1 6 On Rational Bee-Keeping, 
The straw hive, on the old plan, which does 
not generally contain more than from fifteen to 
eighteen pounds, is too small. In moderate or 
bad years, the colonies cannot, in the spring, 
provide against all their wants ; and their owner, 
calculating on a supply of honey, which the 
unfavourable weather prevents the bees from 
collecting, sees them perishing from hunger, and 
not from cold as is generally supposed. 
This is proved by hundreds and, at times, 
even thousands of bees being found with their 
heads inserted in the cells, not having had the 
strength to withdraw them. 
Some bee-masters have an idea that straw 
hives are warmer than wooden ones, and that 
they possess the advantage of absorbing the 
moisture which collects on the sides. Now, it 
is clear to any careful observer that dampness 
collects as much on the sides of a straw hive as 
on those of a wooden one, and that during a hard 
frost the inner surface of each may be covered 
with a thin layer of ice without any apparent 
detriment to the bees, since they are protected 
by the internal warmth of the colony. Besides 
which, the straw hive gets by degrees waterproof, 
the sides, by the end of a year, becoming 
covered with propolis. 
