness I rel}' much 

 npon proper ventilation, and practise 

 two methods, both of which succeed 

 well. The first is free bottom venti- 

 lation, and it seems best adapted to 

 this locality. The second is upward 

 ventilation in connection with a small 

 entrance (two inches by three-eighths 

 of an inch). This latter system seems 

 better adapted to points farther 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 following will show. 



About fifty miles due west of here 

 are quite a number of apiaries of from 

 ten to fifty colonies of pure black bees 

 in box hives, where for more than fifty 

 years they have held their own, and 

 where, up to this time, the frame hive 

 and the modern system of beekeeping 

 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 three-fourths to one inch thick, 



