American ^ae Journal 



June 6, 1907 



for him to do so, for he might run out, 

 some time, and need a few before he 

 could get them from the factory or 

 dealer. But caution should be taken 

 in selecting the material, and it would 

 be best if it were seasoned in the open 

 air, and mostly heart, and soft ; also, 

 it should not be warped, and should be 

 free from knots and other defects. 

 Lumber from g-oods-boxes makes very 

 good covers, as it is soft and not easy 

 to split, but it should be painted well, 

 for if it is very thin it will let the 

 water through. 



In putting the covers together, great 

 precaution should be used to turn to 

 the weather the sideof the board which 

 grew nearer the center of the tree, 

 and nail well with small flat-headed 

 nails (not finishing nails). Then paint 

 them well and keep a few extra at each 

 yard. 



I have tried several styles of covers, 

 but the two illustrated have given me 

 the best satisfaction, and they are sim- 

 ple, durable, and cheap. 



Where hives are exposed to the sun. 

 Fig. 1 is the best cover, for it has an 

 air-space and needs no shade. I have 



lost some colonies, many combs, and 

 no small amount of honey from the 

 heat of the sun, but I have never lost 

 any combs under these covers. Figure 

 2 is a still cheaper cover, and is used 



where the hives are not exposed to the 

 sun Most of the nails in these covers 

 can be driven through and clinched, 

 and will not give way and work out. 

 Crisp Co., Ga. J. J. Wildbr. 



The' 



Old Reliable '' as seen througrh New and Unreliable Glasees, 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B. Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



Thb Debr-Mouse as a Honby-Eater. 



I have a live deer-mouse. He's a 

 beautiful fellow, fawn-colored above 

 and pure white below. His eyes are 

 large, dark, shining and projecting, 

 like they were beads set on his head. 

 He's a peach. Likewise he is (at least 

 my specimen is) surprisingly tame, or 

 audacious, or something, for a creature 

 with no previous contact with human 

 beings. Did not even scamper a little 

 when first let out of the trap. Walked 

 to a cracker and smelt of it ; walked to 

 the water-fount and took along, hearty 

 drink of it ; took a little turn around 

 the limits of his quarters ; and then 

 got to business by beginning to eat. 

 From the first hour he would let me 

 almost poke him with my finger before 

 he would move away. And 48 hours 

 later, in response to one of my finger 

 pokes, he bit me — but not sharply 

 enough to hurt much. Deer-mice 

 mostly keep to the fields ; but this one 

 was caught in the house upstairs. 

 They are one-half larger than house- 

 mice — 14 drams — while the normal 

 weight of the house-mouse is 9 drams. 

 But though larger, mine, so far, seems 

 not so ravenous to eat as the little 

 chaps. 



Well, this is the fellow I accused of 

 eating the honey of out-apiaries, and 

 getting it laid off on the house-mice. 



Wishing to have his normal perform- 

 ance, before any pampering or other 

 influence from captivity, I gave him 

 honey the first night, a partly-built 

 section, mostly empty comb, but some 

 honey on one side, all sealed. My 

 theory seemed to get a backset at first. 

 He nibbled most of the dry comb into 

 powder, and in the process started the 

 honey to running somewhat ; but it 

 lay on the bottom of the big can which 

 served as cage. To the best of my ob- 

 servation he had not eaten any of it. 

 Possibly I was slightly in error there ; 

 but that's what I decided at the time. 

 In this experiment I gave no other 

 food ; but he had been eating all the 

 cracker he wanted just before. Dur- 

 ing the next day he ate some honey, 

 and some more the next night. Then 

 I put in a piece of bread and an ordi- 

 nary section of honey, which has been 

 his regimen ever since. Soon came to 

 eat more honey than bread. For the 

 last 2 days I cant see as he has taken 

 any off his piece of bread — getting to 

 an exclusive honey-diet, 'pears like. 

 Weighing the section as accurately as 

 I can, I find he has taken 12 drams 16 

 grains in 5 days, or 2 drams 14 grains 

 per day. That's over one-seventh of 

 his own weight. It will do — although 

 a long way behind the eating exploits 

 of the house-mice when they let loose 

 once. 



Robber-Bees and Poi<i,bn. 



T. P. Otis, on page 267, contributes 

 a very interesting observation. Rob- 

 ber-bees gathered up pollen on the 

 alighting-board and carried it off. 

 Quite rare, I think. With wires, or 

 zinc, or too closely contracted en- 

 trance, there is often quite a pile of 

 lost pellets at the door ; and I never 

 could see that the home-bees would 

 ever take pains to save them — though, 

 perhaps, they do sometimes. Cow will 

 eat what she wouldn't eat otherwise, 

 provided she can steal it ; and I sup- 

 pose these robbers found their souls 

 similarly moved. Willing to gather 

 lost pollen provided they could con- 

 sider it plunder. 



Cement Hive Stands and Bottoms. 



Yes, Mr. Byer, cement hive-stands 

 and cement bottom-boards are taking 

 words. If the latter prove too cold for 

 winter, how would it do to use a thin 

 thickness of wood and the cement un- 

 der it ? I am specially attracted be- 

 cause at my apiary termites do lots of 

 damage. I am quite sure a projecting 

 cement bottom would keep them down ; 

 as they would not be able to carry for- 

 ward their mud-works unless they had 

 a passage to moist earth to get the 

 material. Page 351. 



Canada and U. S. Postal War. 



The Koran has a proverb to the 

 effect that, "When nations go to war 

 the people must suffer from the sol- 

 diers." Bluntly and brutally just so ! 

 And just so now, it seems, even in this 

 twentieth century. Canada and the 

 U. S., having had postal annexation 

 for a spell, now want to have postal 

 war for a spell. Does seem that (with 

 all the peace agitation and Hague 

 Tribunals of the day) they might have 

 given a little longer notice of hostili- 

 ties. Peaceful publishers certainly 

 ought to have time to get out from un- 

 der the wheels of the war Juggernauts. 

 How easy it is to show spunk when 

 somebody else has to take the suffer- 

 ing part of the consequences ! Page 

 389. 



Observe and Report. 



" Observe during the ensuing sum- 

 mer and report," eh 7 There! That 

 sounds more like science. We've had, 

 " Give us off hand your impressions " — 

 about everything under the crazy 

 moon — until we have about played out 

 that kind of Question-Box. Why not 

 7ve take a lesson from France, and have 

 some questions tested by actual and 

 fresh observations by a company of 

 competent men ? Page 391. 



Getting New Subscribers for the 



Bee Journal is Boniething that almost any 

 reader can do if he makes a sincere attempt. 

 No one knows better than does he its value 

 to every would-be successful bee-keeper. And 

 we oiler valuable premiums, to those of our 

 present readers whose subscriptions are paid 

 in advance, for the work of going out and 

 getting new subscriptions. Your neighbor 

 bee-keepers perhaps have never heard of the 

 American Bee Journal, although it is now in 

 its 47th year. Why not try to get them to 

 subscribe? You may be surprised how readily 

 they will do so upon your invitation. 



