JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 23, 1882.] 
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HE BEE-KEEPER. 1 
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THE NEEDFUL QUALITIES OF HIVES. 
A CORRESPONDENT who is contemplating substituting home¬ 
made frame hives for skeps asks a series of questions which 
involve points of such general interest that I answer him by- 
addressing the readers of these columns at large. 
Material .—The disputed point as to the best material to use in 
the construction of hives cannot be in any way satisfactorily 
settled without a consideration of the main objects to be gained. 
Bees in a state of nature build generally in hollow forest trees, 
and are then surrounded by conditions which are, on the whole, 
extremely favourable. The thick coating of porous, decaying, 
sapless wood, conducts heat with extreme slowness, while the 
foliage of summer gives an additional protection against the 
ardent rays of the sun. It must be remembered that a com¬ 
munity of honey-gatherers is in much the same position as a 
warm-blooded animal which has, in popular language, “ to keep 
itself warm in winter and cool in summer,” or, more accurately, 
maintain a constant temperature despite external fluctuations. 
The more non-conductive of heat the hive is made the less is 
the needed effort of the bees in securing the aforesaid uniformity, 
and consequently as we improve the hive in this respect we 
reduce wear and tear of the individuals of the community and 
add immensely in consequence to the possibilities of profit. For 
want of a little scientific knowledge not a few schemes making 
the hives chilly and unsuitable to bees have been introduced with 
the alleged object of keeping the latter warm. In one case a 
sheet of glass was let into the hive side to face south in winter, 
so that the sun shining upon the glass might warm the occu¬ 
pants— a theory which quite overlooked the fact that a hive 
which admitted the dubious heat of a winter’s sun through it also 
allowed during the piercing nights and cold days the substantial 
heat of the cluster to be dissipated. In addition to this also, I 
should urge that the warming of the hive in the winter, even 
if it could be so accomplished, is a positive evil, against which 
every bee-keeper beyond the alphabet in the art would carefully 
guard. On account of the good qualities of straw as a heat- 
conserver it held its own long and well against badly constructed 
wooden hives, and with some bee-keepers there still lurks an idea 
that straw has some special indefinable virtue which links it to 
bee-life w r ith a bond which ought not to be separated. Some 
argue that it absorbs the moisture produced within and so keeps 
all dry, an idea which is doubly false, for if it absorbed water 
it would soon become a good conductor and would make all wet. 
The truth is that the tension of water-vapour varies with the tem¬ 
perature, or more simply, the greater the heat below boiling point 
the more vapour may be held in a definite space ; and as bees are 
always producing water within them by the burning of honey in 
their bodies to keep up temperature, the cluster has the air in its 
midst practically saturated with water-vapour. Further, when 
this air passes away to the hive side and is thereby chilled, the 
vapour, which can no longer be all held, is deposited as moisture. 
The same thing occurs in a warm room during chilly weather, 
when the window-pane will commonly be found bedewed within 
by deposited moisture. If the glass be thin this deposit of 
moisture may be considerable, but if double glazing (one sheet 
within the other) be adopted, scarcely a trace of moisture will 
ever appear. From this we readily gather that the higher the 
non-conductivity of the hive the greater, cceteris paribus, the 
internal dryness. 
Wood is so clearly more manageable than straw, and admits of 
so much more accurate fitting, while its durability, especially if 
protected by paint, is so much greater, that strong reasons only 
could warrant its rejection. The severe winters of the northern 
States of America have obliged bee-keepers there to devise means 
for greater security than mere wooden hive sides afford, and what 
are called chaff-hives are there increasing in number, and are 
found to winter bees admirably. These chaff-hives, so called, are 
simply thin wooden hives surrounded by an outer wooden skin 
with an interspace of about 4 inches, which is filled in with 
chaff. In experimenting I have found, as some time since I 
stated in this Journal, that cork dust, such as is used in 
packing Spanish Grapes, and which can be had in most towns 
for the asking, is vastly superior as a non-conductor to chaff, 
the relative protection between these substances being as 14 
to 10. Narrow air spaces are of value, while wide ones are 
really useless for a double reason. 1, The air mis-called “dead 
air ” freely circulates and rapidly carries heat away by what 
is called convection. 2, The outside cover, necessarily much 
larger than the hive proper, presents such an increased external 
surface that it scarcely adds to the protection. This leads to 
mention in passing a hive recently introduced which has closed 
ends to the frames and a wide airspace of about 4 inches, bounded 
by a thin wooden case. Scarcely any conceivable form could 
give a better opportunity for tbe escape of heat, while the per¬ 
fectly unwoikable character of the frames make it unlikely that 
its introduction will be followed by its adoption, so that any 
further remarks in relation to it are scarcely necessary. 
Straw is highly suited to hive walls because it consists of a 
number of air pipes which are laid horizontally, and consequently 
give a succession of actually dead air spaces with a comparatively 
small quantity of solid material; but cork dust is far more non- 
conductive, because with far less weight of material it imprisons 
a large amount of air; and since it can, unlike straw, be en¬ 
closed between two wooden skins, worked easily, and fitted accu¬ 
rately, and besides costs less and is more durable than chaff, 
I see many reasons why it should be the chosen material for the 
advanced hive-maker. Its protective power beyond simple wood 
is nearly 14 to 1, an advantage which none but the experienced 
carefully appreciate. The other points in our correspondent’s list 
of queries I must take up next issue.— Frank R. Cheshire, 
Avenue House, Acton , TU. 
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
The annual general meeting was held on the 15th inst. The chair 
was occupied by the President of the Association, the Baroness 
Burdett Coutts. In the unavoidable absence of the Rev. H. R. Peel, 
the Honorary Secretary, through indisposition, the minutes of the 
last general meeting and the Committee’s annual report for 1881 
were read by Mr. T. W. Cowan, the Chairman of the Committee. 
After the adoption of the report and the re-election of the President, 
Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, Auditor, and Honorary Secretary for the 
ensuing year, the following gentlemen were elected for the Committee 
of 1882 : Mr. T. W. Cowan, Rev. E. Bartrum, Rev. G. Raynor, Mr. J. 
M. Hooker, Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, Mr. H. Jonas, Mr. D. Stewart, 
Capt. C. D. Campbell, and Rev. F. T. Scott. Sundry votes of thanks 
having been unanimously recorded to the retiring officers, the most 
important motion affecting bee-keepers and bee-keeping generally 
was brought forward by the Rev. George Raynor as follows : “ That 
it is desirable that the British Bee-Keepers’ Association do set forth a 
Standard Frame, stamped by its sanction and authority, with the 
view to bringing such frame into general use, its size and form to be 
determined by a Committee appointed for that purpose.” The ques¬ 
tion of a standard frame for general use has been discussed by all 
leading apiarians for a considerable length of time, the general 
opinion being that the matter should be taken up by the British 
Bee-Keepers’ Association. Mr. Raynor in introducing the motion 
spoke as follows :— 
“ The resolution which stands in the agenda paper in my name is 
one of no small importance to the bee-keepers of this country, and 
indeed I may say to all who are technically or otherwise interested 
in the art of bee-beeping. I will endeavour, very shortly, to state a 
few of the more prominent advantages such a frame should possess. 
First would be the interchangeability of all frames. How great a 
boon this would be I must chiefly leave to the makers of hives and 
the vendors of bees to tell you. This point cannot well be over¬ 
estimated, especially now that bee-culture is being taken up so 
extensively by some of our leading farmers. A few days ago I 
received a letter from a cultivator of many acres in Lincolnshire to 
the effect that he was investing largely in bee-culture, and upon 
modern and approved principles. And what a field is opened to the 
bee-keeper by the thousands of acres of Mustard with its fragrant 
golden bloom which this plant affords, the fields of white Clover, 
and other mellifluous plants ? We must all rejoice that the farming 
interest at last is showing signs of a growing appreciation of this 
long-neglected industry ; and in this view how highly necessary is it 
that, far more so than at any other period, that we should have a 
standard frame, as affording the greatest facility for the transfer and 
sale of bees, hives, and appliances. Honey extractors would come 
into more general use, since one size alone would be required, and 
their use would be greatly extended. I know that it has been 
objected that standard frames and uniform extractors would be a 
certain means of spreading disease, but surely this is a futile ob¬ 
jection. Have we no knowledge of these diseases ? Is there no 
remedy ? In all other transactions the maxim, Caveat emptor, is fully 
acted upon, and I have yet to learn that bee-keepers, as a rule, are 
more easily cheated than other classes. Now a ‘standard frame’ 
does not imply a * standard hive.’ The hive may be of any size— 
i.e., may contain any number you please of standard frames, hence 
the desirability of making the frame, and not the hive, the standard. 
Hence also it would appear best to state inside dimensions of frame, 
since some may prefer to use stouter material for frames than others, 
and it is important that the comb-surface should not vary. 
“ As regards our shows, I would say, Do not make your ‘ standard 
frame ’ a sine qua. non for hive competitions, but give it the preference 
cceteris paribus. It may be expected that I should state my own 
