70 The Townsend Bee Book 
tern, but built with a thin front painted a dark color. The results 
were that these dark-colored hives would absorb the sun heat so 
as to attract the bees out on many cold days, so that they rarely 
wintered a colony in good condition. They were, therefore, aban- 
doned for a better kind. 
Mr. 8. D. Chapman, during the spring of 1906, wrapped every 
other hive in his home yard, consisting of over two hundred colo- 
nies, with tarred paper. By having half the colonies in the same 
apiary wrapped with paper and half not wrapped he was able to 
give the plan a very fair test. All of the colonies were wintered 
in a cellar, and Mr. Chapman is very particular to have all light 
colonies fed early in the fall for the purpose of having all the 
covers sealed down so there will be no chance for a draft through 
the hives after they are set out of the cellar in the spring. The 
location where this test was carried on is well protected from the 
prevailing winds, especially those from the north and west. 
The ones that were covered with the tarred paper absorbed 
the heat from sun to such an extent the bees were lured from the 
hives on days that were too cold for them to fly. This meant that 
the colonies in the papered hives at the beginning of the honey- 
flow in June were not nearly so far advanced as those in hives 
that were not protected. In view of this, Mr. Chapman has de- 
cided that no extra protection is needed if the yard is well shel- 
tered from the winds, and if the hive-covers can be well sealed the 
previous fall. 
White paper does not cause the hive to become so excessively 
hot when the sun shines as the black paper does; and if it has been 
well folded down and fastened at the bottom of the hive the bees 
are kept as warm as is necessary. Colonies so protected went 
through the severe freeze of May 10, 1906, without the loss of a 
particle of brood, while many colonies in hives not papered.lost 
heavily, and some of these were so greatly reduced that they were 
able to gather no surplus honey that season. Generally speaking, 
night is the time when the extra protection is needed, for the air 
during the day is warm enough. Since white paper at night is 
just as good in all respects as the black, it is obvious that it is the 
better material to use, since it does not absorb the heat of the sun 
during the day and make the hive too hot. 
I use white-felt building-paper, and it is so cheap that I throw 
it away and buy new each year. It is true that any sheets that 
might not be torn could be rolled up and saved; but the new 
paper folds so much better than the old stiff paper kept over from 
the year before that I do not think it would be much of a saving 
