1904 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



31 



have to revise his theories or lose his 

 case. If he cares to try he can so 

 build that whole 170 lateral inches of 

 comb in a straight line and no matter 

 what the vertical room the downAvard 

 ration will remain about as above. 



I think it will be seen that "shallow 

 chambered" hives are quite as well 

 adapted to the bees' natural desires as 

 are "deep chambered." 



Mr. McNeal says "the advocates of 

 shallow chambers are very reticent 

 about extreme pi'ecautionary measures 

 necessary against the inroads of frost 

 and ice." Again the personal element 

 enters. If he will treat colonies in his 

 deep hives the same as they are often 

 treated in the shallow ones, just as 

 poor results in wintering will be se- 

 cured. When we have run a colony 

 under high pressure for several mouths 

 it is unreasonable to expect it to be 

 as good as one which has jogged along. 

 If, by our manipulations, the queen 

 has found lots of room for eggs and the 

 nurses have done their part in supply- 

 ing stimulating food, she is ere many 

 weeks ready to slack up work. Tnen 

 we get a declining colony and by the 

 time fall arrives it is comparatively 

 small in numbers and its population is 

 mostly old bees. Now if a good fall 

 flow sets in early the colony will re- 

 cuperate before cold Aveather and go 

 into winter quarters with a goodly lot 

 of strong young bees and an abundance 

 of sound, well-placed stores. But their 

 keeper is aA'aricious and must have 

 that honey, so during the fall flow 

 "high pressure'' is again brought to 

 bear with the result that when cool 

 weather arrives, the colony is not in 

 the best of physical shape and is vir- 

 tually out of food. Again their discern- 

 ing master steps in and gives them a 

 lot of raw food (sugar syrup) to be 

 converted and stored. The labor in- 

 volved costs valuable bee life and en- 

 ergy, at a time when they can ill spare 

 it and also at a time when the work is 

 doubly difficult from lack of external 

 heat. 



What is the result? The bees go into 

 winter quarters half worn out, with 

 Imperfect food imperfectly placed, and 

 if they come out in the spring" at all, 

 it is in poor condition. And the hive 

 is to blame! 



Yes, a deep framed hive does help 

 protect the bees from an avaricious 



master. But wouldn't it be better to 

 hasten his exit from the craft? 



Mr. McNeal seems to think big col- 

 onies cannot be brought through the 

 winter in shallow chambered hives. 

 Also that bees in such hives need dif- 

 ferent protection than those in deep 

 hives. Perhaps he can explain why 

 I have no trouble in wintering bees 

 either with or without protection 

 (Chaff packing) with no upward ven- 

 tilation and in very shallow or deep 

 hives. Perhaps he can explain why 

 bees will winter well in a box a foot 

 cube without a bottom, set on two 

 blocks and with the cluster hanging 

 in sight below the combs and within 

 an inch of the snow and the tempera- 

 ture frisking but little above zero. The 

 only ventilation that cofcny had was at 

 the bottom and there seemed enough 

 there certainly. The only protection 

 it had was the half-inch pine box. 



I will save him the trouble of guess- 

 ing. 



Given a good queen, an abundance of 

 healthy, vigorous bees, plenty of stores 

 given early enough so the bees can 

 readily "ripen" them and store them 

 where their instincts dictate, and such 

 a colony will winter in any old recep- 

 tacle which will keep snow and rain 

 off of them and come out in the spring 

 in the best condition. 



A hive is big or small not entirely 

 by its cubical dimensions but also by 

 the race or strain of bees housed with- 

 in it. That which is too big to be 

 profitable with one strain may be alto- 

 gether too small with another. Its 

 shape, however, is a matter merely of 

 man's convenience. 



There are good and bad shallow- 

 chambered hives and when not proper- 

 ly constructed (as to bee-spaces, thick- 

 ness of top and bottom bars, etc.,), 

 they undoubtedly will make trouble. 

 But the principle should not be sweep- 

 ingly condemned on account of illy 

 made hives. 



For Mr. McNeal's comfort let me 

 say that there are conditions under 

 which just as good results can be ob- 

 tained with deep-chambered hives — 

 perhaps better, from some points of 

 view. The only way to determine 

 which hive is best in one's locality is 

 to test both types side by side, giving 

 both equally intelligent care. 



When in doubt go to the bee and 

 learn of her. Providence, R. I., Jan. 7. 



