328 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



the bad effects of the sun in hot weather. — 

 American Bee Journal. [I'll venure to say 

 that there is not one of our customers in a 

 thousand who would accept unplaned hives if 

 we were to try to push them on to them by say- 

 ing they were better.— Ed.] 



Bro. Doolittle, referring to your question 

 on p. 303, I've always supposed that the words 

 " prime " and " second " referred to time rather 

 than quality or conditions. The rule is, that 

 the old queen goes with the first swarm; and 

 it's such an unusual thing for it to be accom- 

 panied by a virgin queen that perhaps it ought 

 not to be called a prime or first swarm. vStill, 

 there seems a certain incongruity in calling 

 the first swarm that issues a second swarm. I 

 wish there were a special name for it. 



Crimson clover. Galen Wilson, in Country 

 Oentleman, reports a piece sowed July 30, lat- 

 itude 43X in New York. " All winter long 

 there has been a succession of light snows, 

 thaws, and heavy freezes. The thermometer 

 has been down to 13° below, and about that 

 point several times. Surely, if any winter 

 would kill it here it was expected this one 

 would; but now when the first third of March 

 has gone, there the clover stands, smiling in its 

 verdure." [Our field of crimson is now the fin- 

 est field of green of any thing to be seen around 

 here. It wintered well.— Ed. J 



F. L. Thompson is getting balky; won't 

 peddle honey. Well, Bro. T.. that's about the 

 way I've felt about it, but I didn't dare say so. 

 It isn't pride. I'll tie a red bandana handker- 

 chief around my head, and wheel dirt on a 

 wheelbarrow on the street, to pay the man who 

 has the gift to peddle honey; but I haven't the 

 peddling gift; and. standing in the shadow of 

 F. L. T., I too will say I won't. [To be frank, I 

 stand with you two. But people are not all 

 made like us; and the articles that I have so- 

 licited along these lines have been for the ben- 

 efit of those who can peddle.— Ed.] 



Stop my paper! I'm misrepresented on page 

 306. Say, Ernest, look at page 199, American 

 Bee Journal, again, with your glasses on 

 straight, and see if I rather advi>e getting bees 

 by the pound. I didn't advise getting bees of a 

 farmer, for you will see the question precludes 

 that he " must " buy of some dealer. I said, "If 

 the bees are to be got a long distance, so 

 that the expressage is a very serious matter, 

 then it maybe quite a saving to get the bees 

 by the pound." But in ordinary cases I would 

 not advise getting by the pound. Yes, I see by 

 your catalog you've "discontinued the pound 

 business entirely," but by the same token 

 you've discontinued colonies and nuclei. Shall 

 I tell the fellow to begin with nothing but a 

 queen? Stop my paper! [What I was quarrel- 

 ing with you about particularly was advising 

 to get bees by the pound at all, of any one. 



when they couldn't be bought that way without 

 combs. We have, it is true, given up selling 

 nuclei and colonies; but we gave up the pound 

 business long before.— Ed.] 



PAINTED vs. UNPAINTED HIVES. 



When 1 attempt to hunt 

 the lion to his lair, or 

 beard him in his den, I 

 always go completely arm- 

 ed and approach him with 

 cautious and wary steps. 

 On page 51, American 

 Bee keejjer, G. M. Doo- 

 little advises that single- 

 walled hives be used unpainted. and gives the 

 following reasons: 



But I think I liear some one asking, " Wherein is 

 an unpiiiuted hive better than a painted one?" 

 Principally in this: that, if properly covered, it 

 will keep the bees dryer at all seasons of the year; 

 and, owing to this dryness, tliey are consequently 

 much warmer. As unpainted wood is porous, the 

 moisture evaporates or passes through all parts of 

 the hive, keeping the bees diy, warm, and quiet, 

 avoiding any undue consumption of honey, as well 

 as disease. 



Now, I don't intend to kick hard against this, 



because it is not written for this climate; but I 



think the writer is wrong when he assumes 



that " the moisture from the bees passes 



through the pores of the wood and out of all 



parts of the hive." The fact is, the moisture 



is merely absorbed into the pores of the wood. 



If friend Doolittle will take a hammer and 



strike a sharp blow on the inside of one of 



these "dry" hives he will find that the water 



will fly from under the face of the hammer. 



In time the sun will draw this moisture 



through and out of the wood, but not in time 



to do the bees any good. Unpainted hives are 



a "delusion and a snare." They warp and 



twist and split in all directions. They may 



stand upright, and behave themselves like good 



and true American citizens, in Borodino, N. Y.; 



but they do not do it in this climate, or "this 



locality." Take a full-grown hive, with two 



supers or top boxes cut to fit it exactly; paint 



the hive, but leave the supers unpainted, and 



in one year the supers will not go on the hive 



at all. They will also be warped and twisted 



out of shape, and the wood broken, and falling 



away from the nail-heads. It is hard to tell 



whether it belongs to the present century, or is 



the wrecked hopes of a bee- keeper a thousand 



years ago. On the contrary, a well-painted 



hive— kept painted— will last a hundred years. 



I have not had any in use quite that length of 



time, but intend to test the matter as long as I 



can, even if I have to keep them two hundred 



