ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 181 



Hollow walls with no packing- have had their advocates; and it 

 has been asked if these dead (?) air spaces were not equally as gfood 

 non-conductors of heat as those filled with chaff. They are not. In 

 the first place, the air is not "dead;" it is constantly moving. The 

 air next the inside wall becomes warm and rises; that next the outer 

 wall cools and settles; thus there is a constant circulation that robs 

 the inner wall of its heat. 



If chaff hives are not used, how shall the packing be kept in 

 place? I know of nothing better than boxes made made of cheap 

 lumber. If there is lack of room for storing them in summer, they 

 can be made so as to be easily "knocked down," and stacked up 

 when not in use. Of course, bees can be packed more cheaply by 

 setting the hives in long rows, building a long box about them, and 

 filling it with the material used for packing. With this method the 

 packing ought to be postponed until it is so late that the bees are not 

 likely to fly again until they have forgotten their old locations; else 

 some of the bees will be lost, or some of the colonies get more than 

 their share of bees. When they have a "cleansing flight" in 

 winter, there is also a likelihood of some bees returning to the wrong 

 hive. Then, when the bees are unpacked in the spring, there is 

 more confusion and mixing; but I don't look upon this as so very 

 serious a matter. At this time of the year, other things being equal, 

 a bee is worth just as much in one hive as in another. If there is 

 any difference in the strength of colonies, the weaker ones might be 

 left nearest to where the bees were unpacked. 



Speaking of being compelled to wait about packing the bees un- 

 til they are not likely to fly again until some time in the winter, 

 reminds me that advantages have been claimed for early packing; 

 that bees in single-wall hives only wear themselves out with frequent 

 flights that are to no purpose, while those that are packed are not 

 called out by every passing ray of sunshine; that the early-packed 

 bees sooner get themselves settled down for their winter's nap, and 

 are in better condition for winter when it comes. It is possible that 

 there is something in this, but there were two or three years in 

 which I tried packing a colony or two as early as the first of Septem- 

 ber, and I continued to pack a colony every two or three days until 

 the fore part of November, and I was unable to discern any advan- 

 tage in very early packing. If the bees are protected before freezing 

 weather comes, I believe that is enough. 



There is one other point that ought not to be neglected in pre- 

 paring the bees for winter, whether in-doors or out, and that is the 

 leaving of a space below the combs. When wintered out of doors 

 there ought to be a rim two inches high placed under each hive. 



