464 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For the Amerlcfin Bee Journal. 



Wintering— The Humidity Question, 



JAMES HEDDON. 



After reading Dr. Tinker's " Hu- 

 midity " article on page 440, current 

 voluuie, I am somevvdat at a loss to 

 know why he so carelessly passed by 

 the fact that so many instances are 

 recorded where bees come out of 

 special repositories perfectly drenclied 

 with dampness, and the combs covered 

 with blue mold, but with the bees 

 perfectly healthy, and no signs of 

 dysentery I Then, again, cases like 

 my own, where 48 colonies put into a 

 very dry cellar began to die in less 

 than three weeks with dysentery in 

 its worst form with the hives and 

 combs all dry and entirely free from 

 mold. 



Bees about here have wintered 

 best in the dampest winters, for these 

 winters were the warmest ones, and 

 the cold and confinement which are 

 the great aggrevations to the cause, 

 were not with us in any great degree. 

 No, the " Humidity " theory is a com- 

 plete misfit for very many known in- 

 stances. Mr. Arad Balch, of Kala- 

 mazoo, claimed that all upward venti- 

 lation was death, that dampness was 

 good for bees, and all the while he 

 made these claims, he wintered his 

 bees with tlie greatest success, with 

 everything moldy and damp ; while 

 ■we " dry " fellows lost ours by scores 

 of colonies. 



The Doctor's reasoning regarding 

 the natural food and instinct of the 

 bees does not hold good. Sugar 

 syrup is not their natural food, but 

 honey is ; but the unnatural food is 

 here the best. I liave to thank the 

 Doctor for his kind words regarding 

 the object of my researches and re- 

 ports concerning the cause and pre- 

 vention of this trouble, and for calling 

 the attention of bee-keepers to the 

 fact that I am to have the " honors " 

 of fathering the " pollen theory." 



I wish to call attention to one more 

 fact, which is, that the bacteria theory 

 is much the same thing. My first 

 proposition was that the cause of 

 dysentery was "an over amount of 

 animal or vegetable matter in the 

 food." (I use the words "vegetable 

 matter'" not in the same sense that 

 honey is vegetable.) I did not know 

 whether bacteria was vegetable or 

 animal, but rather thought it was the 

 latter, vihile later developments prove 

 that it is vegetable. Be that as it 

 may, tlie two theories are very closely 

 related, and Prof. Cook, wlio should 

 be one of our very closest guessers 

 upon this subject, yet fails to see so 

 much fallacy in the pollen theory as 

 our friend who sets his sections down 

 flat on the brood frames. 



To my own ear the Doctor's article 

 savors of that knowledge of chemistry 

 that his profession usually under- 

 stands, but in his application of the 



same to the cause of dysentery is 

 wliere I disagree with him. 



The Doctor tliinks pollen, because 

 a " normal food," would not produce 

 dysentery. What is normal is natural. 

 Nature, with her infinite arms, eni- 

 biaces all that there is. Death is as 

 natural as life. Instinct is erring in 

 all animated nature. No animal lias 

 instinct sufficiently unerring to make 

 it always a success. The bee has an 

 instinct to guard against the moth 

 that nature so kindly furnished for 

 its benefit ; still moths do destroy 

 feeble colonies often, and sometimes 

 strong ones. With all the Doctor's 

 instinct and reason combined, to- 

 gether with his experience and mem- 

 ory, I dare say disease will get him 

 Tjefore old age. 



It seems quite peculiar that the 

 Doctor's instance ot experiment with 

 the pollen theory should be kind 

 enough to kill that and the hybrid 

 theory all at one fire. This is what 

 sportsmen calla" double-shot.'' Well, 

 if it turns out that Dr. Mason's three 

 years' experiments, which have con- 

 vinced him that pollen eating in con- 

 finement is the cause of dysentery, 

 and that the hundreds of producers 

 who have had tlieir hybrids lead all 

 other colonies for surplus honey 

 should be true, then we shall be forced 

 to think that in some way Dr. Tinker 

 is as badly mistaken regarding his 

 pollen experiment as he is regarding 

 setting sections flat down on the 

 brood frames, and that his hybrids 

 were either catch hybrids, or that his 

 parent colonies were not of the right 

 sort to produce the hybrid so much 

 sought after about these days. After 

 all, have we not theorized enough, 

 and is it not now a question of practi- 

 cal experiment ? 



During the coming winter we shall 

 make the pollen theory a special mat- 

 ter ot experiment, and give it the 

 best test upon the largest scale we 

 have ever heard of. The moment we 

 find we are wrong, if such be the case, 

 we shall get right off from that hobby 

 horse and caution all to keep away 

 from it as they would from the heels 

 of a mule ; and. Doctor, if we find you 

 on our bacteria horse, we shall claim 

 him, if he seems to have any 

 strength, by right of priority, we shall 

 order you to dismount at once and 

 stride your " sections on the brood 

 frame " pelter, one that we feel sure 

 will never "get there." 



Dowagiac, Mich. 



GleanloKB. 



Standard Langstroth Hive & Frame. 



L. L. LANGSTROTH. 



Before inventing my movable 

 frames I used bars, in a hive with 

 movable top and bottom, by which 

 the bars could be worked to much 

 better advantage than by side-open- 

 ing doors. My latest style of bar 

 hives were 18^ by ISJg by 6 inches 

 deep, all in tlie clear. At that time 

 (1851) honey, to bring the best price, 

 iiad to be in combs built in neat 

 glassed boxes, and this shape of the 

 hive gave an unusually large surface 

 tor such supers. The walls of these 



hives were double glass, to give the 

 dead air space, which protected the 

 bees against extremes of heat or cold, 

 and sudden changes of teniperature. 

 Tliat fractional Jg, which has puzzled 

 so many, gave room for two strips of 

 wood, each one inch wide by l-16th 

 tliick, against whicli the double glass 

 could be fastened with glazier's 

 points. One pane of glass, 18 by 12, a 

 common commercial size, covild be 

 easily cut so as to answer for one side. 

 My movable frame hives were first 

 made in the spring of 1S.52, in the city 

 of Philadelphia— some six months be- 

 fore the patent, which was applied 

 for in January, was issued. These 

 hives were 1418 inches from front to 

 rear, and ISig from side to side. 

 Early in 1853 my hives were made in 

 Greenfield, Mass., and the first edi- 

 tion of my book on the " Hive and 

 Honey Bee " was published in May of 

 that year. The present size of hives, 

 18J^ from front to rear, 14i^ from 

 side to side, and 10 inches deep, 

 was then adopted. The dimensions, 

 ISV^ from front rear, and 10 inches 

 deep, have never been changed ; but 

 that from side to side may vary ac- 

 cording to the number of frames, 

 some preferring 8, some 10, and some 

 even more. I am correctly quoted as 

 having said, in the American Bee 

 Journal, in reply to an inquiry, 

 "Considering tlie accuracy which may 

 be obtained in making the frames 

 stiff and perfectly square, I prefer the 

 Root and Newman measurements." 

 What I meant was, that frames could 

 be made so stiff and square as to 

 allow of their being U of an inch 

 longer than the old standard size, and 

 that the f4 inch (instead of Jg) still 

 left between the uprights of the 

 frames and the front and rear walls of 

 the hive, gave all the room needed for 

 their proper manipulation, it never 

 occurred to me that any one could 

 possibly suppose that I meant my 

 frames could be improved in square- 

 ness or stiffness by making them only 

 ,y of an inch longer ! I then thought 

 tliat it was quite a desirable point to 

 gain this hi incli, as in ten frames it 

 gave an increase of comb surface 

 enough for rearing over 1,100 bees. 



As such large operators as Heddon, 

 Root and Baldridge, insist that % of 

 an inch space between uprights of 

 frames and hive is the least that can 

 be safely allowed ; and as hives are 

 not unfrequently made, even by good 

 workmen, which vary a little from the 

 true dimensions, and furtlier. as some 

 kinds ot lumber are badly affected by 

 variations in the weather, I am now 

 of opinion that % is better than ^4. 



Considering the frequency and se- 

 verity of my attacks of head troubles, 

 which not only prevent me from tak- 

 ing any interest in bee matters, but 

 which render any thought upon such 

 subjects both painful and dangerous, 

 it will not seem surprising that it is 

 only within a few weeks that I have 

 learned that the change in the size of 

 the standard Langstroth frame was 

 made to carry with it a change in the 

 si~e of the standard Langstroth hive ! 

 I have no recollection of ever having 

 read the article to which Mr. Bald- 

 ridge thinks I ought to have re- 



