1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



51 



though the idea is not now. you have simplified 

 its manner of construction. As a soktr wax- 

 extractor and honey-evaporatoi'. it is probably 

 ahead of any thing else before the public, in 

 the way of cheapness, utility, and convenience. 

 For a small solar wax-extractor alone, we like 

 the Doolittle style the best: but for wholesale 

 melting, youi's is perhaps the better. We shall 

 probably get ordeis for them: but if friend 

 Hoardm'an has any idea of making them, and 

 will make them and offer them for sale, we 

 shall be glad to leave the field entirely open to 

 him. so far as we aie concerned.] 



PAINTED VS. UNPAINTED HIVES. 



WHITEWASH AS A SIBSTITUTE: WHY THE 



DOVETAIT.ED JOIXT IS SUPERIOR TO EVEIIY 



THING P:I.SE IX CAMFORXIA. 



In March 1.5th (tleaxixgs, 1889, Mr. Doo- 

 li.ttle has an article advocating unpainted 

 hives, saying that, as the paint prevents evap- 

 oration of moisture. ])ainted hives are much 

 more damp and cold, and that bees in the un- 

 painted ones will swarm from one to two weeks 

 earlier in the spring. A. I. Root, in his foot- 

 notes, recalls the fact that he had often seen 

 water running out of painted hives, and says 

 he is pretty sure there would have been no such 

 ice and condensation luid the hive been un- 

 painted. Thinking over tin' matter I I'enicm- 

 bered that, in my painted hives. I had had 

 many combs rotted by mildew. I was increas- 

 ing my apiary rapidly at that time, and had 

 many "hives to build. I decided not to paint 

 theni. The interior valleys of California are 

 hot. Wliei'e my apiary is. the niercui-y often 

 registers in the "shade 110° Fahrenheit for eight 

 hours a day and eight days at a time. Well, 

 this heat on my black unpainted hives causes 

 the combs to melt down en in(isf<c unless the 

 hive is shaded or very much ventilated. One 

 day in July, one of these hot days came. I had 

 wilted in the morning as soon as the sun hit 

 me: and, though knowing that my bees needed 

 extra ventilation. I lay under the dense shade 

 of an oak and read " King Solomon's Mines." 

 In the evening I crawled oft' to look at the bees, 

 and it seemed to me there was a civek of honey 

 running out of the entrance of all the tuipaint- 

 ed hives in my apiary. I lost some forty colo- 

 nies outright, and there were many others bad- 

 ly damaged. The white painted hives stood 

 the ordeal vastly better, though even in tiiem. 

 when the entrance was not full width of hive 

 (like your Dovetailed hive), there were some 

 combs melted down. ]My combs were mostly 

 new ones, and very full of honey. After that 

 disastrous experience I whitewashed my hives, 

 and I now believe that that is the proper treat- 

 ment for them, as it combines both the advan- 

 tages of the painted and the unpainted hives. 

 The whitewash does not prevent evaporation 

 of moisture: and by giving a fresh coat each 

 spring the hives much surpass in whiteness, 

 and therefore in coolness, a painted hive, es- 

 pecially if it has not been painted for two or 

 three years. Mr. Doolittle, too. seems to have 

 had some unfavorable experience with un- 

 painted hives since writing his article of INIarch 

 15, 1889: for. May 15, 1890. one year and two 

 months after, he closes a letter by saying he 

 now •■ prefers to paint his hives and let them 

 stand in the sun." 



Your Dovetailed hives, both in body and style 

 of cover, are well suited for this climate, as 

 nails alone will not prevent boards from warp- 

 ing here. 



This has been an unfortunate year for me in 

 several respects, commencing with the going to 



pieces of my fine a|)iary from excessive .swarm- 

 ing, so that I got less than half as much honey 

 as I should have done. Next a Dago sets out a 

 brush fire one hot .Vugust day, and in the con- 

 flagration which ensued. 31 of my hives of bees 

 were burned, and many more m<'lted down. I 

 saw the fellow set out the fire: and as he re- 

 fused to pay danuiges. which he was well able 

 to do, I prosecuted him: but he came to court 

 with some of his countrymen, and. by perjuiy, 

 convinced the jury that he was asleep under a 

 tree at the time the fire started. He has re- 

 cently served a notice on me. telling me to keep 

 mv bees from coming on his land, claiming that 

 th'ev destroy the qniss. Wm, G. Hewes. 



Newhall, Cal., Dec. 30. 



[Vou have given us a valuable article. The 

 evidence that you present for hives painted 

 white or whitewashed, as against hives un- 

 painted, is convincing: for certainly no one 

 could have had a better opportunity to observe 

 the comparative dift'erences. Dr. C. C. Miller 

 does not paint his hives. He argues, if they 

 will last him fifteen years, he can afford to 

 tlii-ow away his old hives that have never been 

 painted, aiid buy another set. because the mon- 

 ey saved in paint and time will buy the new 

 hives. Besides that, he would have all the 

 advantages of modein improvements in the 

 new hives. The testimony of bee-keepers gen- 

 erally is against having hives uni)ainted. It is 

 generally supposed that whitewash will not 

 Ijreserve wood. If prepared right and put on 

 right, I think it will. At this point I stopped 

 and talked with an experienced mason— one 

 who served an apprenticeship of seven years in 

 England. He says that whitewash will pre- 

 serve wood. Its inode of preparation for out- 

 door work is as follows: To three pounds of 

 lime add one pound of cheaj) grease, and then 

 add hot water until it is of the right consisten- 

 cy. It should be put on the wood while it is 

 hot. If put on when it is cold it is liable to rub 

 off and soil clothing. :Many years ago we used 

 a whitewash made of water lime and skim- 

 milk, to cover our old American hives. This 

 seemed to hang to rough unplaned wood very 

 well, but we discarded it because it did not 

 look as neat and tidy as hives that were planed 

 and painted. Whitewash will perhaps prevent 

 melting down of combs as effectually as white 

 paint. It is not only very cheap, but it can be 

 apidied with a whitewash-bru^h. 



If anv hive will stand it without painting, it 

 is the Dovetailed: and I have no doubt that 

 the lock corner, as some i)refer to call it, will 

 stand a great deal more than any other in a 

 climate like that of California. Some of the 

 bee-papers argued that there was no need of a 

 stronger corner. Our own apiary, and my ob- 

 servation of other apiaries, show that there is 

 such a need: and in California it is a necessity. 

 It is too bad that you could not get hold of that 

 Dago. They are rather "• tough " citizens, and 

 it is often better to get along with them with 

 as little trouble as possible.] E. R. 



THE BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY OF THE UNIT- 

 ED STATES. 



OXE OF OUK COKKESPOXDEXTS GIVES V 

 GLIMPSE OF WHAT IS GOING OX. 



Friend Root: — In a recent issue of Gleax- 

 IXGS, some one intimated that beet sugar is not 

 as pure as that manufactured from cane. We 

 have been using beet sugar made at Grand Is- 

 land, this State, and it is good enough for us — 

 in fact, we think it is much whiter and sweeter 

 than granulated sugar obtained elsewhere. I 



