1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



485 



where we came in had been sufficiently tem- 

 pered through its underground passage, so 

 that no artificial heat was needed. It is in only 

 extremely cold weather, we believe, that Mr. 

 Holtermann finds it necessary to warm the 

 air, and perhaps at other times when the cir- 

 culation is sluggish. We followed the course 

 of the ventilating-llues designated byD, D, in 

 Fig. 3, C; and on pushing the candle up to 

 one of its one-inch openings we could plainly 

 see by the defiection of the fiame that the 

 air was pushing out. The long course of 

 these ventilators clear around the cellar, 

 closed except at the one-inch opening, dis- 

 tributes the air evenly over the entire cellar. 



Mr. Holtermann omits to draw attention to 

 the ventilating-pipes sticking up through the 

 roof on either side of the chimney. These, 

 if I remember coi'rectly, extend down through 

 the ceiling of the cellar to within about a foot 

 of the floor. Their purpose is to assist the 

 chimney-llue to carry out the foul air. On 

 going outside of the cellar we could see the 

 white frost at the top of the ventilators, 

 showing that the foul air was continually 

 passing out, the moisture collecting and 

 freezing into a white frost. 



This cellar is one of the largest in the 

 country, being exceeded, perhaps, only by the 

 mammoth bee-cellar of E. W. Alexandei- and 

 that of the late Capt. J. E. Hetherington. 

 The extensive bee-keeper may well copy aft- 

 er the general plan of this; for on the prin- 

 ciple that the proof of the pudding is in the 

 eating of it, this cellar certainly does its 

 work. 



It should be remembered, also, that Mr. 

 Holtermann is an advocate of large and 

 powerful colonies. It is one thing to keep a 

 cellar sweet and nicely ventilated with weak 

 or moderate-sized colonies; but when we put 

 some 400 or 500 twelve-frame rousing big 

 ones in, we all admit we have a different 

 problem to contend with, and yet this cellar 

 takes care of them. 



We respectfully suggest that this journal 

 be laid aside, or marked, so that late this 

 summer or fall, when one is ready to begin 

 his cellar, he can have something definite to 

 work on. — Ed.] 



DEEP VS. SHALLOW BROOD CHAM- 

 BERS. 



The Value of Courtesy in Criticisms. 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



Mr. Editor: — When I replied to your re- 

 quest in stating the reason of my preference 

 for deep brood-chambers I had no idea of 

 starting into a discussion. I expected to 

 have my say and be done. Biit several of 

 our good bee-keepers have jumped on me, 

 and I feel that I want to say a few more 

 words before I drop the subject. 



It would appear from the article of Mr. 

 Chambers that the shallow hive is of such 

 great advantage that it is forcing the manu- 

 facturers to handle it in spite of themselves. 

 He perhaps forgets that, over twenty years 



ago, Mr. Heddon invented a shallow-frame 

 hive which was drummed and advertised all 

 over the country, for which Mr. Heddon 

 even secured the approval of Mr. Langstroth, 

 in his declining days, when he had no longer 

 any apiary practice, and that, in spite of all 

 that, the Heddon-hive supporters may prob- 

 ably be yet counted with two figures. If I 

 judge of the number of shallow hives now in 

 use by the amount of comb foundation sold 

 for such shallow hives, it is but a very low 

 per cent (less than two) of the number of 

 colonies in existence among progressive api- 

 aries. Yet the shallow hive was recommend- 

 ed long before the movable frame made its 

 appearance, as I said in a previous article, 

 and the main claim made for it was the ease 

 of manipulation. 



Of the many advantages claimed for these 

 hives, one looms up most conspicuously — 

 the greater ease in handling and transport- 

 ing the hives. Shallow hives are moi'e de- 

 sirable for migratory bee-keeping. I do not 

 do any migratory l)ee keeping, neither do 

 999 out of every 1000 bee-keepers. They are 

 easier to transport from one spot to another, 

 but 1 do not transport hives We have hives 

 which have stood in the same spot for twen- 

 ty years. I think but little more of moving 

 a hive than a hou.se, and I have never had 

 need of a hive which could be packed around 

 like a trunk. 



The foundation is easier put into a shallow 

 frame. I know this to be a fact, for we use 

 shallow frames for our supers; but putting 

 foundation in frames is done only once in 25 

 or 30 years. If the foundation has been well 

 put in, it will not need to be changed for a 

 lifetime. Shallow frames may be exti'acted 

 more readily, because the knife runs across 

 them more readily. That is true, and that 

 is why we use shallow frames in our supers. 

 But we rarely extract honey from the lower 

 story of our large hive. There is no need of it. 



It would appear that the difference in opin- 

 ion comes from the difference in methods of 

 manipulation. Our opponents would have 

 us think that they have the better way be- 

 cause they handle hives; we would have 

 them think that we have the better way be- 

 cause we do less handling of hives, therefore 

 have less hard work. 



We are told that, if we wish to give room, 

 we have to put in one additional frame at a 

 time, while they double the size of the hive 

 at one operation. We. too, can double the 

 size at one operation (if we choose to do so); 

 but we have the resoui'ce of enlarging only 

 a little at a time if we see fit. 



I don't relish the idea of hunting a queen 

 by shaking the whole swarm out. I can do 

 it faster by lifting a frame or two. Neither 

 do I like the idea of helping a weak stock by 

 giving them a full story of brood from a 

 powerful colony or a full case of honey. I 

 prefer a more gradual help. 



But the matter which has the most weight 

 in my mind is the greater amount of brood 

 secured from a queen on deep frames. Mr. 

 Chambers calls this an entirely unpi'oven as- 

 sertion. It may be to him. It is not to me. 



