1901 



GLEANIN(;s IN BEE CULTURE. 



869 



Perhaps I mig'ht suja^'g'est in thi.s connec- 

 tion, that the Board, in discussing this mat- 

 ter, dill not have in mind any director or 

 officer, now holdinj^ position; but the facts 

 are, the present set of officers, for tlie most 

 part, hiive held their positions uninterrupt- 

 edlj' for a number of years, with almost no 

 chang'e. Is this desirable? 



Mr. O. O. Poppleton, of Florida, on see- 

 ing- this editorial, writes, stating that there 

 is not a single Director in the whole South; 

 and, as one will see by consulting the head 

 of this editorial department, there are two 

 or three cases where there are two Directors 

 in one State. For example, there are two 

 in Ohio, two in New York, and two in Cal- 

 ifornia. This is hardly a fair representa- 

 tion. A. I. Root, with whom I have been 

 talking, and who is not so much interested 

 in bees as he formerly was, requests that 

 his name be not used again at the next gen- 

 eral election; and as for myself, I desire 

 that some one else be put in my place on 

 the Board of Directors, for I feel that my 

 interest in the organization is sufficiently 

 strong to work just as hard for it out of the 

 Board as in it.* In making this suggestion 

 I do not do so with the idea that some other 

 Director in some other State will follow 

 suit, for that would be disastrous. The 

 fact is, all the men who represent the Board 

 are most vitally interested in the success of 

 the Association. The fact that the organi- 

 zation has been successful in every case 

 brought before the courts; that it has pros- 

 ecuted adulterators; that it has been the 

 means of helping secure new laws; that it 

 now has a membership of nearly 1000; that 

 with its hundreds of dollars in the treasury 

 it is a tremendous moral force — all this and 

 more goes to show that the N. B. K. A. has 

 not lacked for good men to look after its in- 

 terests; but it should be borne in mind that 

 there are other good men who are 7iot repre- 

 sented in any official capacity. 



CARBOLINEUM AS A WOOD-PRESERVATIVE. 



Since I called for information concern- 

 ing this new preservative, I have received a 

 number of circulars and letters. It appears 

 from these that railroad companies have for 

 years been using this substance to preserve 

 wood that is either buried in the earth or 

 exposed to especijilly trying climatic condi- 

 tions. It is a preparation of German man- 

 ufacture, probably having creosote for a 

 basis. Unlike ordinary paint, this preser- 

 vative, when applied to the surface of the 

 wood, stri/ces clear t/iroui^/i it. 



Mr. James L. Montgomery, of Americus, 

 Ga., says that "it penetrates the fiber and 

 causes a chemical change which afifects the 

 wood, as tanning-fluids affect hides. 

 I have a sample, with which I can paint one 



* Perhaps some one may feel that I am sore, or am 

 not satisfied with the work done. Nothing could be 

 further from the fact. I love the National Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association more than any one man in it ; but m 

 order to get a larger and more equally distributed rep- 

 resentation. I desire to make r.oora for some Southern 

 man —that's all. 



coat on one side of a hive-body (.Root's white 

 pine), and in 24 hours a splinter or shaving 

 from the opposite side will taste of the 

 preparation." He further says that it costs 

 less than half the price of good paint. 

 From some of the circulars received it would 

 appear that some of the preservatives in 

 the market bearing that name are mere 

 imitations, and do not in any sense pre- 

 serve the wood like the original article 

 from Germany. 



In one circular I find this: "The effects 

 of carbolineum are partly chemical and 

 partly mechanical. The mechanical effects 

 are the following: By its specific weight, 

 1.14, it enters easily, expelling the water 

 contained in the pores of the wood, and" 

 does not allow any water to circulate in the 

 capillary tubes of the material. Then the 

 fatty matter of the oil protects the wood in 

 a direct way against rain, water, and other 



atmospheric influences Among 



the chemical influences of carbolineum, its 

 antiseptic properties are the most impor- 

 tant. Its high contents of specific proper- 

 ties against putrefaction and coagulation of 

 present albuminous parts, operate to pre- 

 vent them from producing and continuing 

 decay. . . . As an insecticide, it keeps 

 afar all little gnawing and boring enemies 

 of the surface." This last statement lets 

 out the fact that possibly the new material 

 would not be adapted to the use of bee- 

 keepers. If a hive preserved in it is obnox- 

 ious to insects, why would it not be distaste- 

 ful to bees? But however that may be, 

 there seein to be testimonials from railroad 

 companies to the effect that railroad ties 

 soaked in carbolineum will last three times 

 as long as those not so treated. 



Those who desire to secure circtilars can 

 write to the following named: C. A. Manu- 

 facturing Co. , Austin, Texas; Fisher, Thor- 

 sen & Co., Portland, Oregon; Carbolineum 

 Wood - Preserving Co., 13-21 Park Row, 

 New York, N. Y. 



It appears that it can be used on bottom- 

 boards. In regard to that use I have two 

 letters that will speak for themselves. Mr. 

 J. W. Jackson writes: 



Some here use carbolineum on sills, sleepers, and 

 all timbers of buildings that go near the ground. I 

 use it on hive-stands and fence-posts; but so far I have 

 not used it on the hives themselves, because it turns 

 the wood a dark color — carbonizes it to some extent — 

 and I feared the dark color would absorb heat and 

 cause the bees to suffer. It will blister tender skin, 

 but not the inside of the hands of a working person; 

 and it is usually applied with a paint-brush. 



J. W. Jackson. 



Mr. O. O. Poppleton, one whose state- 

 ments certainl}^ can be relied on, writes: 



Friend v'Poo/'.-— Carbolineum has been verj^ largely 

 used in this countrj', especially by the railroads, for 

 the preservation of bridge timbers and foundations of 

 houses from decay and white ants. I have painted the 

 bottoms of my hives with it for some years past for the 

 above purposes. 



There are two strong objections to its general use as 

 paint for hives— its strong odor of creosote, and its 

 dark (almost black) color. This last almost or quite 

 prevents its being used on hives allowed to stand in 

 the sun. It is cheap and durable. It can be easily 

 obtained of the trade in New York, or in many of our 

 stores here in Florida. O. O. Poppleton. 



Palm Beach, Fla., Sept. 28. 



