142 BEE CULTURE. 
ter, such as 1880-81, as they were the winter before; that 
will carry a colony through on the lowest minimum of honey ; 
that will be cheap of construction and easy of application— 
until then, the success attending bee-keeping will be more or 
less a matter of chance. 
All the best apicultural authorities of the present day, as 
well as those who have gone before, give the following as 
absolute requisites for safe wintering: 1. An even temper- 
ature ranging from 42° to 45°. 2. Complete expulsion or 
absorption of moisture from the body of the hive. 3. Per- 
fect freedom from outward disturbances. 4. Protection of 
stores from contact with frost. 5. Protracted isolation from 
atmospheric changesin spring. 6. Exclusion of light. 7. Suf- 
ficient stores for winter consumption. It is generally 
admitted that with these seven contingencies provided for, 
there will be no hazard in wintering, and it is further 
admitted, that no plan so far practiced combines all these 
essentials. 
There have been various devices gotten up, such as chaff- 
packed hives, porous-wall hives and double-wall hives, many 
of which have proved very effective during an ordinary win- 
ter, and all ot which, as a rule, were much better than no 
protection at all, but with such a winter as that of 1880-81, 
all methods of out-door packing were more or less faulty, 
except where all the other requirements were most amply pro- 
vided for. The winter of 1881-82 was quite to the other 
extreme—but few periods occurring where more than two or 
three weeks elapsed without a purifying flight, and bees 
wholly unprotected seemed to fare quite as well as those 
packed or cellared with the greatest care. 
CHAFF PACKING FOR WINTER. 
Under this heading we will embrace all the different 
methods for wintering on the summer stand. The double- 
wall hive, perhaps, will convey the best idea, which can be 
modified to suit the convenience or judgment of the apiarist. 
The hive illustrated uses the Gallup frame, which is nearly 
square, the top-bar being 134 inches long; end bars, 103 
inches, and the bottom bar 112 inches, making a frame 
12x11 inches outside. The body of the hive is square, 
measuring 184x184 inches outside. D KE are reversible cases, 
