THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



179 



again I am of the opinion that in 

 many cases, chaft' hives have proved 

 an injury, for the reason tliat de- 

 l)en(lence has been phiced on them 

 alone, and such care as is an actual 

 necessity has not been given for 

 that reason. We can all remem- 

 ber the warm discussions that have 

 been lield in regard to the winter- 

 ing qualities of deep and sliallow 

 frames, and I su[)pose some of the 

 readers of the "Api" can remember 

 the assaults that have been made 

 upon myself because I insisted tiiat 

 the "• L " frame was amply deep 

 enough. Now 1 presume that many 

 will differ from me in the matter of 

 chaff protection ; to all such I can 

 only sa3% " I speak whereof I 

 know." It is not guess-work nor 

 theor}' ; it is a matter of careful 

 experiments and thorough tests, 

 and I claim and make the claim 

 boldly that, with [)roper prepara- 

 tion in the fall, better results will 

 come in tlie way of earl^^ brood, 

 and earl}' honey-gathering, by the 

 use of double-wall dead air space 

 hives witli sides | to f incli thick, 

 than with the most approved chatf- 

 hives ever made. Tlie first double- 

 walled hive I ever used was made 

 by our Editor, and of f inch stock, 

 with an inch dead air space. This 

 hive I have used some sixteen 

 3'ears ; a colony lias been wintered 

 in it every winier during that time, 

 and not only safely, but so well, 

 that I have always found from 

 three to five frames well filled with 

 brood by the first of March each 

 year. 



I have not written the above in 

 the interest of any dealer, or of 

 any hive ; but have stated these 

 facts for the information of such 

 readers of the '• Api" as maj^ pos- 

 sibly be desirous of learning the 

 truth, and are in doubt from what 

 they have read, whether to use sin- 

 gle walls, or to go to the expense 

 of procuring chaff-hives as a mat- 

 ter of precaution. 



1 could theorize upon the mat- 

 ter of natural law as applied to bee 

 life, and show argumenlatively wli}^ 

 the residts stated above will alwa3's 

 follow if the same general i)lan is 

 adopted ; and also show in the 

 same way, why single-walls even 

 are better than chaff-hives. But the 

 facts are what is wanted by the 

 practical man ; and he can theorize 

 to suit himself. It may be asktd 

 what experience I have had. To 

 that I will say, I have kept bees 

 and carefully studied Iheir habits, 

 etc., since 1864, anil daring that 

 time have kept from five to fifty 

 colonies ; that, in the course of 

 my study and experiment, I have 

 never hesitated to sacrifice one or 

 a dozen colonies, if necessary, to 

 disprove or prove and establish a 

 a given point. Mau_y hive deal- 

 ers make the claim that only with 

 their hive can successful wintering 

 h^ fully assured. Mv' claim is 

 that except in an extraordinary 

 winter bees can be kept as safely as 

 can horses and cattle, and that too 

 on their summer stanJs and in sin- 

 gle-walled hives. I claim also, that 

 there is no safer winter stores for 

 bees than their own natural food, 

 if the same be pure ; that cold does 

 not of itself kill our bees ; that they 

 will safely resist exposure of great 

 severity and of long continuation, 

 that the main point of protection 

 is to prevent exposure to sudden 

 changes in temperature, and that 

 this can be better and more cheaply 

 done by other means than by in- 

 creasing the thickness of the walls 

 of their habitations. 



I shall be pleased to have my 

 views discussed, and if any one 

 can make a better practical show- 

 ing than I have been able to do, I 

 shall be pleased to learn how it is 

 done. My [)osition needs no argu- 

 ment in its support. I give the facts 

 for what they are worth. This 

 biidge has carried me safely all 

 these years, and will prove equally 



