1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



123 



reply: That an unpainted hive will let 

 the water in as readily as out; that while 

 the surface of the propolis "checks," the 

 pores are still plugged with it; that if 

 moisture is stopped by paint it cannot 

 pass " off and out" of the outer shell of 

 the painted chaff hive after it has passed 

 "the chaff or dead air space;" that paint 

 at $1.80 per gallon is expensive (mine 

 costs sixty cents a gallon, which will 

 j cover forty hives, and I can paint twelve 

 an hour and take it easy); that combs in 

 my painted single-walled hives come 

 through as dry and as nice as those in 

 chaff hives; that not all nor nearly all 

 practical bee-keepers use shade boards: 

 that he has not figured in the cost of the 

 tin on the shade board as an offset 

 against the saving in paint; that no 

 shade board will keep off' a driving rain; 

 that the term "North" is a decidedly in- 

 definite one; that he ignored the fact 

 that I expressly called attention to the 

 conditions of my locality; that between 

 the 39° and 42° north latitude there are 

 thousands of colonies that are always 

 wintered out of doors in single-walled 

 liives; that if he winters his bees in the 

 cellar it is strange they are out in iv.ro 

 weather. 



Mr. Doolittle's remarks in regard to 

 the city of Providence are decidedly 

 erroneous : the city has but one trust 

 and that a small one and incorporated 

 under New Jersey laws. A greater pro- 

 portion of the wage earners own homes 

 than in any other city of like size. The 

 savings banks hold 352,334,828.00 of the 

 wage earners' money, and this with the 

 •'personal property" tax list of the city 

 at §43, 022, 400.00. While Providence is 

 my post office address, I do not live 

 there. 



I would like to kindly suggest to Mr. 

 Doolittle that by trying to write of sub- 

 jects about which he is far from well 

 informed, he is seriously detracting from 

 the prestige he has gained by his writings 

 on bees. 



I trust, Mr. Editor, that you will par- 

 don my allusion to the matter about 



Providence, which has nothing to do 

 with bees, to which I believe your maga- 

 zine is exclusively devoted, but it seem- 

 ed necessary in order to fully reply to 

 Mr. Doolittle's article. 



In endeavoring to make this brief it is 

 unfortunately curt, but no discourtesy is 

 intended. 



I rest my case here. 

 Providence, R. I. June 11, 1901. 



'Look for a man's virtues before you 

 herald his faults." 



HOW TO QUELL THE TEMPER OF 

 BEES. 



BY REV. C. iM. HERRING. 



THAT bees have a large share of 

 temper no one will deny. Some 

 . are much more sensitive than 

 others, but all bees I have ever seen, 

 when in a normal condition, will kindle 

 with the fire of rage when they are 

 insulted. 



When rudely molested the average 

 bee will show temper and sometimes will 

 hold the resentment for weeks. The 

 whole process of robbing the bees of 

 their stores is a matter of irritation, and 

 with some bee-keepers it is the source of 

 constant warfare in the apiary. To con- 

 trol the temper of bees skillfully and 

 take from them their precious stores 

 without disaster or trouble, is a great 

 study which is seldom fully mastered, 

 but I think it can be done; and much of 

 the secret of so doing is in avoiding fric- 

 tion at the start; but after the war is 

 fairly commenced the problem is much 

 more difficult. 



When fully aroused, the mad army is 

 usually master of the situation. Then 

 the infection is liable to spread from 

 hive to hive until all the tribes, putting on 

 the war paint, will fight to the bitter end. 

 It is true such cases may be very rare. 

 Only one, so far as I know, is on record 

 in which a large number of colonies 

 joined the strife ; and it was death for 

 man or beast to approach the grounds. 



