180 



L THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 

 coming of settled warm 



September, 



in'ior to the 

 weather. 



Whatever may become of heat after 

 it escapes from the cluster, we may be 

 assured that it does uot return. The 

 accumulation of ffost and ice on the 

 outer combs and upon the walls of the 

 hive would seem to be sufficient to dis- 

 pel any doubts on that score. 



Imagine, if you please, a person try- 

 ing to keep warm and healthy during 

 the long, c-old winter in an eight-room 

 or a ten-room house with no ceilings 

 to any of the rooms. Then let your 

 fancy picture a midway opening in the 

 walls of the rooms extending their full 

 length and you Avill have conceived a 

 iirst-rate Icind of atrangement for a 

 corncrib but a poor one for the 

 nursery. 



In attempting to prove that bees are 

 not guided by any law of nature in 

 forming the outline or shape of the 

 coudjs, Mi: Miller gets wide of the 

 mark. He does not deal with the 

 question at issue but with results that 

 are unavoidable in horizontal brood- 

 chamber. For the sum of his figures, 

 as represented by actual lateral growth 

 of comb within a given time is made 

 possible only by that feature of hive 

 construction. It will be remembered 

 that the assertion I made was that the 

 depth of natural-built comljs always 

 exceeded their width when the bees 

 had room to construct them according 

 to their own wishes. I said that the 

 downward growth of comb was more 

 rapid than the lateral and that when 

 completed such combs conformed more 

 fully to the needs of a spherical clus- 

 ter of bees than shallow or horizontal- 

 shaped combs. Taking the total later- 

 al growth of four small combs in the 

 sanu' frame, as Mr. Miller did. and set- 

 ting that over against the downward 

 growth of only one of them is neces- 

 sarily misleading. With .iust as much 

 force of argument I might say that the 

 total downward growth of all the 

 combs (one over the other) proved be- 

 yond peradventure that bees prefer 

 deep combs. Now notice: Mr. Miller 

 says that a small spherical body of 

 bees will start one comb and build 

 downwards twice as fast as sidewise. 

 He then further admits that each di- 

 vision of the main cluster engaged in 

 comb building Avill build downwards 

 twice as fast as sidewise! Now, it be- 

 ing so that all the combs simultaneous- 

 l.v or otlierwise started in a horizontal 

 "ten-frame hive" numbering "from two 

 to five in each frame", is at the start, 



"built downwards twice as fast as, 

 sidewise,"' 'twould seem to be incon-^ 

 trovertible — that no one could fail to 

 see Mr. Miller's position is not tenable. 



If I mistake not Mr. Miller makes; 

 good capital of the theory of the deep 

 or tall section box, whicli ever yon 

 choose to call it. In fact nearly all the 

 advocates of shallow hives whose 

 writings have come to my notice hold 

 to the belief that bees will complete a 

 deep section quiclcer than one of a 

 square shape. Fiuiny. isn't it? that a 

 principle of hive construction said tc 

 be so utterly at variance with the in- 

 stincts of the bees M-hen emplo.ved Ir 

 the brood-chamber, it should be so mu 

 tually beneficial in the super arrange 

 ment. With all due respect for th( 

 opinions of those who differ with me 

 I will add that the sectional brood- 

 chambers and system is founded oi 

 the strength of artificial resources an( 

 unless it has the backing of the suga: 

 liarrel it is necessarily shorn of it: 

 chief allurement and ceases to he prao 

 tical. 



I am willing that everyone shall uS' 

 the hive that suits him best. Kut a 

 for myself, after careful comparison o 

 the two styles of hives I am decidel; 

 in favor of the large single-story hive 

 for winter brood-chamber. 



Wheelersburg, O., Aug. 11, 1004. 



PUNSC BEES. 



Peculiar Traits, etc., Described by One Who 

 Breeds This Race for Market. 



T 



By John Hewitt. 



'WENTY or thirty years ago. gref 

 hopes were entertained of bein 

 aide to import the great hone 

 bee — Apis Dorsata — into America. M 

 I). A. .Tones, founder of the Canadia 

 Bee .Tournal, spent large sums in tryiii 

 to import it; which he said would prt 

 duce "lakes of honey." Well he faile 

 and so has everybody else who has trie 

 to import it. It was to be used in cros) 

 ing the Italians and they were goin 

 to iiroduce a new l)reed of bee to tj 

 called the Apis Americana; I just mei 

 tion this because very many of yoi 

 readers will be too young to have rea 

 all the "big things'" expected to resu 

 frohi its advent into America. 



If we have not been able to impo 

 it, we have done something better, 

 think, in int»"oducing a much bett« 

 bee to work side by side with it, i.( 



