Dec. 15, 1911 



763 



THE RIGHT AND WRONG WAY TO NAIL 

 HIVES AND BOXES. 



BY WM. C. BROWN. 



It is hard to conceive of a successful bee- 

 keeper unable to use the common handi- 

 craft tools fairly well, or ignorant of the 

 proper manipulation of the materials used 

 in the apiary. It is pleasing to find such 

 articles as those by F. Dundas Todd and 

 others on this subject. Mr. A. I. Root, in 

 the early days, did much toward my knowl- 

 edge of the use of tools and material in the 

 minute attention he gave to details, and his 

 insistence on accuracy and the shunning of 

 careless work. 



, I have long purposed writing on the sub- 

 ject of nailing hives, cases, and boxes. On 

 page 90 of Gleanings, Feb. 15, 1911, is an 



n fig.l 



article by Louis Scholl which reminds me 

 of my procrastination. I agree with him 

 that the nails should be driven on the skew, 

 as he describes; but in practice I go further; 

 for, instead of driving the nails within, say, 

 half an inch of the edge of the stuff, as at 

 A, Fig. 1, which ninety-nine in a hundred 

 will do, I insert the nails back in the body 

 of the stufif as at B, at such an angle that 

 the points will not protrude when driven 

 home. This insures solid work — a tenacious 

 hold — and, not least, an almost entire ab- 

 sence of splitting. 



Bee-keepers often have to nail up ordina- 

 ry cases and boxes. In my business many 

 thousands pass under my inspection annu- 

 ally. In using timber that is hard or easily 

 split, the outer nails should be driven slant- 

 ing toward the center as at C, Fig. 2. If 

 driven in as in the usual manner, a cover 

 nail often strikes and deflects the other, 

 splitting the end, and so spoiling the work. 



Then as to gauge and length of nail, nev- 

 er use a larger size than the nature of the 

 work and timber requires. To nail on half- 

 inch boards with 2>^-inch nails is not good 

 workmanship. By the way, when telling 

 the size of nails to use, the gauge and length 

 should be mentioned. "Two penny" or 

 "ten penny " conveys no information to 

 many of your readers. 



THE GRAVITY METHOD OF CLARIFYING. 



I am pleased to note that many of your 

 correspondents are using the law of gravita- 

 tion to attain this object in preference to 

 the messy and laborious method of strain- 

 ing, which is necessary only when the for- 

 eign matter is of the same specific gravity 

 as the honey, which is seldom. If sand, by 

 accident, should get in, it will sink; air, 

 wax, etc., will rise, from over or under 

 which the clear honey may be drawn; but 

 if for some reason straining must be done, 

 use the coarser strainer above the finer, not 

 the cheese-cloth over the wire strainer, as 

 some advocate. In my business I have to 

 strain thousands of gallons of liquids, and 

 always utilize gravitation in preference 

 where possible. 



Mosgiel, Otago, New Zealand. 



R. W. HERLONG AS A MAN AND BEE-KEEPER. 



He Made a Success in Having Others Work His 

 Bees on Shares. 



BY J. J. WILDER. 



The South has sustained a great loss in 

 the death of Mr. R. W. Herlong, of Fort 

 White, Fla., which occurred on the evening 

 of October 11. We deeply mourn his death, 

 for he was one of those big open-hearted 

 men whom every one loved. No one could 

 be more devoted to his family than he was. 

 I am sure all of the bee-keepers in the 

 Southeast deeply sympathize with them in 

 their sad and lonely hours. Indeed, Mr. 

 Herlong was a true man in every respect. 

 He had been an active member of the Meth- 

 odist Church of his town for a number of 

 years, and held offices of responsibility in 

 it up to the time of his death. 



As a bee-keeper he was foremost in the 

 ranks, having accomplished much during 

 the twelve years he had been engaged in 

 this kind of work, for he was always full of 

 enthusiasm, and possessed the energy so es- 

 sential to success. 



Mr. Herlong was born and reared in South 

 Carolina. He married Miss Loula Minich, 

 and they moved to Columbia Co., Fla., in 

 which county he lived until his death. As 

 soon as he arrived he secured emjiloyment 

 at a sawmill, and later purchased some land 

 out in the pine forest. He soon had it well 

 improved, and was prosj^ering, raising grain 

 and long staple cotton. About twelve years 

 ago a neighbor "gave" him three colonies 

 of bees for merely a trifle, as he claimed, for 

 he had not realized any thing from them 

 since they had been in his possession. Mr. 



