1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



319 



dred-fold weight. I iliiiik we shall have little 

 trouble in plugging u]) the small holes in this 

 dipper, the same as \v<' have to do in nearly all 

 of the attairs of this world. If our basic prin- 

 ciple is right, our details can be made to join in 

 the success. Are they ? So far I don't see that 

 they are not. Do you ? James Heddox. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Feb. '.'l. 



AIE-CHAMBERS VS. CHAFF PACKING. 



S. A. SHl'CK DECIDES IX FAVUI! OF THE AIK- 

 CHAMHEH. 



Considerable is being said about "dead-air 

 chambers" in double-walled hives, as against 

 chaff packing. The question arises. ''What is 

 known as to tlie difference between hives with 

 double walls packed with chaff' or other light 

 material, and those with double walls and no 

 packing?"' 



Without calling in question the views set 

 forth by other writers on this matter, I wish to 

 present a few thoughts which I believe have 

 not been set forth heretofore.. In the first 

 place. I wish to contrast air-chambei's with 

 those packed with some light material. It is 

 well known to all those who iuive acquainted 

 themselves with the action of cold and heat 

 when applied to air. that heated air rises up, 

 and chilled or cold aii- settles down. A mo- 

 ment's thought in this direction will show that. 

 as soon as the temperature outside of hives 

 containing the so-called dead-air chambers be- 

 comes colder than that on the inside of the 

 hives, the air in tiie chambers becomes active, 

 and can not be said to be dead. As the outer 

 -walls of the hives become chilled, they in turn 

 chill the atmosphere adjacent to them on the 

 inside of the air-chambers. This chilled air 

 settles tothe bottom of the chambeis. while that 

 near the inner walls of the hives, being warm- 

 er, rises up to the top of the chambers, thus 

 starting a circuitous motion, which is continu- 

 ed as long as there is a difference between the 

 temperature outside of the hives and that with- 

 in the hives. It will be seen that, if these 

 chambers were tilled with some light material, 

 such as chaff, this circuitous action of the air in 

 these chambers is prevented, the jjrocess of 

 cooling is retarded, and the protection afforded 

 the bees in any hive is in proportion to the 

 retarding of this cooling process. 



No little stress is being placed upon the su- 

 periority of air-chambers over chaff packing, 

 by some writers, while it is conceded by many 

 practical bee-keepers that bees can be packed 

 too warmly, even during our most severe win- 

 ters: while it is known, on the other hand, that 

 large air-chambers are not benelicial. As proof 

 of the foi'egoing. it is only necessary to mention 

 that house-apiaries have proven to be the poor- 

 est of winter ivposltoiies I'oi' bees, when no fiu- 

 ther ijrotection is afforded than that of the 

 building and the hives. But where the hives 

 are thoroughly and carefully packed in dry 

 chaff, bees winter as well, perhaps, in house- 

 apiaries as anywhere. 



While it is easily shown that chaff packing 

 affords greater protection to the bees, there are 

 other facts to be taken into considei'ation. 

 Hundreds of bee-keepers have learned that the 

 effect of the direct rays of the sun on the hiyes 

 is as beneficial to the inmates as it is to our cat- 

 tle, hogs, sheep, hoises. etc. Hence, it w ill be 

 seen that, while the chaff' packing is a protec- 

 tion by retarding the cooling process, it also be- 

 comes a hindrance in the process of wai'ming 

 up the hives and their inmates. If the hives 

 were packed full of bees during all severe 

 weather, the benefits derived from the direct 



rays of the sun would be greatly lessened, and 

 those afforded by the chaff packing would be 

 proportionately increased, owing to the protec- 

 tion given to the inner walls of the hives. But, 

 on the contrary, the hives are usually less than 

 half full of bees: and, not only this, the en- 

 trances being open they permit the unoccupied 

 portion of the hives to become nearly as cold as 

 the outside atmosphere. Owing to these condi- 

 tions the difference between tlie protection af- 

 forded by chaff packing and air-chambers is so 

 slight that it would be difficult to observe its 

 effects upon the bees. 



There is still another difficulty encountered 

 in chaff' packing — that of keeping the chaff per- 

 fectly dry. If the chaff' becomes damp it is 

 more detriment than good; and the injury re- 

 sulting from moisture in this chaff' packing is 

 just in proportion to the degree of dampness 

 and the severity of the weather: as, the wetter 

 the packing and the colder the weather, the 

 nearer it approaches the condition of an ice- 

 chest; and the longer it is in thawing out. and 

 the less the influence of the sun's rays upon the 

 hives. Tnis, I think, is the principal source of 

 unsatisfactory results from chaff-packed hives; 

 and owing to the difficulty in preventing mois- 

 ture in chaff packing, it is highly probable that 

 air-chambers will give us moie general satis- 

 faction: notwithstanding, the degree of protec- 

 tion afforded by these air-chambers depends 

 largely upon their being absolutely tight, so as 

 not to lose the heat except as it is driven 

 through the inner walls of the hives by the ac- 

 tion of the cold on the outer walls. 



Liverpool, 111., Feb. v». S. A. SiircK. 



HERE AND THERE. 



<HOI!T XA.MES FOR THIXftS. ETC. 



CAP-KXIFE. 



Whv not drop the long and aw kward name, 

 ••uncai)ping-knife." and adopt the name I use 

 for it. the cap-knif<'".' You ari' welcome to it, 

 and why doesn't it fill the bill? 



BINDIXG GLEANIXGS. 



And now let me give you mj/ plan for binding 

 Gi.EAXiXGS. Get some of those T-shaped brass 

 paper-fasteners, which lawyers and others use 

 to fasten legal cap and other papers together. 

 Take eight numbers, four months Gleaxixgs, 

 leaving on them all covers and all advertise- 

 ments. The latter are often as valuable as any 

 other part. Ari-ange the eight numbers care- 

 fully, in nice even shape, and. with an awl, 

 punch tliree holes in the proper places— one in 

 the center and one near each end. Now drive a 

 T through each, having the point come through 

 into a gimlet-hole or other small hole in the 

 h<'nch. or in a board. Then turn the volume 

 over and clip off the shaip points of the T with 

 cutting-pliers or shears. Turn down and then 

 hammer down the jMiints of the T with a light 

 hammer, and it is doiu". You now have a nice 

 handv little volume about the size of a copy of 

 the Coiturij. and a year's Gi.eaxixgs makes 

 three of these little volumes, which are much 

 nicer and handier than a vear in one volume. 

 Bound thus, eleven numbers of the 1890 Eeview 

 will make a nice little volume: and the num- 

 bers for 1891. and the Dec, 18*K3, number, will 

 make two nice volumes. 



CAPTIOXS AXD NAMES. 



And no\v. friend R., permit me to hint to you 

 that G. M. Doolittle. Borodino. N. Y., wouldn't 

 look a bit worse if placed just under the cap- 

 tion than it does at the tail end of an article. 

 That is, I— I mean to say that it would look just 



