THE BEE-KEEPEBS' REVIEW, 



61 



all points. The question of which are the 

 best bees, is still an open one, and will prob- 

 ly remain such for some time to come, but 

 we know that no very great mistake can be 

 made in choosing a cross between the best 

 strains of the German and Italian varieties. 

 Mention is made of the irritability of the 

 Carniolans ; then the charge is partly with- 

 drawn by supposing that the bees in question 

 might not have been pure Carniolans ; then 

 we are told that it is well-nigh impossible to 

 keep the Carniolans pure. We fail to see 

 why there should be any more difficulty 

 than in keeping any variety pure. By the 

 by, we have lately received a letter from an 

 Eastern bee-keeper — one who numbers his 

 colonies by the hundred but declines pub- 

 licity — , in which he says he has tried the 

 Carniolans (one imported queen and her 

 mis-mated daughters) and found them all 

 they have been painted except their being 

 good workers. A serious fault, surely. But 

 then, we have had other reports equally dis- 

 interested in which have been sounded the 

 praises of their wonderful industry. And so 

 it goes ; and we cannot avoid the decision 

 that, the Carniolans are yet on trial.— Upon 

 the hive question, the greatest jjoint of dif- 

 ference seems to be upon protection vs. no 

 protection. We think no one disputes that 

 spring protection is a benefit ; but whether 

 the benefit is greater than the cost, is yet a 

 matter of doubt with some. All depends 

 upon the season. Some years the profit 

 will be great ; in others it may be nothing, 

 or less. But it is a safe practice. The results 

 can never be disastrous, and may be very 

 profitable. Notwithstanding good and ex- 

 perienced men advocate the use of chaff 

 hives, we cannot bring ourselves to think 

 favorbly enough of them to adopt them. 

 Much as we prefer the cellar for wintering 

 bees, we believe it would be the summer use 

 of chaff hives tlmt would the sooner drive us 

 to discard f hem. A bee-keeper whose bees 

 are in chaff hives is an athlete in swaddling 

 clothes. Again, we remember no ex- 

 traordinary yields of honey when the nights 

 were cool; it was "good corn weather" — 

 hot nights and "lightning bugs" — that 

 . brought ns good honey flows. When the 

 nights were cool enough to drive the bees 

 from the sections the flow has been so slight 

 that there was no necessity for night comb 

 building. But supposing there is an advan- 

 tage in the protection of sections, is it suffi- 

 cient to compensate for the loss in being 



hampered with cumbersome, immovable 

 hives ; hives with which every manipulation 

 must be performed by handling frames f 

 With the low price at which honey is selling, 

 all possible corners must be "cut." We 

 must have quick, wholesale methods of per- 

 forming all needful manipulations. We 

 must stop trying to see how much honey we 

 can get per colon ij, and take that broader 

 view — " how shall we secure the greatest 

 profit?" Perhaps spring packing might be 

 condemned upon this very ground. Yes, 

 but remember that it comes at a time of 

 comparative leisure, and can be performed 

 by cheap labor, ; while chaff hives hinder 

 skilled labor when moments are precious. — 

 Before leaving this subject of protection, we 

 will say that, since receiving the articles in 

 this issue we have been in correspondence 

 with Mr. Cornell, of Lindsay, Canada, upon 

 the subject of heat and its conductivity ; the 

 relative conductiug power of different ma- 

 terials ; etc. ; and he has cited us authorities 

 upon this interesting subject. We would 

 gladly place this correspondence before our 

 readers now, but the heavy iron chases in 

 which the forms of the Review are locked 

 up are almost as unyielding as the marble 

 imposing stone upon which they rest — 

 they will receive just so much and no 

 more. Although it may be a little out of 

 season, we will, now that the subject is " up," 

 try and devote some space to it in the next 

 issue. We will say this much here. Mr. 

 Doolittle may be correct about the superior- 

 ity of straw, but not entirely for the reasons 

 he gives ; but because, as Mr. Poppleton puts 

 it in last September Review, its " affinity " 

 for moisture is not so great. We must re- 

 member that moisture has a great bearing 

 upon this heat question. Mr. Doolittle is 

 also correct about the value of numerous 

 air spaces as non-conductors of heat, but 

 mistaken in thinking that sawdust is only a 

 little better protection than a solid wall. 

 The greater the mechanical division of a 

 substance, provided it is not packed too 

 tight, the greater its non-conductivity. Pop- 

 pleton's article, in the Review of Sep- 

 tember last, is sound and in accord with 

 Rumford and Tyndall. — With the exception 

 of last season, we have always used poplar 

 sections ; and with the exception of this 

 same season we have also practiced feeding 

 back. As no sections more than half com- 

 pleted were saved over, and the wood re 

 mained white even when exposed to the air^ 



