190« 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



435 



if the latter are painted at all. A rough sur- 

 face enables the bees to get a better foothold, 

 saves bees and bee time, and the bee is not 

 dazzled Ijy a white glaring paint (the last is 

 only theory). 



As to Avhat kind of paint to use, this is a 

 perplexing question to answer, as we have 

 diflieulty in obtaining the same grade of 

 paint each time. I have used white lead and 

 raw oil with a very little japan drier add- 

 ed, and it wore very well. At other times 

 it either scaled off or rubbed off as 

 dust (I should prefer a paint which had the 

 last-named fault rather than the hrst, as it 

 would last very much longer). The trouble 

 seems to be either in the oil or in the lead. 

 Perhaps adulterants have been used at times 

 with one or the other. An addition of zinc 

 is an improvement on the paint; still, I use 

 it very seldom, and only in the ready-mixed 

 paints. I have never used the dry-powder 

 (water) paints on account of lack of faith; 

 but I should like to hear from some who 

 have used it for hive-painting, or any other 

 work, as to its protecting power, lasting 

 qualities, etc. 



HIVES CAN BE PAINTED WITH BEES IN. 



In repainting old work I do not wish to go 

 to the trouble of taking the bees out of their 

 hives. When hives needing paint become 

 unoccupied, then, of course, is a good time 

 to repaint them; but this does not occur oft- 

 en, and generally we do not wisn it to; con- 

 sequently the most of my repainting is done 

 with the bees in the hives. A good time is 

 when we are not very busy with other work, 

 either early in spring or in the fall of the 

 year. As much of the old loose paint, pro- 

 polis, wasp-nests, spiderwebs, etc., as possi- 

 ble should at first be removed. For this pur- 

 pose nothing is better fitted than a cabinet- 

 maker's steel, which also answers for clean- 

 ing separators and the insides of our supers 

 and hives. A worn-out crosscut saw will 

 make a good many such "steels." I have 

 cut a number of them about 3X6 inches, hied 

 straight and perfectly square. They come 

 very handy in the shop and yard. We can 

 " dig with them into the corners, and scrape 

 off all the loose paint and accumulations 

 very quickly. It is necessary to give the col- 

 ony in the hive to be treated a little smoke, 

 even if it should not be warm enough for 

 bees to fly. As soon as cleaned, and surface 

 is dry, the paint may be applied with a me- 

 dium-sized flat brush. At certain seasons of 

 the year the bees may not trouble any at the 

 entrance. If they should, it might be well 

 to remove the bottom-board, exchanging it 

 for one already painted, or wait for the bees 

 to retreat, perhaps finishing the job with a 

 few strokes after they have become quiet, 

 and then sprinkling a little fine sand upon the 

 green paint. This will prevent any of the 

 bees from becoming daubed very much. I 

 use a little more drier when repainting in 

 this manner than when doing up new work, 

 for obvious reasons. The bottom-boards are 

 giving me the most trouble to preserve, and 

 constitute nearly all there is about a hive to 

 give out. 



I am anxious to find a preservative not ob- 

 noxious to the bees; and, by the way, I want 

 the bottom-boards of hives made of fully as 

 heavy lumber as any other part. I could 

 give quite a number of reasons for this. 



The paint on the roofs gives out the quick- 

 est, and needs replacing frequently, unless, 

 indeed, metal is used, which need,s no paint 

 whatever. No metal answers the purpose 

 better than zinc. Next would be zinc-coated 

 iron (galvanized). I am confident that such 

 metal roofs are the cheapest for bee-hives, in 

 the long run. On account of the temporary 

 cheapness I have used roofing-paper, tarred 

 and otherwise. The Neponset has given me 

 the best service. By giving two coats of oil 

 they have lasted ten years and are good now. 

 Perhaps they should be painted. The weak 

 feature is that paper roofs do not stand rough 

 usage. In carting them about, the paper 

 sometimes is torn. They must be handled 

 with care. 



A point about covering wood covers with 

 paper or metal is this: "Cover the edges of 

 the boards as well, and do it thoroughly, or 

 water will be driven in and under the cover- 

 ing, which will soon rot out the wooden por- 

 tion of the cover, thus causing a loss and lots 

 of trouble. I have used different kinds of 

 paints on the flat wooden roofs; but all will 

 give out in two or three years Sanding has 

 not proved to be any help, as I had hoped 

 If we keep any part of the hive painted it 

 certainly should be the roof, and white is to 

 be preferred, particularly if only a single 

 thickness of lumber is between the bees and 

 the outside. I can hardly understand why 

 others have no trouble with such an arrange- 

 ment. I have, only a few times, left some 

 hives uncovered by accident or oversight, 

 this happening when the sun shone upon the 

 hives during the noon hour. The result was 

 the loss of a super of honey, not counting 

 the injury to the bees in each and every case. 

 One thickness of board (these spoken of 

 were unpainted) is not enough protection 

 against the hot rays of the sun; but if that is 

 all the protection given, perhaps the white 

 paint would lessen the effect. 



I should have mentioned the advantage of 

 repainting hives when no bees are in them: 

 viz., that we can then drive a few nails where 

 needed. Boards will check and warp some, 

 particularly with my hives, which are only 

 nailed together — no lock corners, no halving 

 — just butted together. These hives stand 

 the wear well, but need a few nails occasion- 

 ally. It must, however, be said that only 

 those of I'ecent make are put together wi.h 

 cement- coated nails. Formerly only the 

 smooth nails were procurable, and finish 

 nails, either wire or cut, were used. 



My supers, which are housed when not in 

 use, will never again need paint, or nails 

 either, so it would seem, although many 

 have seen thirty years' use. 



In regard to paint-brushes, I want to jidd, 

 be careful how you leave them. Keep them 

 in oil "suspended," not standing on the 

 bristles. Just keeping them in water will 

 do; but the make of brushes we have now 



