178 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTUEE. 



Ape. 



prove through reasoning- upon causes and their ef- 

 fects, must be convincing. That kind of evidence 

 is of the greatest value. 



Last August, one hot day I stood in the apiary of 

 a friend who had a goodly number of colonies in 

 chaflP, Langstroth, and other single-wall hives. I no- 

 ticed that the colonies in chaff hives lay out the 

 same as the others. All were shaded, as all hives 

 should be, at that time of the year. I reflected on 

 what I had heard about the "chaff hive in summer." 

 I looked at two walls with chaff between. Bees on 

 one side and a temperature of 9i° F. on the other. 

 Of course the colony created a greater heat inside 

 than the sun did out; hence the sallying out of the 

 bees. Now, I can not see how these walls can keep 

 bees cool in summer, as long as they can not bear 

 the degree of heat they themselves produce. Isn't 

 it like the darkie's cap, " as good to keep the heat out 

 as the cold out" ? By and by I found a chaff hive in 

 the sun. • Then I thought that the one outside wall 

 hiust warm the chaff next to it. Then I said, 

 "Would some holes in the top and bottom of the 

 wall to let the heat oiit, do any harm?" "No." 

 '• Then the outside wall would shade the inside one." 

 Now, would it do any harm to change the position of 

 the outside wall, as it shades the inside one? Or in 

 other words, is not a single-wall hive shaded, better 

 than a double wall unshaded? 



Twelve years ago, we made a few hundred double- 

 Wall hives packed with paper. I believe Mr. Lang- 

 stroth tried charcoal, it being a great non-conductor. 

 Both plans were abandoned. I think the chaff hive 

 Is much better than either of the above, as it is a 

 better conductor of heat. 



In regard to the sugar syrup: If you make Di lbs. 

 of syrup from 1 lb. of sugar, the hces must reduce to 

 less than 1^4 lbs. before capping. The coarse outside 

 boxing system costs not to exceed 2c per hive to 

 tnanipulate. Would not the interest, taxes. Insur- 

 ance, and wear, on the extra cost of expensive hives, 

 amount to more than that? James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., March 7, 1881. 



I hardly expected, friend H. , that the chaff 

 hives would make any perceptible dil^erence 

 during a protracted warm spell, but only 

 that when the sun struck directly on them 

 in the middle of the day, it would drive the 

 bees out less than if tliey were single-walled 

 hives sitting in the sun. The great advan- 

 tage of chaff hives in the summer is in keep- 

 ing the surplus boxes warm all night, and 

 during the cool nights and davs, that we 

 often have right in June and July weather. 

 See the following from the A B C' book, and 

 Doolittle's reply to it :_ — 



I hare obtained more sm-plus honey with this arranprement 

 than with any otlier, and am tirmly persuaded that a srreat loss 

 of honey i >f ten results from allowing such a draft of air throuprh 

 the hive, that the bees can not work the wax, unless during the 

 extremely warm weather. To test this matter, I covered a 

 large colony in the house apiary with woolen blankets while 

 they were gathering clover honey, to induce (hem to remain in 

 the boxes, even after the weather had turned quite cool. So 

 long as the blankets remained on, the bees would remain in the 

 boxes working wax; but as soon as the blankets w-ere removeil 

 at each time the experiment was ti-ied, they retreated to the 

 body of the hive. Tlie same thing was tried with thin-walled 

 hives out of doors.— A B C, page 257. 



You are just "shouting" here, and this is one 

 great secret of success in getting box honey. 



(G. M. Doolittle, in review of ABC book.) 



Also the following extracts from back vol- 

 umes : — 



CHAFF HIVES AHEAD AGAIN FOB COMB HONEY. 



I have 64 colonies, one only being in a chaff hive. 

 It has been a very poor honey year with me. I have 



taken only 600 lbs. of comb honey, and 73 lbs. of it 

 came from the chaff hive. A. M. Sawdey. 



Poolville, N. Y., Dee. 9, 1879. — Gl., p. 31, Jan., '80. 



We advocate protecting bees from the cold blasts 

 of winter and the scorching rays of the summer 

 sun, but the intermediate temperatures we say but 

 little about. I had one colony, this spring, in a 

 Langstroth hive, so reduced in numbers that all 

 must stay at home to keep the brood warm and 

 alive, no increase in stores being possible. This 

 seemed to manifest itself particularly on windy 

 days, of which we have had many this spring. I re- 

 moved them into a chaff hive, and ever since then 

 as many workers have gone out from this colony as 

 from others twice as strong. J. L. Hartwell. 



Odell, 111., June 9, 1879. -Gl., p. 260, July, 1879. 



Without doubt, the chaff hive would keep 

 bees exactly as well, unpainted, but as a 

 matter of durability, as well as looks, I 

 would want hives painted, any way. Paint- 

 ing the outer wall of the chaff' hive does not, 

 of course, affect its absorbing power, as it 

 does single-wall hives, because it is purpose- 

 ly made in narrow strips of siding. Again, 

 where there is an outer shell to oe fetched 

 and put on, even though it be but little 

 trouble, the average ABC scholar is very 

 much inclined to put it off, forget it, or per- 

 haps delay it altogether. Our chaff hives 

 can be inspected as quickly as you can raise 

 a quilt with one hand and "turn back the mat 

 with the other. At the same time, friend H. , 

 very many will perhaps prefer your plan, 

 and it actually is very much cheaper, espec- 

 ially if you want no upper story to hold the 

 same size frames. — I presume you are about 

 right, in saying 1 lb. of granulated sugar 

 would make only about li lbs. of , stores, 

 when sealed up in the combs ; but am I not 

 right in saying that this H lbs. will go further 

 than even 1} lbs. of the best honey V This is 

 ptire cane sugar, while honey is, a large per 

 cent of it, composed of grape sugar. 



BEES IN TEXAS. 



also something about young CYPRIAN QUEENS. 



M'Y bees have passed through the cold winter in 

 the best condition possible. It is true I lost 



' one colony out of 23, but the queen was not 



very prolific, and it seemed her bees would allow the 

 others to take their stores without any resistance. 

 My stocks are all strong, with from three to five 

 frames of hatching brood, March 1st. The queens 

 began laying the 20th of January. I had two young 

 Cyprian queens mated Dec. 8th with pure Italian 

 drones, that are now ahead of any other queen I 

 have. They have thousands of young bees, five 

 frames of sealed and hatching brood, and the young 

 bees arc simply beautiful. These queens were win- 

 tered in three-frame nuclei hives with empty box 

 placed over ihem, sides and top packed in cotton 

 seed. I packed about half of my hives in cotton 

 seed; the others were wintered with woolen cloths 

 on the sides, and chaff cushions on top. The cotton- 

 seed hives have wintered almost without any loss, 

 and the queens began laying about a week to ten 

 days before the others. To-day (March 1st) my bees 

 are pouring in and out of their hives, loaded with 

 pollen and honey. One hive has gained 15 lbs. in 

 ten days. They began bringing in pollon the 2d of 



