126 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



count of the water being too hot 

 for the range of the instruments, 

 five hours ehipsed before the tem- 

 perature in the hive covered with 

 wool fell to 111°. The following 

 readings were subsequently taken. 



ble for clothing for ourselves. I 

 should expect to find that with the 

 same amount of heat, the same 

 amount of moisture, and the same 

 lower ventilation, the air in the 

 hive covered with wool would be 

 dryer than the air in the hive hav- 

 ing the board cover. I think by a 

 little ingenuity a Mason hygrome- 

 ter could be placed in the covers 

 so as to give correct readings for 

 humidity. If any of the readers of 

 the "Api" will take the trouble to 

 try such experiments next winter, 

 I shall be pleased to correspond 

 with them as to details. We can 

 then compare results and we shall 

 probably arrive at something relia- 

 ble and useful. 



Lindsay, Ont., May 16, 1886. 



It will be noticed that while the 

 temperature of the outside air was 

 lower than it was in the hives the 

 temperature of the hive having the 

 board cover remained lower, but 

 when the outside air became 

 warmer the board cover allowed 

 the air in the hive to rise 5° while 

 in the hive covered with wool it 

 only rose 1°. 



I shall probably repeat the ex- 

 periment next winter when the 

 -weather is colder, and I shall use 

 instruments having the scale 

 marked on the stem, and having a 

 range as high as 212°. The read- 

 ings should have been taken every 

 hour as long as the temperature 

 in either hive continued to fall. If 

 the pails were left uncovered so 

 that the air in the hives might be- 

 come damp, and if the entrances 

 were left open so that the hives 

 . would have lower ventilation, I 

 would like to test the air in each 

 for moisture, because besides be- 

 ing a bad conductor of heat, wool 

 has the property of passing off 

 moisture without causing a chill, 

 which makes it so eminently suita- 



For the American Apiculturist. 



BREEDING BEES— THE 

 COLOR LINE, ETC. 



By a. Norton. 



Perhaps it is a good thing for con- 

 servatism that the extreme views set 

 forth by those who have hobbies 

 tend to neutralize each other and to 

 produce more moderate opinions in 

 the minds of unprejudiced readers. 



Judging by the arguments we of- 

 ten read, beekeepers hold very un- 

 like beliefs about many matters in 

 their calling ; and, among others, 

 see the color line drawn with con- 

 siderable sharpness. 



The greater portion of the articles 

 in the bee papers will be found on 

 the side of disregarding color, al- 

 though sometimes they almost seem 

 to be particular about it in a nega- 

 tive way. 



Therefore, we find many who ad- 

 vocate, especially with Italians, the 

 breeding of darker bees ; and many 

 others who advise such a system of 

 breeding as would tend to produce 

 motley and irregular markings among 

 our yellow races. These ideas 



