106 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAI,. 



[Nov., 



combustible material, then with the plug a in 

 the mouth, it may be lighted with a match, like 

 a common pipe. When lighted, insert the plug 

 b in its place, and blow away. I have used cut 

 tobacco till lately, but now find dry corn silk 

 much better. The advantage of this pipe is, 

 that it can be held in the mouth, and the smoke 

 directed where it is wanted, while the hands are 

 free to operate with. This is a great conve- 

 nience, especially in taking off boxes. 



George Coek. 

 Bloomfield, Ontario. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



ohallow Hives, or Deep? 



Mr. Editok : — In the September number of 

 the Journal, Dr. B. Puckett criticises an article 

 of mine in the July number, and asks me to ex- 

 plain wherein the shallow Langstroth hive is 

 lacking. 



When I wrote the article referred to, my object 

 was to show that the shallow hive could be al- 

 tered to a different form, and that those who 

 were using it, and considered it too shallow, need 

 not throw their hives away. I said it was not a 

 good hive for wintering in the open air, or for 

 early spring. I did not think it necessary to give 

 my reasons in detail, why it was not good ; for 

 that matter I considered had been already fully 

 discussed in the Journal. But as Dr. P. requests 

 it, I will explain. 



For wintering in a cellar, the hive is perliaps 

 good enough. But I do not want to be obliged 

 to house my bees. Sometimes I have plenty of 

 room in the cellar, and sometimes not. If tlie 

 laves are of suitable form for wintering in the 

 open air, I can let tliem remain out, when it is 

 not convenient to carry them in. But the great 

 objection to them is in early spring. Dr. P. asks 

 if it is the fault of the hive tliat the old bees die 

 oft', or that bees are destroyed by cold winds? 

 Of course it is not. But if a swarm is not breeding 

 enough to make up that loss, there must be a fault 

 somewhere. When we take bees from the cellar, 

 we expect that they will have brood in all stages, 

 from the egg just laid to young bees just gnaAV- 

 ing out. We expect too that the queen will con- 

 tinue to dejiosit eggs, even more rapidly, because 

 of the excitement produced by the bees flying, 

 and especially if they are fed rye meal, as mine 

 always are. I said, after they had been out a 

 'month, there appeared to be fewer bees than 

 when first carried out. We exi^ect a loss the 

 first day or two after taking them out, but soon 

 afterward, the bees should be increasing ; and at 

 the end of a month, which brings it into April, 

 there should be a decided increase. In deeper 

 hives, according to my experience, it is so ; and 

 the deeper the hive the greater the increase. 



The reason why the sliallow hive is not good 

 for early spring, as I understand, is this : as soon 

 as severe weather is past, we want to confine the 

 animal heat as much as possible to the hive, that 

 the bees may breed rapidly. Consequently we 

 shut off all upward ventilation. The coldest 

 part of a hive is near the entrance and so along the 



bottom board. The farther the bees get from 

 the bottom, the warmer they find the tempera- 

 ture. These hives being so low, before the bees 

 get out of the way of the cold air coining in at 

 the entrance, they are bumping their heads 

 against the top. And, instead of spreading the 

 brood in a circle, which is the best lojin to econ- 

 omise heat, they are obliged to carry it along 

 horizontally, and after all work at a disadvan- 

 tage. 



In a tall hive they can draw up and get well 

 out of the way of the cold air from the entrance. 

 The top of the hive being small, the animal heat, 

 brood, and bees are all compact, and in the best 

 condition for rapid breeding. The faster they 

 breed, the faster they can breed, as there are 

 more bees to keep up the heat ; and as it 

 naturally ascends, the smaller the hive is across 

 the top, the more compact the heat will be kept. 



A friend, who for some years has been using a 

 very tall hive, after trying for a long time to per- 

 suade me to use some of them, finally gave me one 

 in the spring of 1868, and requested me to put a 

 swarm into it. Says he — " You may let it stand 

 anywhere through the winter ; the bees will be 

 sure to do well." I have used it, and found that 

 the bees increase in it nearly twice as fast in 

 April and May, as in the shallow hive. The re- 

 sult is the same in his apiary. 



Mr. Alley, who at one time so vigorously ad- 

 vocated the shallow hive, has since become con- 

 vinced of his erroi', and invented what he calls 

 the new style Langstroth hive. The sliallow 

 frames are set up endwise, which gives it extreme 

 depth. In the September number of the Journal, 

 1869, page 54, he says — " I examined fifty stocks 

 of bees in shallow hives last spring (and many 

 of these were larger colonies than any I had); 

 but none of them had as much sealed brood as 

 mine." 



When he first got up this hive, and before any 

 of them had been used, a friend of his had one, 

 and was recpiested by Mr. A. to show it to me 

 and get my opinion upon it, not letting me know 

 where it came from. I refused to express an 

 opinion, except on the point of wintering, in 

 which I considered it could not be beat. 



The great depth of combs, togetlier with the 

 protection given by the outer case, makes it one 

 of the best liives for wintering that I have seen. 

 It has a large amount of box room for surplus 

 honey, which is needed for a swai'm that has 

 been well wintered, and that has increased well 

 during the spring. But let him just turn the 

 frames down to a horizontal position, making it 

 a shallow hive, and I will guarantee that one- 

 half of the box room will be ample. 



I have attemjited to explain wherein the shal- 

 low hive is lacking, and now have a favor to ask 

 of Dr. P. He says: "The Langstroth hive 

 could be made deeper very easily, without Mr. 

 R.'s patchwork." Will he tell us how it can be 

 done, and still retain about the same number of 

 cubic inches? Calvin Rogers. 



West Newberry, Mass., September 10, 1870. 



Honey is the most elaborate of all vegetable 

 productions. 



