1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



209 



a beautiful shade tree. The seed ripen in Sept., 

 and are very small, no larger than a tobacco seed. 

 They blossom any where, and come up promiscuous- 

 ly all over the woods. W. T. Hearn. 

 Montezuma, Tenn., April 11, 1880. 



The Paulonia tree grows to a goodly size, some 

 25 feet or more high, and is quite ornamental as a 

 shade tree. The bees literally swarm on them while 

 iu bloom, and they bloom in early spring, before the 

 leaves appear, making them very desirable as a 

 source of honey for brood-rearing, &c. I have no 

 practical knowledge of the "habits" of the tree, nnd 

 do not know when or how the seed should be sown; 

 but, from observation, I presume they should be 

 sown in the spring, in a rich, moist (not wet) soil, 

 and kept free from weeds. As soon as the plants 

 are a few inches high, thin out to a foot, and trans- 

 plant to the permanent location when a few feet 

 high. I shall sow some seeds this spring in boxes, 

 as I would tomato seed, and transplant as I would 

 tomato plants. I will report results as' soon as there 

 are any (results) to report. In the mean time, 

 should any of your readers know anything about 

 this tree, they will do the rest of us a favor by im- 

 parting their knowledge through Gleanings. 



I will send a packet containing several hundred 

 seeds, post paid, to any address, on receipt of 10c. 



Goldsboro, N. C, Jan. 13, 1880. T. B. Parker. 



Our readers are aware that we have sever- 

 al times spoken of this tree before. The one 

 in our yard has been there several years, but 

 it has always died down to the ground every 

 spring, until within the past two years. It 

 has branches now, but I have been watch- 

 ing in vain for those wonderful flower buds. 

 The trees were purchased expressly for the 

 honey, but I only saved one out of a half 

 dozen; I believe I paid $2 00 each for them. 

 The enormous leaves are well worth all the 

 trouble as a curiosity, even if we never get 

 any flowers in our locality. I believe it is 

 rather difficult to get the seeds to grow, but 

 perhaps some of our skillful boys or girls 

 can do it. The young trees can be furnished, 

 I should think, for a low price. The flowers 

 friend H. sends us are large, and very beau- 

 tiful. I have no doubt, from their struc- 

 ture, that they would furnish an enormous 

 quantity of honey, when the season is favor- 

 able, but it may be difficult to get blossoms 

 as far north as we are. I give our friend 

 Parker a free advertisement, because I 

 think it a tree that will be an acquisition as 

 an ornamental plant. 



m m » 



LEAKY COVERS; SOMETHING ITIORE IN 

 REGARD TO THE MATTER. 



f|IA.KE some of your cover lumber, and give it 

 one coat of paint before you put it together; 

 that is, give it the paint on all sides, ends, and 

 in the grooves, and then put it together, and give it 

 one more coat of paint on the inside, and two more 

 on the outside, and I am confident it will not leak. 

 The reason the covers "come and go" is because it 

 is warm on the inside and cold on the outside, and 

 the cover gets damp on the inside, and is hound to 

 come and go; but, if it is well painted, you will find 

 it will stay. I have some covers for a different style 

 of hives from yours, and the covers are 22 in. wide, 

 all of one plank. The first ones which 1 mado all 

 cracked, and I could not think what was the cause; 



but one day I "hit the nail on the head," and found 

 what was the matter. I did not have them painted 

 on the under side, and they would curl up on the 

 ends and crack. So I went to work and made some 

 more from lumber 22 in. wide by Ij in. thick, and 

 painted them well on both sides and they are as nice 

 now as the day I made them. I treat my hives in 

 the same way. I have them well painted on the in- 

 side, the same as on the outside, and they are as 

 tight as a barrel. Hives and covers both ought to 

 be painted on the inside by all means, to keep the 

 dampness out of the lumber. If you let the damp- 

 ness get in the lumber it is bound to swell and draw 

 the nails and then the hive or cover will leak. 



Jno. F. Hepp. 

 Boonville, Ind., Jan. 12, 1**0. 



AN INGENIOUS DEVICE TO HOLD WORK, 

 WHILE NAILING. 



BEAli NOVICE:— Enclosed we send you a sketch 

 ) of our nailing box for frames. Those of our 

 fellow bee-keepers who prefer to use the all 

 wood frame nailed, not dove-tailed, will find our lit- 

 tle machine very convenient. 

 Naples, N. Y., Apr. 2, 1880. Gheinek Brothers. 



CREINERS NAILING 

 BLOCK. 



r: 



Arrangements similar to the above were 

 much in use before the very general plan of 

 having all work, as far as possible, hold 

 itself "together Avhile being nailed. Our 

 brood frames, section boxes, and, in fact, 

 nearly all our work is made so that, when 

 driven together, it "will almost be strong 

 enough without nails. After nailing, we 

 have much greater strength. The hands, as 

 a general thing, work more rapidly without 

 the use of any machinery to get the parts 

 quickly and accurately in place. 



f ^ "imiimi" 



fHAT subscription money I sent you is all your 

 own. I raised it with the distinct understand- 

 ing that each subscription should net you 

 $1.00. Your friends want to help you pay off that 

 debt of yours. I felt mean after clubbing Glean- 

 ings and Magazine at $1.50; so I concluded I would 

 raise you a small club and prepay the postage to 

 make amends. I so explained to them when I asked 

 them to subscribe. I. S. Hughes. 



Mt. Zion, 111., Feb. 19, 1880. 

 May God bless you, friend II., not because 

 of your unselfish generosity to myself, but 

 because of that helpful spirit, so diametrical- 

 ly opposite to the natural selfishness of hu- 

 manity. It is a reproof to me at least, and 

 will help to make me ashamed of myself, 

 when next I am tempted to be small in mat- 

 ters of dollars and cents. It makes me feel 

 that the first words on the cover of our 

 journal are not a blunder and mistake, after 

 all. 



