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Paintiiis: Bee-llives. — As the sub- 

 ject of paiutiug hives is beiug considerably 

 discussed just u'ow, it may be interesting to 

 know what cithers are saying in regard to 

 the matter. Mr. Theilmanu, in his article 

 on page 317, has advanced an idea that 

 may be more than mere theory, when once 

 thoroughly investigated, as it doubtless will 

 be looked into in the future. 



In this, as well as in other matters per- 

 taining to the pursuit of bee-beeping, it 

 may be very profitable to experiment, for 

 if it is really unnecessary — or quite detri- 

 mental — to paint bee-hives, those who are 

 getting their hives will want to know it 

 before they go to the expense of beautify- 

 ing the homes of the bees with artistic col- 

 orings that may prove to be harmful to the 

 lives of the occupants during the trying 

 winter season. 



The following paragraphs from an ex- 

 change, taking the opposite view, may be 

 valuable, although it does not mention 

 what success has been had in wintering 

 bets in the painted hives: 



My experience is that it pays well to 

 paint bee-hives three or four good coats, 

 when made. I recently saw bee-hives 

 which I made some seven years ago ; at 

 that time I gave them three coats of white 

 lead, zinc and oil. Two years later I sold 

 them with bees in, and they have been 

 exposed to the sun, rain and winds ever 

 since, without any further painting. They 

 are now in fair condition, look well, not 

 sun cracked, and the corners not drawn 

 apart as unpainted hives usually are in a 

 year or two. 



I sometimes mix a little red in the last 

 coat for the front of some of them, just to 

 make a little difference, so as to assist the 

 bees in finding their particular hive. I do 

 not know, however, that there is any 

 advantage in this; for it seems to me that 

 bees know how to find their homes, as well 

 as we would if a hundred other houses just 

 like ours were around it. 



White paint is durable, and is cooler in 

 summer than any other tint; and if the 

 hives are within four inches of the sod or 

 ground, I rarely have any combs melt 

 down. In fact I do not remember having 

 had a case of it for over seven years, not- 

 withstanding the hives are in the open sun, 

 without any shade at all, either natural or 

 artificial. If painted a dark color, which is 

 sometimes done to .save a few cents in 

 material, the combs are exceedingly liable 

 to melt down in the heat of summer, thus 

 causing more loss than is saved in buying 

 cheap paint. My friends say that my bee- 

 yard resembles a little cemetery, with its 

 long rows of white hives; but while that 

 may be so in winter, it resembles a Chicago 

 Board of Trade in summer, to judge of the 

 way they do business. 



XUey Eat tlie Kffffs o*" Bees.— The 

 curious life-history of insects is always in- 

 teresting. We give the following from an 

 exchange : 



There is a hard sand stone in Provence, 

 interspersed with friable strata, in which 

 burrowing insects construct their cham- 

 bers. A kind of bee, the anthophorus, says 

 H. de L. Duthiers in the Poyidar Science 

 HIonDily, makes nests there and fills them 

 with honey, on which it leaves its eggs to 

 float, then, finally, plasters up its chamber. 

 Instead of anthophores, entirely different 

 insects come out from the nests— sitaris, 

 belonging to a group very remote from the 

 bees. Let us see how they manage to sub- 

 stitute themselves for the legitimate pi-o- 

 prietorof the nest. 



In the autumn the impregnated female of 

 the sitaris deposits her eggs in front of the 

 sealed galleries of the anthophores. The 

 young are hatched from these eggs and lie 

 in front of the closed doors, and thus remain 

 in a mass, mingled with the duft and rub- 

 bish of the place, through the winter. 



In the spring, such of the bees as have 

 reached their term, come out from their 

 prison. These earliest insects are all males ; 

 but, though precocious in being hatched, 

 they are still tender to the changes of the 

 weather, and remain half frozen and torpid 

 in the dust along with the young of the 

 sitaris. 



They have been called triongulins by 

 Leon Dufour, from the claws with which 

 they are armed, and by which they attach 

 themselves to the bodies of the anthophorus 

 waiting for the next stage in the condi- 

 tions that favor their development. With 

 fine weather the anthophorus come out and 

 carry on their work of buiTowing and stor- 

 ing up honey until the time of fecundation 

 arrives. Then the triongulin changes its 

 quarters from the body of the male to that 

 of the female, where it remains on the 

 watch for the laying of the egg, when it 

 transfers itself to that, and with it enters 

 the honey-chamber. 



With it it is shut up when the antho- 

 phorus closes the door of the chamber for 

 another season. The triongulin will not 

 eat the honey, for it is sure death to it by 

 drowning if it touches it. It floats on the 

 egg, and feeds upon it. When it has used 

 up its ration it changes its shape, as well as 

 its habits and tastes. It is as eager now for 

 the honey as it was to keep away from it, 

 and grows upon it until it goes through 

 another change, and becomes the sitaris 

 which we observe coming out from the 

 chambers of the anthophorus. Three years 

 of assiduous studies and investigations 

 were required to obtain this life-history. 



Stanl<-y is to have a rival. An explor- 

 ing expedition is just starting for the 

 interior of Alaska. It is sent out by Messrs. 

 Arkell & Harrison, projjrietors of " Frank 

 Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper," who offer 

 prizes of a .^300 photographic camera, and 

 a $50 Kodak to the amateur photographers 

 who shall send to it the most artistic speci- 

 mens of their work. " Frank Leslie's " last 

 week jiortrays vividly the cruelties prac- 

 ticed on United States marines. 



Sis:n!!i ol" Rrogross. — Under this 

 heading, D. R. Emery, of Longmout, Colo., 

 writes to the Farmer as follows, on March 

 13, 1890: 



In the Ameuican Bee Jodrxal we notice 

 descriptions of hives, and improvements in 

 handling and hiving swarms. This shows 

 life and progress. Thinkers and experi- 

 menters are sometimes called ''cranks," 

 but it is through such leverage we are 

 sometimes lifted out of old and worn-out 

 ruts, into ways of progress and useful 

 convenience. 



W^hat are some of the needs of the busy 

 apiarist ? Simply, expeditious hiving of 

 swarms; easy access and handling of 

 frames, sections and honey ; exclusion and 

 control of bees and queens. Alley and Lacy 

 show quite a simple automatic swarm- 

 hiver, the principle of which seems correct; 

 which, no doubt, with a proper understand- 

 ing of adjustment and material used, will 

 prove a great blessing, and be appreciated 

 by the fraternity. 



Hints to Supply I>ealers.— The 

 following letter just received from one of 

 our advertisers, who speaks from years of 

 experience, should be read by all who have 

 anything to sell, and desire to find pur- 

 chasers for the same : 



During the year 1888, we had an adver- 

 tisement running in the American Bee 

 Journal, and we had the same in several 

 Daily and Weekly papers, but to our surprise 

 we received more than double the number 

 of responses from the advertisement in the 

 American Bee Journal, than from all our 

 others combined. 



The fact that we are still receiving letters 

 referring to our advertisement in the Bee 

 Journal, shows that it is preserved and read 

 long after it is received. Newspapers are 

 read and thrown aside and that ends it, but 

 the Bee Journal is preserved, and tbe 

 advertisements are often noticed and bring 

 responses long after they appeared in it. 



We regard the American Bee Journal as 

 a first-class advertising medium. 



Cedar Rapids High-Speed Engine Co.," 

 Henry Rickel, President. 

 March 22, 1890. 



l^e«- Catsilos^iies and Price-Lists for 

 1890 are received from — 



Dr. G. L. Tinker, New Philadelphia, O.— 

 3-i pages — Hives, Sections and Bees. 



W. W. Bliss, Duarte, Calif.— 4 pages- 

 Apiarian Supplies. 



Aaron Hunt, Gordon, O. — 24 pages — Sup- 

 plies for the Apiary. 



H. H. Brown, Light Street, Pa.— 18 pages 

 — Bees and Bee-Keepers' Supplies. 



W. S. Vandruff, Waynesburg, Pa. — 8 

 pages — Bees and Supplies for the Apiary. 



W. J. Row, Greensburg, Pa. — 8 pages — 

 Apiary and Hive Factory. 



Levering Bros., Wiota, Iowa — 30 pages — 

 Bee Keepers' Supplies. 



P. C. Erkel, Le Sueur, Minn.— 4 pages — 

 Apiarian Supplies. 



J. W. Clark, Clarksburg, Mo. — 12 pages 

 — Bees, Queens and Supplies. 



Frank A. Eaton, Bluffton, O. — 16 pages — 

 Italian Bees and Queens. Also another of 

 6 pages devoted to Poultry. 



G. D. Black & Bro., Independence, Iowa 

 — 16 pages — Seeds and Apiarian Supplies. 



Lewis Roesch, Fredonia, N. Y. — 30 pages 

 —Small Fruit Plants, etc. 



Convention IVotices. 



tt^" The spring meeting of the Northern Illinois 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, will meet at the residence 

 of D. A. Fuller, in Cherry Valley. Ills., on May 19th, 

 18911. D. A. Fuller. Sec. 



SW The next regular meeting of the Southwes- 

 tern Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Association will be 

 held at Boscobel, Wis., on Thursday, May 1,1890, 

 at 10 a.m. Benj. E. Kick, Sec. 



ff^" The 12th annual session of the Texas State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, will be held at Green- 

 ville. Hunt (\i.. Texas, on May 7 and s, ikho. All in- 

 terested are invited. J. N. Hdnter, Sec. 



tg^Tlie sprint? meeting of the Capital Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, will be held in the Supervisor's Room 

 of the Court House at SpringHeld. Ills., at 10 a.m., 

 on May 7, 1S90. The following subjects will be dis- 

 cussed": "Production and Care of Comb Honey," by 

 Jas. A. Stone: "Prevention of After-Swarms." by A. 

 Lewis; and "Creating a Home Market," by G. F. 

 Robbins. All interested are cordially invited to 

 attend. K. YocoM, Sec. 



S:^* The spring meeting of the Missouri State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, will be held at Marshall. Saline 

 Co., Mo., on Wednesday and 'I'hursday. April 16 and 

 17, IMHO. in the County Court Room. Reduced rates 

 at the hotel, for bee-keepers, have been secured, and 

 a committee is at work to secure rates on the rail- 

 roads. A cordial invitation is extended to bee-keep- 

 ers everywhere, and especially to those of Mii^souri. 

 A number of essays from prominent bee-men are 

 expected, and an interesting time is anticipated. 

 J. W. RoosE, Sec. 



