184 



THE AMERICAN APICULT^jRIST. 



EXTREMES. 



Proposition third : — Protection 

 essential in botli out-door and in- 

 door wintering. It is certainly 

 necessar\- to protect from cold and 

 sudden changes of weather when 

 bees are left out-of-doors, and I 

 hold it is no less the part of 

 wisdom to give nearly the same 

 protection when wintered within 

 doors. In either case, condensa- 

 tion of moisture within the hive 

 will take place ; out-of-doors to 

 form frost within the hive, indoors, 

 to saturate tlie unpainted walls and 

 frames of the hive and form in 

 drops upon the combs, causing 

 dampness and mould. The colder 

 the hive, the more serious the 

 trouble, in either case. Protection, 

 as with the chaff hive, obviates 

 both difficulties to a certain extent, 

 both by preventing excessive con- 

 densation, and again by allowing 

 the moisture to escape, and also by 

 absorption. An example : a col- 

 ony placed in the cellar, with 

 enamelled cloth on the frames, 

 with absorbents on top of that, in 

 January were found with mouldy 

 combs, the enamelled cloth, on the 

 side next the frames, covered with 

 drops of water over its whole sur- 

 face so it dripped when removed, 

 and but little indication of absorp- 

 tion of moisture above the enam- 

 elled cloth. Another colony placed 

 beside the former, with woollen 

 cloth placed upon the frames and 

 bransacks above that, was found 

 with tlie upper story of the hive 

 and the inside of the cover, covered 

 with drops of water with the pack- 

 ing material damp, while the quilt 

 was dry and warm. The same 

 state of things would exist in case 

 of out-door wintering with the 

 exception that frost would collect 

 unless more material was used to 

 absorb the moisture. Protection, 

 then, is needed to present an even 

 temperature and a normal condition 

 of dryness within the hive. 



CHAFF. 



Proposition fourth: — Bees to 

 winter safely out-of-doors should 

 be protecte(.l, as with the chaff hive, 

 or on the plan of Mr. Additon's 

 single hive, or by packing in some 

 manner, if in single-walled hives. 

 If wintered in the cellar, full pro- 

 tection is well, but protection 

 above the bees by some absorbing 

 material, as chaff, finely cut straw 

 or cloth, is fully as essential as in 

 out-door wintering. 



natukai.lt. 

 Proposition fifth : — Protection 

 is the natural condition of bees in 

 their natural state. Bees left to 

 seek their own home, as a rule, 

 seek a hollow tree. There they 

 are in a single walled hive, it is 

 true, but not a thin-walled hive. 

 But the conditions for disposing of 

 the moisture arising from the bees 

 are generall}^ admirable. The hol- 

 low tree, made so by the decaying 

 of its substance, is still subject to 

 the same process of decay, while 

 the bees are snugly ensconced 

 within its dry and warm shelter. 

 The first work of the swarm after 

 being domiciled in their new home 

 is to set up house-cleaning by 

 thoroughly clearing their apart- 

 ment. This they connnence to do 

 at the top, but there is always a 

 portion of the upper part of the 

 cavity to which the combs are 

 not attached, and this for the rea- 

 son that the decayed wood is not 

 easily removed, and still deemed 

 b}^ the bees insecure to fasten their 

 combs to. This partially decayed 

 portion above the combs affords 

 fine absorbing material in winter, 

 being as dry as powder in the fall, 

 when going into winter quarters, 

 and in s[)i'ing wet with the con- 

 densed moisture absorbed during 

 the cold weather. Such being the 

 natural conditions, our artificial 

 devices should be as adequate and 

 as much better as possible, hence 



