1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



181 



First, he states that the use of the Jumbo 

 hive enables the apiarist to enlarge the hive 

 one comb at a time, from the very smallest 

 space that a colony can possibly occupy and 

 keep warm, up to the largest laying capacity 

 of the best queens. He also says that it is 

 useless for us to seek a moi'e gradual increase 

 of space than can be given with such a hive 

 and dummy. Exactly so, Mr. Dadant; and 

 that very fact is with me, and I think with 

 others, a strong ai'gument against your stj^le 

 of hives, for, to quote your own argument, 

 time is money to me, and time is also honey 

 to the bees; and it certainly takes a good deal 

 of time to open a hive five times, each time 

 removing your dummy and slipping a comb 

 down by its side, replacing the dummy and 

 all such coddling. I can accomplish much 

 more with less work by using the shallow 

 hive, for, in the first place, you well know 

 that any sidewise development of a colony 

 is effet'ted very slowly in early spring, and 

 at great loss of both heat and energy. Why 

 this is true is evident enough if you but stop 

 to reason a bit. Heat from a cluster of bees 

 does not pass off sidewise to any appreciable 

 extent, but. instead, ascends naturally, and 

 the bees follow the natural upward tendency 

 of that heat in their development. So true 

 is this with me that I find year after year 

 nearly every colony occupying the five or six 

 combs, extending upward through two and 

 even three of these shallow sections. These 

 are nearly the center combs. Toward spring, 

 when brood-rearing begins, and the sun be- 

 gins to shine warm on the south end and 

 west side, they gradually move to that side; 

 but on the cold side, development goes for- 

 ward so slowly that the colony has often 

 reacheil a condition of full strength before 

 the bees spread out laterally, and take pos 

 session of these combs. With your deep 

 hive and system of coddling, when a comb is 

 given no development is noticed until the 

 bees have increased sufficiently to enable 

 them to cover perfectly the cold outside slab 

 that you have given them; for they can not, 

 in your single-story deep hive, get any bene- 

 fit from the natural heat that arises from the 

 compact cluster; and in this very connection 

 I wish to affirm, Mr. D. to the contrary not- 

 withstanding, that it is not thesmallness nor 

 bigness of a hive that protects the bees from 

 the damp and cold, but such protection is se- 

 cured by the living compact wall of bees, 

 and in a less degree by the position they oc- 

 cupy in the hive. To illustrate, a colony 

 that occupies the two middle sections of a 

 hive composed of four shallow bodies will 

 have the wind greatly broken in force 

 before it reaches them, for it will have 

 to reach them through the combs and bars 

 of the lower hive, and they will also be 

 .somewhat removed from the damp floor or 

 bottom-board. Here in the South a colony 

 will winter every time, strong or weak, if it 

 has stores enough; but further north it is dif- 

 ferent. When a growing colony in the above- 

 described position reaches the top section, all 

 further need of bottom protection is at an 

 end, and I shift the bottom hive to the top to 



afford room for greater development. Dif- 

 ferent from your colony in single-story deep 

 hive, they are compelled to remain exposed 

 to the cold incoming currents of air. True, 

 they may contract a little closer, but that 

 only lessens the amount of breathing-space. 

 There they remain, and wait until enough 

 bees have hatched to cover the cold outside 

 comb before they can enlarge the brood-nest 

 in the least. Now, these are facts, and I 

 think few will question their, 



Mr. Dadant's claim, that tJie deep hive af- 

 forded the queen a chance to develop her 

 full fertility, is an old but entirely unproven 

 assertion, tor the fact is just this: During 

 early spring, when no eggs are or can be 

 laid outride the cluster, the queen does, after 

 a fashion, make the so-called circle, and why? 

 Simply because the bees cluster in- somewhat 

 of a globular form; and as eggs ax'e laid with- 

 in this cluster only during the cool weather 

 of spring, that circle is a matter of course. 

 However, I deny that this style of egg dis- 

 position is maintained throughout the season; 

 on the contrary, as soon as settled warm 

 weather has come, the queen roams through 

 the entire hive, whether composed of three, 

 four, or five sections, and lays at will wher- 

 ever she finds cells well polished. Many a 

 time I have found cells thus polished, but no 

 eggs; and on examining again in a day or 

 two I have found the queen busy at work, 

 and again in a few days more she would be 

 found in another sectif)n of the hive. 



Mr. D. affirms that queens in shallow hives 

 hunt a long time for cells to lay in, and like- 

 wise declares the queen drops and loses her 

 eggs. Like him, I have seen queens drop 

 eggs, but this was not confined to shallow 

 hives, but is, I assert, very common in all 

 kinds of hives. For the past fifteen years I 

 have kept a few deep hives solely to help me 

 answer people who have read some such ar- 

 guments as Mr. Dadant puts forth. These 

 hives are IGI-XIBJ, and 12 inches deep; but 

 during all these years not one of these colo- 

 nies has ever shown the least advantage, 

 either in strength or in yield of honey 

 over those in the shallow hives, and they ai-'e 

 much more trouble to handle than the shal- 

 low ones. Furthermore, I have kept bees in 

 many kinds of deep hives, but have never 

 found such hives to be in any way superior 

 to the shallow ones, while in many ways 

 they are immeasurably inferior to them. 



In conclusion I will mentiim some of the 

 ways and reastms why deep hives are inferi- 

 or to the shallow ones. First, because they 

 are much heavier to handle, needing a der- 

 rick like those illustrated in the last few is- 

 sues of Gleanings to enable the operator 

 to make an examination of the brood-nest. 

 The shallow hive needs none. 



Second, the deep hive has to be manipu- 

 lated by combs singly, while with a properly 

 constructed shallow hive every necessary 

 manipulation can be done by sections. This 

 enal)les an apiarist to handle more bees, and 

 thus be able to secure greater crops of hon- 

 ey, and with less heavy lifting 'ind postering. 



Third, when hauling bees, as in migratory 



