496 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



lULY 



lead and oil as the best. Seeing his former recom- 

 meudation I was induced to try the Averill, which 

 gave good satisfaction, except that it sometimes 

 cracked or peeled off. For a hard stonelike finish, 

 to my mind no paint can equal the Averill outside 

 white; but for sticking to a smooth Surface, proba- 

 bly lead and linseed oil is equal to any thing, so for 

 the past few yeai-s I have painted my hives by 

 putting on two coats of lead and oil, and, after 

 thoroughly dry, giving them a coat of Averill. 

 This gives them a hard glassy finish, which Avill re- 

 sist sun and rain for years, lasting fully twice as 

 long as three coats of lead paint would do. How T 

 came to Use the Averill in tilis way was, that at one 

 time I had to do with the property of others, the 

 buildings of which had been painted every thi-ee 

 years with lead and oil. This had so accumulated 

 that the surface of the buildings was very rough; 

 and the oil being driven out it washed with every 

 driving rain so that the grass and ground would be 

 white with lead. I thought to try Averill, giving 

 only one coat, and the result was eight years of 

 excellent service, and at the end of that time it was 

 much better than the lead paint was after two years. 



OBJECTIONS TO ALL WHITE. 



The only objection to having the hives all of one 

 color, and sitting in symmetrical shape, is the dan- 

 ger of bees mixing and of queens getting lost on re- 

 turning from their wedding-flight. To ovei-come 

 this I use a board in front of each hiA'e, which ans- 

 wers the twofold purpose of keeping grass and 

 weeds down, and by its position enables the bees of 

 each hive to recognize their home. A day or two 

 in the winter is pleasantly and profitably spent 

 making (and cleating so they will not warp) these 

 boards. If you wish them to look nii;e, paint them 

 in colors. G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y.. June, 188". 



We have taken your article down to our 

 painter. He agrees with you in the main in 

 what you say, but says that he thinks the 

 kind of paint we are now using, the lead and 

 zinc, is equnl to or better than two coats of 

 white lead and the Averill over it. The 

 Averill paint is going out of use almost al- 

 together ; whereas white lead, mixed with 

 one-third zinc, is now in almost general use 

 among painters. A few years ago, after 

 discontinuing the use of the Averill. we 

 came to the conclusion that white lead was 

 the best ; but our experience lately confirms 

 us in saying that the addition of oxide of 

 zinc makes the paint far more durable. 

 It is with this that we are painting all our 

 hives. It is possible, however, that two 

 coats of white lead, covered with Averill 

 paint, might be still more durable. Eight 

 years of good service is about all we ought 

 to expect ; and I am not sure that the lead- 

 and-zinc ])aint could equal it. We agree 

 with you in what you say in regard to the 

 use of white as a color. For many years we 

 have had all our hives painted white, and 

 we rarely have trouble with combs breaking 

 down. In this connection, friend I)., we 

 should like to ask if painting the front of 

 the hives in different colors makes any dif- 

 ference with the bees as to their ability to 

 distinguish their own hive. We do know, 

 that where the hives are all painted white, 

 though similarly situated otherwise, causes 

 more or less troul)le from young queens get- 



ting lost, and Ijees intermingling from one 

 hive to another. We would refer you to 

 what A. W. Osborn says in this connection, 

 in another column. 



DRAGON-FLIES OF THE SOUTH. 



PROF. COOK ON THE DARNING-NEEDIiE OP OUR 

 CHILDHOOD DAYS. 



f?^ HE large insects sent by Mr. W. j. Drumright, 

 ^ of Sarasota, Fla., of which he says, "These 

 ^ large mosquito-hawks came in such numbers 

 as to nearly stop the bees from flying, just 

 as the bloom was at its best. I send you two 

 of the pests; can not you or Prof. Cook give us its 

 name, history, and especially the duration of its 

 winged state," are our largest dragon-flies, or darn- 

 ing-needles. In Europe such insects are called 

 horse-stingers. Their scientific name is ^Eshna 

 heros, Fab., or ^E. conatricta, Say. They are too 

 much broken to permit of identification. Surely 

 they are objects of real'beautj', as their shining 

 green eyes, which form the,major part of their big 

 heads and the brilliant green stripes which mark the 

 side of their thorax, can not but attract attention, 

 and no one can fail to admire the graceful flight of 

 these gems of the insect-world. These dragon-flies 

 belong to the order Neuroptera, or nerve-winged in- 

 sects, so named because of the intricate venation 

 of their wings, making them to resemble lace, 

 hence their common name as well, lace-wings. 



All of these insects are predaceous— that is, they 

 live upon other insects— and that in all stages; as 

 la^va^ with no trace of wings; as pupa^, when the 

 wings are short -mere pods— and as imago, when they 

 are full fledged, and sexually perfect. While these 

 large, active, four-winged insects are the terror of 

 the insect-world, they are entirely harmless to high- 

 er animals; hence the English term of horse-sting- 

 ers is entirely inappropriate; and the story which 

 filled many of us American children with fear 

 till we learned better, that these insects would, 

 upon occasion, sew up our ear.-, is likewise entirely 

 without foundation. These dragon-flies are i-eally 

 as harmless as a house-fly, and never harm any one. 

 From their predaceous character these insects do 

 very great good, as they destroy multitudes of our 

 injurious insects. With the exception of two or 

 three speciesof our largest ones, like .E. heni». Fab.; 

 .E. conMricta, Say., and Anax Juniuti, Say., I have 

 not any reports of any that destroy bees. Strangely 

 enough, these species, though found all over our 

 country, have been complained of only by Southern 

 bee-keepers. I have heard of their doing quite se- 

 rious mischief on different occasions in several of 

 the Southern States. The larVie are also vei\v pre- 

 daceous. They, however, live only in the water; 

 and as they prey on aquatic insects they do us no 

 harm. These larvif are very curious in one or two 

 respects. First, they have terrible jaws, which are 

 masked by a dipper-like hinged kind of tongue. 

 Thus they appear very harmless; but let a delicate 

 mouthful in the shape of some water-maggot come 

 along, and the mouth-cover is quickly unhinged 

 and the morsel taken in. This curious mouth could 

 not but interest any person who might take time to 

 observe and study it. These larva- are also pecu- 

 liar in the position of their breathing-organs. These 

 are in the rectum. Water is slowly drawn into this 

 posterior end of the alimentary canal, which bathes 



