ISiC' 



(iLKA\IN(;.s IN KKK ( I' l,'l"l' KK. 



:J87 



pussihlt-: lull i»\\ iiiir lu iiiiiii> ol' ilw Irii'iHi-; iiui 

 aii^wfiiiiir all ilir qiirstions it israllifr liurd lo 

 siinimari/f it as a w liiilc. I siMil oiil some .")()(i 

 piiiii.'d hlaiiKs on postal oafils: hut witli this 

 i-onvciiitMiiT only about oiii'-tiftli of tlic fiinids 

 icplicd; ami tills, too. when 1 know from pri- 

 vate li'ttt'is that a irtKul many of tlicm liail sc- 

 oured vcrv fail" I'fons. I'loin information thus 

 iraim'd 1 ('stimatc tlif numiuT of i-olonics in the 

 State at ahout r.',(HHi and the honey crop at 

 niXi.iHH) Ills, for the past yeaf. On the Apalach- 

 ieola River there are over .itKKi colonies not list- 

 ed in the report, and thoeinen liaveall secured 

 from i)(> to iN) ner cent of a full crop. I hav(> not 

 tested tliem. for thi' reason I have not received 

 personal I'eports from each, only an estimate 

 from one or two in each district. 



In siimmlnj? til> llie report we lind: 1. That 

 110 persims report a total of ."):«)."> colonies, an 

 average tif ahout 4S colonies to each: ".'. That 

 ;{7 percent of the hee-koepers use the Simplic- 

 ity hive: -JS per cent the I>angstroth: 1(1 iier 

 cent box hives and HO per cent miscellaneous 

 makes: '.\ That sfi rejiort on increase an aviM- 

 age of 5t) per cent: 4. That the main surulus 

 hoMPV comes from orantie, {rallherry. tyty. 

 tupelo. snowvine. Iilack gum. saw an?l cabbage 

 palmetto, black mangrove, pennyroyal, golden- 

 rod, and partridge pea: .".. That i here is surplus 

 (luring neaiv every month in the year in some 

 locatit>ns. and that we can lake two or mori' 

 crops during a year by moving our colonies to 

 such locatioiis: H. That tif'i re|)oit that an aver- 

 age of .'ti'i per cent <d' a full crop was secured by 

 them: 7. T'l report from +4(i:.' colonies i;!..")4() 

 pounds of comb and lS()..".4:i pounds of extracted 

 lionev. making a total (d' l'.t4.()43 pounds, or an 

 average of about 44 pounds lo the colony: S. 

 4s re[>ort ".'I'li'.' lbs. of wax: *.». (not in report), 

 that from .Mhi blanks sent out to the bee-keepers 

 of our State 1 have been alile to obtain only IKi 

 responses, as givt-u above. 



Hoping the aliove report will be of some 

 value t() vou. my friends, tlie coming season, 

 and that 1 may again hear from you. I am your 

 obedient servant, .\. I". Hi!<>w\. 



Huntington. Fla.. Feb. -.'1. 



[Perhaps some of our readers may think we 

 are giving a good deal of spaci' for the statistics 

 of one State, flowi'ver thai may be. we give 

 the room in order to siiow iiow the work may 

 be done, and to give a better idea of tiie real 

 hoiiev resources of Florida. While we may not 

 be able in the future to pulilish these State sta- 

 tistics in full, we shall lie glad to publish the 

 summaries giviuiz the gist of the whole matter. 

 We hope, therefore, that other States will fol- 

 low suit. If California bee-keepers would get 

 up statistics as complete as these, we siiould be 

 glad to publish tlie entire report, even if it took 

 several pages. Such a rejiort would be valua- 

 ble, coming from the greatest honey region of 

 the world.] 



PAINT FOR BEE HIVES. 



THK HK.ST I'Al.Vr: I'KIMIXO fOATS: IIOW Hi Dl. 

 TK( T AI>lI/n;KATIOX IN I'AIM. I.K . 



B// Eiiiest H. Honi. 



We have already gi\en some hints in regard 

 to the most durable |iaint for bee-hives: but 

 during the last few months we have been col- 

 lecting material from various sources, and are 

 now in position to otter some information that 

 may be valuable to our n-aders. now that we 

 are about to enter upon siiring wi'ather. when 

 the bee-keeper may iia\e time to paint some of 

 Iiis hives that mav be ^adlv in need of it. 



Ii is a wi'll known lai-i among painters, that 

 yellow l-'reiicli ocher gives a very permanent 

 covering, especially for priming coats. Ocher 

 would doubtless supersede even white lead 

 were it not that its c(dor is against it. It is also 

 slated that a priming coal of ocher presents 

 such a hard surface that a covering (d lead does 

 not adhere so well as it does to a priming coat 

 of lead. A few years ago nearly all the priming 

 was done with yellow (teller: but it was discov- 

 ered thai the later coats of lead would Make oil': 

 so generally, now. for house-painting, pure leaii 

 for a piiming coat is preferred, providing it can 

 be obtained. i?ut we shall hav<> occasion to 

 speak of adulterated leads further on. It is 

 generally acknowledged that French ocher 

 combines vi'iy readily with lead, and the com- 

 bination makes a more durable paint than even 

 pure leaii: Imt. unfortunately, so-called pure 

 leads are feai fully adulteiatecj. Ih^alers get to 

 cutting on prices, and manufacturers are tempt- 

 ed to put in barytes. lime, and other cheap in- 

 gredients, w liich. instead of adding to the per- 

 manence of the [)aint. work in an inverse ratio. 

 The result is. that some of these adulterated 

 lead paints show a very poor surface in a couple 

 of v<'ars. The paint either Hakes off or rubs otT 

 like chalk. 



I'.esides pure lead, and genuine yellow French 

 ocher. pui<^ zinc is another good body for paint. 

 The addition of /.inc~at least a small projior- 

 tion — does not generally artect the durable 

 <lualitiesof [laiiit. l*ur<'"/,inc paint alone gives 

 a vei'y hard, snow -white, porcelain finish. For 

 inside white it is generally employed: but for 

 outside work it is too hard and flakes ott. Our 

 painters, however, tell us that, while pure lead 

 and pure ocher give a most lasting combina- 

 tion, the paint may be cheapened by the addi- 

 tion of a little zinc: and this will, at the same 

 time, give it a valuaWe (juality in point of 

 hardness, and prevent inclination toward 

 chalking otT. We are now using on our hives a 

 combination made up as follows: h, pure lead. 

 ':; pure zinc. ':; genuine French ocher. mixed in 

 pure unboiled or raw linseed oil. Such a com- 

 bination is cli(:iper than a great many of the 

 so-called mixi'd paints on the mai'ket— cheajier 

 because it goes furl her. and because it will last 

 much longer. It has all the valuable ((ualities 

 of the /.inc. the ocher, and the lead; and the 

 resultant shade is a light straw color. For bee- 

 hives it is undesirable, on account of melting 

 down the combs from the sun's heat, lo use 

 dark shades. Theoretically, snow-w hile paint 

 would be preferable: but in actual iiractice the 

 light straw yellow will do a4)out as well as the 

 wiiite. 



Now a word about buying paints. It is to be 

 regretted that so many manufacturers of white 

 paint label their paint •'Strictly Pure." If you 

 consult any iiractical painter he will [iiit you in 

 possessionOf tables containing analyses of all 

 ihe paints in the market— analyses that show 

 the amount of adulteration and pure lead sent 

 out tiy each manufacturer. If dealers and con- 

 sumers alike could only inuh'istand that puri' 

 lead, or pure lead and zinc, is a great deal cheap- 

 er in the long run, they would not try to be buy- 

 ing their paint wherever they could do so for 

 the lowest ligure. It is the consumers who have 

 to suffer, and some cheap paints are very dear 

 at any price. 



Hesides the adulterations w hicli do not in the 

 h^ast add to the good i|nality of paint, lish and 

 mineral oils are used instead of pure linseed oil. 

 Painters generally agree that theie is nothing 

 like i)nre linseed oil for paint. All other oils 

 are practically wor.se than nothing. They ari- 

 a snare and a delusion, and onlv reveal the true 

 nature of the paint after it has lieen on the 

 wood for a few months. 



