THE BEE-KEEPERS* REVIEW. 



3S7 



France came over and joined in the dis- 

 cussion. If I remember right, he would 

 hire the help if he could work with it. He 

 agreed with Mr. Hyde that there was 

 nothing like self-interest to make a man 

 do hi^ best. The Hyde Bee Co. owns 

 and manages 1,500 colonies of bees, keep- 

 ing them in 10 difTerent j'ards, and it is 

 absolutely necessary that some one aside 

 from tke owners do part of the work. 

 Mr. Hyde had found the most desirable 

 plan to furnish everything necessary for 

 running an apiary, keeping a strict ac- 

 count of all e.xpenses, then after the sea- 

 son was over, and the expenses paid, a 

 certain portion, say one fourth or one- 

 third, of the balance was paid to the 

 worker as his share. It will be seen that 

 it is to the advantage of the worker to 

 keep down expenses, as the greater the 

 balance at the end of the season, the 

 greater will be the share that comes to 

 him. 



I know one man in tiiis state who 

 bought 100 colonies of bees last spring 

 for $300, and turned them over to a young 

 man to manage, giving him one-half the 

 honey as his share. About 5,000 pounds 

 of extracted honey were secured. This 

 was a good investment for the man who 

 bought the bees and the man who did the 

 work was well paid for his labor — receiv- 

 ing pretty big wages. 



Mr. Mendelson, out in California, told 

 me that the question of getting competent 

 help was really the most serious and per- 

 plexing problem with which he had to 

 deal. 



While this question is a serious one, it 

 can't be settled in a bee journal any fur- 

 ther than to say that each case must be 

 decided on its merits — what is best for 

 one man may not be so for the next man. 



A CHEAP COVER THAT CANTOT WARP, 

 WIND OR SPLIT. 



When visiting Mr. E. B. Tyrrell, of 

 Davison, Michigan, recently, I saw a hive 

 cover that was quite novel, and possessed 

 of several desirable features. First, it 



was cheap; next, it would not warp nor 

 wind, unless the hive was winding, when 

 it would fit itself to the hive. It is made 

 of two-ply Paroid Roofing Fabric. This 

 material is about /s of an inch in thick- 

 ness, black in color and almost as tough 

 as leather. It has no tar about it — in 

 fact, is odorless. The cost is 2>^ cts. a 

 square foot. Enough for a hive cover 

 will not cost over five cents. Mr. Tyrrell 

 cuts out a piece as large as the top of the 

 hive, and about two inches longer. To 

 the lower side of each end, where it pro- 

 jects the inch beyond the hive, is nail';d 

 a % square strip of wood as long as the 

 width of the cover. These strips of wood 

 keep the ends of the cover straight and 

 in place. Across the top, over the cover, 

 equally distant from each other, and from 

 the ends of the cover, are tacked two % 

 inch square strips of wood as long as the 

 cover is wide. These strips keep the 

 cover out flat and straight — from sinking 

 down or hollowing in the middle. 



Mr. Tyrrell has used these covers one 

 season in one apiary and has two faults 

 to find with them. First, they are so 

 light that the wind will blow them off 

 more readily than it will a wooden cover. 

 After the bees have glued them down 

 they stay on all right, but at first, before 

 they are propolised, there is need for a 

 little weight to keep them on if much of 

 a wind should come up. He had several 

 blew off during the season. 



The other, and more serious trouble is 

 that, when the fabric becomes hot, as it 

 does in the middle of a hot day, the sur- 

 face peels up when it is glued fast to the 

 hive. That is, it peels up when the cover 

 is pulled off when stuck down with pro- 

 polis. It is proposed to remedy this by 

 pasting or gluing or "painting on" a lin- 

 ing of cotton cloth — perhaps enameled 

 cloth, the same as is used so much to 

 cover the tops of frames. I told Mr. Tyr- 

 rell that there was one more fault: "You 

 couldn't sit down on top of a hive" 

 "That's all right," said Mr. Tyrrell, "I 

 don't want any sitting down in my 

 apiary." 



