THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



341 



thought at the time that he had some 

 queens which had been reared according 

 to the theory which he now entertains. 

 SIZE OF ENTRANCES— TEMPERATURE "iN 

 THE SHADE." 



DooHttle and the doctor have been hav- 

 ing a long contest in Gleanings, for and 

 against large entrances. The former in- 

 sists that an entrance one half inch deep 

 clear across the hive is sufficient and bet- 

 ter in every way; while the latter wants 

 the hive put up on blocks so as to leave a 

 large opening under the hive all around; 

 claiming that with this arrangement the 

 bees are enabled to keep down the temper- 

 ature of their hive the better and that 

 there is much less swarming. The con- 

 test is closed, apparently, on page 758, 

 but, unfortunately, without results. It 

 seems Doolittle had made the assertion 

 that the bees do not cluster outside be- 

 cause it is cooler there, but to get out of 

 the way, for it is in reality cooler inside. 

 This suggests to the doctor the idea of 

 settling the whole matter by the use of 

 the thermometer. By the aid of that in- 

 strument he compares the tetnpirature 

 of the brood-nest, both with a large en- 

 trance and a small one, with the temper- 

 ature outside /;/ the shade. If we are to 

 take literally his statement of the meth- 

 od he pursued, then that method was 

 manifestly not a fair one; and not calcu- 

 lated to give any valuable results. The 

 temperature in the shade is one thing, 

 the temperature in the apiary in Au- 

 gust, outside the hives, is quite another. 

 Temperature in the shade is found where 

 there is heat neither from the direct nor 

 the reflected rays of the sun, while in anv 

 apiary in the open air there must always 

 be a good deal of heat from both these 

 sources from sun to sun in summer time. 

 The former has nothing to do with the 

 truth of Doolittle 's statement; while the 

 latter is the very essence of the matter; 

 but, so far as appears definitely, this was 

 not considered. A definite expression is 

 used but once — "91° in the shade" — and 

 it is only fair to suppose that the other 

 figures are to be taken in the same sense. 



I am sorry that Doolittle did not take 

 enough interest in the matter to insist on 

 the truth of his statement and use the 

 thermometer himself to establish its truth ; 

 which I think he could triumphantly do. 

 In the .same article Dr. Miller, address- 

 ing Doolittle, says: "You say the sections 

 innnediately above the large entrance 

 were slower in being finished, and cite my 

 objection to upper back entrances as ex- 

 plaining why. I suppose because cooler; 

 and if it's cooler for the sections isn't it 

 cooler for the bees.''" The bees never 

 willingly put honey near an opening to 

 the outside; not because it is too cool, for 

 they build comb freely entirely outside 

 the hive when compelled, but because it 

 is so much more liable to the depredations 

 of robber bees. 



AN INCOMPLETE EXPERIMENT. 



On page 657 of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal Mr. Hartzell gives glowing praise to 

 Mr. Golden 's method of comb-honey pro- 

 duction. Forty colonies on that method 

 gave an average of 46 13-20 sections, while 

 twenty-one on the ordinary plan averag- 

 ed 23 2-7 sections, which shows about 100 

 per cent, in favor of the new plan. Mr. 

 Hartzell seems to be impressed with the 

 idea that this naked statement should be 

 sufficient to convince any one of the great 

 superiority of the new plan; but I doubt if 

 any one will be convinced. In the first 

 place, it is entirely too good to be true. 

 I am not questioning the truth of Mr. Hart- 

 zell's statement; but before one can arrive 

 at a just judgment there are many other 

 things to be considered; things which he 

 does not touch upon at all. There is al- 

 most always a great difference in the con- 

 dition of colonies in the spring as to 

 amount of stores, strength and health, 

 and the quality and age of the queen. 

 This being so, it would be an easy matter 

 by selecting colonies to make almost any 

 plan appear twice as good as any 

 other. To be at all satisfactory, such 

 statement must show all the conditions 

 and all the results with all the exactne s 

 that the closest scrutiny with the aid of 

 scales can give. How were Mr. Hartzell's 



