tHE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



63 



to the conclusion that five or six inches of 

 planer shavings between the hive and outer 

 shell suits me best. The bottom of the hive 

 requires the same protection as the sidt s. I 

 used to make this protection in a temporary 

 way each fall, and would remove it after 

 warm weather had fairly set in. This pro- 

 tection is also found to be of great benefit 

 in the spring, especially with weak swarms. 

 A protected swarm will raise much more 

 brood, other conditions being equal. After 

 making these temporary protections during 

 several years, I began (like others about 

 here) to make them in a permanent fashion, 

 and leave the hives in them summer and 

 winter, in this way saving nearly all of the 

 packing in the fall, and the unpacking in 

 spring. This protection I found to be of 

 great benefit also in the hot weather, as no 

 shading was required. 



The packing was left in, even with the top 

 of the frames, summer and winter, and all 

 the addition necessary in the fall packing 

 was the six inches of shavings over the 

 frames. 



I make the outer shells sixteen feet long, 

 holding eight hives. The cover is hung on 

 hinges, opens from the back side, and is 

 divided in the center so as to open to four 

 swarms at a time. A board ten inches wide 

 at the back of the box is also on hinges, and 

 turns down even with the top of the hive. 



When the bees swarm they are caught in a 

 light swarming box and brought to the hive 

 I wish them to enter. The manipulations 

 are the same as in any other way of manag- 

 ing bees, except when I want to hive the 

 swarm on the old stand ; then I remove the 

 sections and take out the brood and bees, 

 place them in an outer hive and put them 

 where wanted, fill the hive with empty 

 frames, put on the sections and let the 

 swarm run in. I sometimes place the hive 

 of unhatched brood near the entrance of the 

 old swarm, and when all is hatched, shake 

 the bees off the combs and let them run into 

 the old hive. 



East Saginaw, Mich. Feb. 24, 1891. 



Chaff Hives Presuppose all Seasons. 



T. F. BINGHAM. 



^^PRING protection for bees implies, 

 "^^ among bee-keepers, many things ; 



^^ while, to those not familiar with the 

 methods resorted to by bee-keepers, it would 

 seem a simple and easy matter. 



Nature did not essay to keep bees in this 

 northern belt of latitude, and the effort to 

 cultivate exotics is now, as it ever will be, 

 attended with many unmeasured obstacles. 

 To overcome those obstacles is impossible ; 

 but by having a skillful physician constantly 

 at the service of the family, climatic and 

 dietetic la grippe in many cases may, to a 

 certain extent, be rendered harmless. 



The conditions subject to the bee-keeper's 

 control, so far as winter warmth is concern- 

 ed, are easily met by the ready use of capi- 

 tal, but the spring conditions, necessarily 

 due largely to the unnatural winter necessi- 

 ties, are not so readily doctored. So far, 

 capital has not, with the genius at its com- 

 mand, become master of the situation. It 

 has been able only to watch and pray, while 

 the fruits of a misspent winter has deter- 

 mined the harvest as by foreordination. 



No doubt it would be well to protect, as 

 you remark in your editorial chart, when 

 you would like to have the soundings made 

 and the currents defined in such a manner 

 as to enable any one to steer his argosy of 

 bees to a safe and hospitable port : but bee- 

 keepers, like sailors, often have to abide the 

 old saw, " any port in a storm." 



The multiplicity of hives, the complexity 

 of manipulation, and the so-called evolution 

 of apiculture, demonstrates too well that 

 bee-keepers have not as yet been able to 

 meet their necessary wants, to say nothing 

 of the needs of their families. 



Much has been written and said of chaff 

 hives, and it has been well said, no doubt, 

 and many results have been attributed to 

 such hives, some on specific points peculiar 

 to such construction, and so far it has not 

 been controverted. On general principles, 

 no one can complain. 



Of course, a chaff hive presupposes all 

 seasons, and does not lay much stress upon 

 spring or any other particular season, or 

 special management ; as such, all the pres- 

 ent types of chaff hives meet many of the 

 practical bee-keepers' wants, with no more 

 labor or expense, one year with another, 

 than with single-wall hives. 



Those who weigh and begrudge every drop 

 of honey one superfluous drone may chance 

 to consume, or envy the poor, black queen 

 the generous comfort of scattering her eggs, 

 must, in their desire to have all the honey, 

 consent to take some risks and do some 

 things others would not do. 



A man's mind and strength, as well as the 

 cold of winter, and the winds of spring, and 



