THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



61 



frosty mornings, the bees having straw 

 about them would not be contracted into a 

 cluster at all, any more than in the summer, 

 while those in hives packed with other ma- 

 terials would be found clustered, although 

 not as closely as those in hives not packed. 

 The reason I assign for this is that the stra / 

 furnishes thousands of dead air spaces tL. L 

 hold the heat absorbed from the sun dur. .,, 

 the day, at the same time confining the heat 

 generated by the bees. 



Again, I do not agree with the editor as 

 to there being less labor in his way of using 

 packing, as compared with chaff hives ; and, 

 even if I did, I would use the straw-packed 

 hives all tlw near round. I would use them 

 even if it doubled the labor, for what is 

 good for the bees in the spring is good for 

 them all the 5'ear. On hot days, bees in 

 single wall hives will quit work, being driven 

 from the sections they cluster idly on the 

 outside of the hive, while those in the straw 

 packed hives will be at work with a will, 

 both in the sections and in the fields, not 

 clustering out until after sunset when all the 

 laborers are in from the fields. Again, when 

 a cool night comes, work is continued in the 

 sections, while hives with no protection 

 show only sections empty of bees after a 

 cool night, 



You say: "If you are wrong, you wish to 

 know it." Try one or two such hives as I 

 have described, and be convinced. But you 

 say : "■ Look at the labor ! " Let me assure 

 you that there is not nearly as much work in 

 properly managing such straw hives, not 

 even when they are wintered in the cellar, 

 (where I winter mine) as there is in the plan 

 you have outlined. You tell how the pack- 

 ing is put on, how taken oft', and wish us to 

 note " with how little labor you have man- 

 aged " all through the year. Nowlwishto 

 say that, after having tried your way for 

 several years in the past, reducing the labor 

 to a minimum, as I considered it, the labor 

 with my strav? hives during the whole year 

 does not amount to so much as that used by 

 yourself in this packing and unpacking part. 

 The labor used by myself is simply this : 

 In the fall put the hives on a wheel-barrow 

 (weight of hive, straw, bees, honey and all, at 

 this season, is only .5;") pounds), wheel into 

 the cellar, leave there until spring, tlien 

 wheel out. At swarming time, take the nine 

 combs out of the brood chamber, put in six 

 frames with starters in them, close the hive, 

 shake ofi', in front of the hive, all the un- 

 needed bees from the combs of brood taken 

 out, put them in a hive where it is de-ired to 

 have a colony stand and the next day give a 

 virgin queen. Thus, you see, there is not 

 only very little labor by this plan, but, after 

 working, for years, with this plan and with 

 what is known as the Heddon method of 

 preveu'iiig after-swarming, I prefer the for- 

 mer as a means of securing the most honey. 

 Nearly all of the bees shaken ofi' are less 

 than three days old, and will hold out and do 

 hotter work as comb builders t'luin will the 

 field bees with which you speak about rein- 

 forcing the swarm. Again, witli the plan I 

 have outlined, there never is an after swarm, 

 while, with your plan, I have many times 

 known the bees to become "sulky" and 



stick to the hive after it was moved, the re- 

 sult being after-swarming. The only way to 

 obviate this difficulty is to watch carefully 

 and move these hives when the young bees 

 are out in full force having a play spell. But 

 this ties up the apiarist too much. 



Candidly, friend Hutchinson, after care- 

 fully trying the half depth hives and single 

 wall hives, on the plan which ''is so much 

 easier ; that of handling hives instead of 

 frames :" I am compelled to say that, tak- 

 ing all in all, I cannot see that it is any less 

 work than by the other and older plan, intelli- 

 gently used; while there is that in the old plan 

 as outlined above, not attainable with single 

 walled hives. There are other items in your 

 leader that I should be glad to notice, but 

 this article is already too long. 



BoKODiNO, N. Y., Mar. HI, 1890. 



Hives; Spring Packing; dneen-Excluders 



"Best Bees;" Sections; Supers and 



A few Other Things. 



J\MES HEDDON. 



OUR good long leader, in last issue, 

 upon "The Production of Comb 

 Honey," ought to be highly prized 

 by all your readers. I prize it, al- 

 though you and I work so much upon the 

 same plan, believing as we do that it is by far 

 the best, that you have left little for me to 

 say. All that I can do is to add some little 

 thing that you have left out, or controvert 

 you on some points upon which we do not 

 agree. 



I remember when you and I had a con- 

 troversy (privately, and I don't know but 

 we did through the bee journals) regarding 

 the protection of bees, wintered in-doors, by 

 special packing in the spring. Well sir, I 

 think I was wrong and you were right ; and 

 now every colony of my bees is packed the 

 first thing after taking them from the cellar. 

 I'ou would not catch me using a permanent- 

 ly packed hive ; rather than do this I would 

 pack and unpack 'l)ees every thirty days all 

 the year round. To me, such hives would 

 be the greatest nuisance that could be 

 brought into my apiary. You gave the rea- 

 sons in your editorial. 



Another ijoiut is, I wish my hives painted 

 white, or nearly so, to avoid the intense heat 

 of the summer months ; and the packing 

 boxes a dark red. Let the reader place a 

 dai-k red or black board and a white one in 

 the sun, even under a low winter sun, and 

 some time after they have received the sun- 

 shine, let the hand be placed upon them and 

 the difference in temperature noted. 



Another thing, a hive ought not to be sur- 

 rounded by chaff or dead air. A non-con- 

 ducting wall is undesirable unless the hive 

 is to be buried in snow or set in the shade. 

 What is needed is a conductor of heat, but 

 a very slow one ; one that will catch, retain 

 and make the best use of all of the rays of 

 the winter sun. Of course, this principle 

 applies with more force in certain localities 

 than in others : more in sunshiny locations 

 with lighter snows, than where the snow is 

 deep and the cold winter days nearly always 



