Published Monthly by "^he W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co. 



Vol. X 



riARCH, 1900 



No. 3 



The February Bee=Keeper. 



Emphasizing the Good Things in the Last 

 Number. 



BV G. M. DOOI.ITTLE. 



j|BFORE enipha.sizing any of the 

 ~" good things in the February 

 number, it is necessary that I call 

 attention to something which I fear Bro. 

 Heath will not call a good thing. On 

 page 22, near the middle of 2d Col., in 

 quoting Bro. H., I am made to make him 

 say 'quiet movements and careless hand- 

 ling," while what he did say was "quiet 

 movements and careful handling,'" and 

 that is as I intended to quote him. 

 Whether the mistake was mine or 

 that of the typo at The Bee-Keeper office, 

 it is no more than fair to Bro. Heath that 

 the matter be corrected, although the 

 average reader would, without doubt, 

 supply "careful" in place of "careless," 

 when reading, in order to make sense of 

 the matter. 



TOBACCO STAPLES VS. NAII^S. 



On page 23, Frank L. Rehn tells us 

 how he holds his bottom-boards tempor- 

 arily to his hives in making nuclei, by 

 using two long nails. This is verj- much 

 better than not fastening them at all, and 

 is just the way I used to work before I 

 found out a better plan; therefore I call 

 the nails a good thing for those who have 

 never used any fasteners of any kind 

 when moving hives. But of late I have 

 used what are termed "tobacco staples" 



which are as much ahead of nails for 

 temporarily holding hives to the bottom- 

 board, or different parts of hives together, 

 as the nails are ahead of not using any- 

 thing. These staples are nothing more 

 or less than double pointed tacks, on a 

 large scale, the sizes I use being one inch, 

 one and one-fourth inch, and one and one- 

 half inch; the one and one-fourth inch 

 being the size used mostly. In using, 

 place one point against the upper part of 

 the bottom-board and the other point 

 against the bottom part of the hive, using 

 one on each side, when, with one or two 

 light blows with the hammer they are 

 driven in from one-half to two-thirds the 

 length of their points. This draws the 

 bottom-boards up tight against the bottom 

 of the hives and holds them there as would 

 a vise, so that the whole can be picked 

 up together and carried anywhere; into 

 the cellar, loaded on a wagon, etc. , just 

 as you would a hive having a fast bottom. 

 When you wish the bottom movable again, 

 just run a screwdriver, chisel, or something 

 of the kind, between the tobacco staple 

 and the hive, give a little pry, and it 

 conies out very easily, and is ready to 

 use again, over and over, as many times 

 as it is needed. These staples can be pro- 

 cured at almost any hardware store, or 

 purchased through those dealing in bee- 

 keepers' supplies. Then thej'^ are very 

 convenient in mending any hive or board 

 which may become split, and by driving 

 clear up, the pieces are held together so 

 tightly that the board will solit almost as 



