_Bloomfield, Ontario._
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Shallow Hives, or Deep?
Mr. EDITOR:--In the September number of the Journal, Dr. B. Puckett
criticises an article of mine in the July number, and asks me to explain
wherein the shallow Langstroth hive is lacking.
When I wrote the article referred to, my object was to show that the
shallow hive could be altered to a different form, and that those who
were using it, and considered it too shallow, need not throw their hives
away. I said it was _not_ a good hive for wintering in the open air, or
for early spring. I did not think it necessary to give my reasons in
detail, why it was not good; for that matter I considered had been
already fully discussed in the Journal. But as Dr. P. requests it, I
will explain.
For wintering in a cellar, the hive is perhaps good enough. But I do not
want to be _obliged_ to house my bees. Sometimes I have plenty of room
in the cellar, and sometimes not. If the hives are of suitable form for
wintering in the open air, I can let them remain out, when it is not
convenient to carry them in. But the great objection to them is in early
spring. Dr. P. asks if it is the fault of the hive that the _old_ bees
die off, or that bees are destroyed by cold winds? Of course it is not.
But if a swarm is not breeding enough to make up that loss, there must
be a fault somewhere. When we take bees from the cellar, we expect that
they will have brood in all stages, from the egg just laid to young bees
just gnawing out. We expect too that the queen will continue to deposit
eggs, even more rapidly, because of the excitement produced by the bees
flying, and especially if they are fed rye meal, as mine always are. I
said, after they had been out _a month_, there appeared to be fewer bees
than when first carried out. We expect a loss the first day or two after
taking them out, but soon afterward, the bees should be increasing; and
at the end of a month, which brings it into April, there should be a
decided increase. In deeper hives, according to my experience, it is so;
and the deeper the hive the greater the increase.
The reason why the shallow hive is not good for early spring, as I
understand, is this: as soon as severe weather is past, we want to
confine the animal heat as much as possible to the hive, that the bees
may breed rapidly. Consequently we shut off all upward ventilation. The
coldest part of a hive is near the entrance and so along the bottom
board. The farther the bees get from the bottom, the warmer they find
the temperature. These hives being so low, before the bees get out of
the way of the cold air coming in at the entrance, they are bumping
their heads against the top. And, instead of spreading the brood in a
circle, which is the best form to economise heat, they are obliged to
carry it along horizontally, and after all work at a disadvantage.
In a tall hive they can draw up and get well out of the way of the cold
air from the entrance. The top of the hive being small, _the animal
heat_, _brood_, and bees are all compact, and in the best condition for
rapid breeding. The faster they breed, the faster they can breed, as
there are more bees to keep up the heat; and as it naturally ascends,
the smaller the hive is across the top, the more compact the heat will
be kept.
A friend, who for some years has been using a very tall hive, after
trying for a long time to persuade me to use some of them, finally gave
me one in the spring of 1868, and requested me to put a swarm into it.
Says he--“You may let it stand anywhere through the winter; the bees
will be sure to do well.” I have used it, and found that the bees
increase in it nearly twice as fast in April and May, as in the shallow
hive. The result is the same in his apiary.
Mr. Alley, who at one time so vigorously advocated the shallow hive, has
since become convinced of his error, and invented what he calls the new
style Langstroth hive. The shallow frames are set up endwise, which
gives it extreme depth. In the September number of the Journal, 1869,
page 54, he says--“I examined fifty stocks of bees in shallow hives last
spring (and many of these were larger colonies than any I had); but none
of them had as much sealed brood as mine.”
When he first got up this hive, and before any of them had been used, a
friend of his had one, and was requested by Mr. A. to show it to me and
get my opinion upon it, not letting me know where it came from. I
refused to express an opinion, except on the point of wintering, in
which I considered it could not be beat.
The great depth of combs, together with the protection given by the
outer case, makes it one of the best hives for wintering that I have
seen. It has a large amount of box room for surplus honey, which is
needed for a swarm that has been well wintered, and that has increased
well during the spring. But let him just turn the frames down to a
horizontal position, making it a shallow hive, and I will guarantee that
one-half of the box room will be ample.
I have attempted to explain wherein the shallow hive is lacking, and now
have a favor to ask of Dr. P. He says: “The Langstroth hive could be
made deeper very easily, without Mr. R.’s patchwork.” Will he tell us
how it can be done, and still retain about the same number of cubic
inches?