lyoo 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



21 



didn't try the act, for it had transpired that 

 one of our workmen, mistaking one of our or- 

 ders, made covers % inch shorten- instead of 

 that much longer ; and, worse than all, nearly 

 all of this lot, before the mistake was discov- 

 ered, went to Colorado. 



One good brother got up and said he could 

 not see any sense in having no -drip cleats in 

 shipping-cases. Another arose to his feet and 

 said he thought this feature was the best im- 

 provement that had been made in this line for 

 some time. Still another supposed that the 

 cleats were to cover the edges of the sections, 

 and he had been in the habit of putting the 

 cleats just behind the glass in front of the 

 perpendicular edges of the sections. This pro- 

 duced more or less of a laugh. On the whole, 

 the no-drip shipping-case seemed to be able to 

 stand on its own bottom. 



Next the covers were complained of — not 

 particularly " Bro. Root's," but those made by 

 any supply-manufacturer. They would warp 

 and twist all out of shape ; the nails would 

 pull out, and the board would split where the 

 nails passed through ; and it was hoped that 

 Mr. Root would, during his short stay in Col- 

 orado, look over some apiaries, so that he 

 might see the actual effect of a Colorado sun 

 and climate. 



By way of parenthesis, right here I will say 

 that I did visit several apiaries. Boards would 

 indeed, when not painted, shrink all the way 

 from 3/s to Y2 inch to the foot ; would curl and 

 twist, and the nails that had been driven " clear 

 home" would be sticking out of the boards 

 anywhere from an inch to almost their entire 

 length. Covers that had beeir nailed up for 

 four or five years, and hadn't been painted, 

 showed nails sticking up, and so loose they 

 could be easily pulled out with the fingers. 

 One might go around and drive them down 

 with a hammer, but the heads would bob up 

 just the same the following summer. 



In the convention some expressed a prefer- 

 ence for covers covered with tin ; but these 

 were objected to on the ground that the boards 

 curled under the tin so that they would not fit 

 down squarely on the top of the hives. Some 

 covered the boards with canvas, and then thor- 

 oughly painted the whole with white lead. 

 This answered very well, but was too expen- 

 sive. I was requested to see what could be 

 done in the way of procuring covers made of 

 papier-mache, pasteboard, or some material 

 that would stand their exacting climate. As 

 it rains in Colorado but rarely, and as the sun, 

 by reason of the almost cloudless sky, and an 

 atmosphere as clear as cr} stal, beats down with 

 unrelenting force, it was urged that something 

 different be devised. A cover that answered 

 every requirement in the East, and, in fact, 

 in many portions of the West, where there 

 was more or less humidity in the air, was al- 

 most totally unsuited to Colorado and other 

 regions so dry that irrigation had to be resorted 

 to in order to grow any crops or secure plant 

 life of any sort. 



A new strawboard works has been started 

 near us, and we shall look into this matter 

 very carefully. 



The Coloradoans do not need a cover so 



much to keep out rain as something that will 

 hold the bets in the hive while it is being 

 moved, and to prevent the ingress of robbers 

 at any point except the entrance. The climate 

 is so dry. and rain so infrequent, that I found 

 that barns are unnect ssary for the storage 

 of hay ; and, actually, edged tools, such as 

 planes, saws, chisels, and the like, are left out 

 on work-benches in the back yard — no need 

 of carrying them indoors ; there is scarcely 

 ever any dew, and very seldom any rain. 



FENCES AND BURR-COMBS. 



Returning to the subject of supplies, at an- 

 other session of the convention I was made 

 the recipient of a litle more bombardment on 

 some of the recent changes that have been 

 made. Some of the brethren could see no use 

 in fences. Atone time it appeared I was going 

 to get the worst of it ; but when Secretary 

 Rauchfuss and others thought I had been ham- 

 mered long enough, the tables were turned 

 slightly in my favor. Mr. Rauchfuss reported 

 that quite a number were very much pleased 

 with the fences ; and J. W. Harris, of Rocky 

 Ford, Col., said that, in his vicinity, the fence 

 was growing rapidly into favor ; that the Ab- 

 bey-Hardy Co. greatly preferred to buy honey 

 in plain sections, and would take it in prefer- 

 ence to that in the old style, any time. Some 

 fence honey was exhibited by Mr. Herman 

 Rauchfuss, brother of Frank, that had been 

 attached to the fences by means of burr- 

 combs. On removing the sections, of course 

 the capping was torn off in little patches. 

 This experience, so far as I know, seems to be 

 quite unusual. Indeed, at other sessions I 

 learned that bees in Colorado have quite a 

 fashion, under some conditions and during 

 some seasons, of fastening comb honey in old- 

 style sections to wood separators ; and, in fact, 

 there had been so much trouble that one man 

 reported he did not care to use separators at 

 all, and argued quite in favor of no separators 

 in comb-honey supers. But of this I shall have 

 more to say at another time. 



Referring to burr-combs being attached to 

 fences and sections, Mr. M. A. Gill, formerly 

 of Wisconsin, now of Boulder, Col., reported 

 in GtEANiNGS for February last, that "while 

 casing 400 cases about equally divided between 

 the no-beeway and the old style we did not 

 have enough crooked or broken honey for ta- 

 ble use for two families." Mr. Gill did not 

 arrive at the convention until near its close, 

 which was some time after this discussion had 

 taken place ; but mistaking him for Mr. Hill, 

 instead of my old friend who?e name began 

 with a G, I did not talk with him on this ques- 

 tion as I would have done had I known his 

 identity; but learning my mistake, after arriv- 

 ing home I asked him if he had had any trou- 

 ble with burr-combs being attached to the 

 combs in plain sections. In reply he says : 



In answer to 3'our question as to whether I am both- 

 ered with " burr-conihs '" in using your fence sy.stem, 

 I will say at first I was to some extent ; but it mostly 

 came about by having careless help in putting in start- 

 ers. I found, if any thing happened to a section of 

 comb (with that system), almost invariably one on 

 each side was involved in the mishap. 



My first year's experience with fence separators was 

 800 supers in three apiaries of our own ( Mr. T. M. Todd, 

 of Grand Junction, Col.); besides these I carue in con- 



