1S80 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUIIE. 



31!) 



PAINTING HIVES. 



®N reply to Mr. Eoff, on p. 222 of G LEANINGS for 

 jj|[ May, you ask bee-keepers to give their expe- 

 rience with different kinds of paint. I have al- 

 ways had more or less trouble with the peeling off 

 of paint from hives, after they had been painted a 

 year or so, especially off the tops. About 2 years 

 ago, I happened to be spooking of this fact to a prac- 

 tical painter, and his answer was substantially as 

 follows: "Tkere are two conditions which must be 

 complied with to insure a good j>b of painting: 1st, 

 to use nothing but the best material; viz., pure lead 

 and oil: 2d, to apply it in a proper manner; espe- 

 cially to make (he first coat a vera thin one,— the less 

 lead and the more oil the bettor. A large propor- 

 tion of the oil in the first coat sinks into the wood, 

 and unless a proper all nvancc is made for that fact, 

 the lead will be left too thick and dry, and liable to 

 peel or flake off." 



Since that time I have full )wed the above advice, 

 and am satisfied that it is correct. If you have any 

 regular painter in your empl iy, you can easily learn 

 from him how much truth there i< in the above 

 idea. 



I have often thought that it would be of consider- 

 able importance to us bee keepers, if a good sub- 

 stantial p lint could be fouud, that is a better non- 

 conductor of heat and cold than is our common 

 paint. I understand that this quality is claimed for 

 the asbestos paint, manufactured by the N. W. 

 John's Manfg. Co., at 87 Maiden Lane, N. V. Do you 

 know whether this claim is correct or not? I should 

 have tested the matter some time ago, If I could 

 have obtained any of the paint. 



O. O. POPPLETON, 91. 



Williamstown, Iowa, May 12, 1880. 



Since reading May No. of Gleanings, I feel as 

 though I would like to put in my "say" a little. 

 J. R. Eoff has trouble with his paint. I have hives 

 in my apiary that have been in the storms and sun, 

 winter and summer, five years that I know of, and 

 they were old hives when we got them; the paint 

 on themisgiod yet, and does not crumble at all. 

 Use th" very best lead and oil in the market. Cheap 

 white lead is dear at any price. The lirst, or pri- 

 ming coat determines the durability of your work. 

 That should be bailed oil and just enough white 

 lead to color the wood a little. Let it get dry, and it 

 will form a cement on the surface of the wood, so 

 that when you put on the succeeding coats of paint, 

 which should be of the usual thickness, the oil, with 

 the lead, will form a hard coat on the surface. The 

 oil will not be absorbed by the wood leaving the lead 

 to crumble or chalk off in a short time. 



Chas. E. McRat. 



Canon City, Colorado, May 10, 1880. 



I see, in May Gleanings, that you recommend 

 mixing paint with boiled linseed oil. I think if you 

 once tried raw, or unboiled, linseed oil, you would 

 use no other. It is much more durable, and has a 

 more glossy surface. There is no trouble about its 

 drying. MRS. Chas. Faville. 



South Wales, N. Y., May ■>, 1880. 



In your May No., you invite suggestions on paint- 

 ing hiyes. I agree fully with you that good white 

 lead (such as Brooklyn or Cornell Lead, &c.) mixed 

 with 1 part raw, and 1 part boiled linseed oil, if put 

 on with a good paint brush (oval, I prefer), so as to 

 brush it into the wood and not "float" it on the sur- 



face,(2 coats), will last from 5 to 15 years, according 

 to the kind of wood you use. Houses with good 

 pine sidinsr which Ave painted 15 years ago have^yet 

 considerable "color" on. B. Both. 



Fort Alleghany, Pa., May, 1880. 



Our painter says he fully approves of the 

 above, and has nothing to' add, unless it be 

 that the wood should be perfectly dry when 

 the paint is applied. The asbestos paint 

 mentioned, in common with the great mass 

 of ready mixed paints which are advertised, 

 is much more expensive than the best lead 

 and oil, as you will find by investigation; 

 and, at the same time, nothing has ever been 

 produced that would stand the test of years, 

 as does, the pure lead and oil. 



THE "GOLDEN BEE-HIVE," ETC. 



jCTjj^jIIE bee-fever is raging desperately here, and I 

 Jf| fear will be the death of mauy a poor bee be- 

 fore a remedy will be found. Transferring, 

 dividing, and trying to increase stocks and, at the 

 same time, obtain large amounts of honey, is not 

 often attended with very great success by 1 he best of 

 bee-keepers. The cause of the raging of the disease 

 now is the advent, some few weeks ago, of agents 

 for a patent hive, called the "Golden Bee-Hive." 

 They have a two story, movable-frame, sliding-top, 

 box hive, tin-can feeder, and movable division board, 

 which they claim they have a patent on, and are do- 

 ing a rousing business here, because they sell 

 cheap!?),- $10.00 for a hive and a farm right to use. 

 They take well with those who do not know any bet- 

 ter, never having taken and read any bee journal, or 

 read any practical work on bee-keeping; but they 

 do not "sell" many of the readers of bee journals. 

 They think to annihilate the advocates of chaff hives 

 and winter protection. We will wait until we pass 

 through a long, cold winter, and then we will see 

 which are gone,— the chaff hive advocates or the 

 poor bees in the single-walled hives. Time and ex- 

 perience will tell, and I for one will wait a little 

 longer, and see what school I am attending, and, in 

 the interval, I will use the chaff hive, and try to as- 

 sist nature to make my bees comfortable. I shall 

 try to read all the bee journals and pick out the 

 wheat from among the chaff, as gathered from the 

 different fields, in preference to the claims of patent 

 right venders of bee-fixtures. They seem to throw 

 all their clubs at you, but I find that the best fruit 

 grows on the trees most clubbed. Now, in conclu- 

 sion, if you could obtain from the patent office a 

 copy of the claims as- set forth in the "Golden Bee- 

 Hive Patents," and give the many readers of Glean- 

 ings, I think you would do many of them a favor. 



Bees are doing finely. A great harvest of white 

 clover is here now. All my working stands are 

 storing box honey in sections. I hang my sections 

 on each side of the brood, crowd the bees on 7 Lang- 

 stroth frames, keep them from swarming by taking 

 out frames of brood as they get crowded, and, when 

 the sections are half full or more, I take them out 

 and put them in the tray over the brood, and till 

 again with empty boxes. In this way, I keep all at 

 work, and allow no idlers outside. I gather the 

 idlers up and put them into qucenless nuclei, with 

 frames of brood, and set them to work. 

 Salem, Ind., May 29, 1880. John Craycroft. 



If you will give me the date of the patent, 

 I can easily give you the claim, for I have a 

 tile of all the reports right in my office ; but 



