Dec. 28, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



821 



half-storj' supers for many reasons. It takes less heat to 

 warm them ; bees g-et to work in them earlier ; the increase 

 is g-radual and keeps pace with the increase of bees : the 

 bees will not leave them during- cool nights — this is espe- 

 cially the case when a coz'cr is used. If there is dark honey 

 gathered from willows or apple-bloom it is stored here, and 

 this, too, can be converted into brood ; give the queen un- 

 limited room until clover is in blossom. 



I am now ready to try to get the most out of my colony, 

 but as that operation merges so closely into more than one 

 colony, and having occupied much space in getting up to 

 this point, I shall ask the reader to consider the next article, 

 where I will tell how I get the most out of an apiary. 



Painted or Unpainted Hives— Which? 



BY C. DAVENPORT. 



PROBABLY in few if any other pursuits are there so 

 many conflicting opinions held as there are in bee- 

 keeping in the matter of painting hives. There is a 

 great difference of opinion. One of the oldest and most 

 successful bee-keepers in this State, and a man whose opin- 

 ion I hold in great respect, is Mr. Theilmann, who is a 

 strong advocate of unpainted hives, and claims that they 

 will last as long or longer than painted ones, but ni)' experi- 

 ence has been directly opposite to his. With me, unpainted 

 hives last only a few years before the wood begins to check, 

 warp and decay; while I have some painted hives that 

 have been in use bj^ myself and others for about 20 years, 

 and they are to-day apparently in nearly as good condition 

 as when new ; and last season I had to discard some un- 

 painted ones that had only been made eight years, both 

 the painted and unpainted ones having been used under the 

 same conditions, and usually set in the same yard. 



Strange as it may seem at first thought, I have found 

 that the locality makes a great difference about the dura- 

 bility or length of time a hive will last, and even one mile 

 may make a great difference in this respect. Mj' present 

 location is a very hard one on hives. It is in a sort of open- 

 ing between two high hills to the south and north : a few 

 rods to the west is a very sandy and much-traveled road, 

 and during dry times, when the wind is in the west, as it is 

 much of the time, dust and sand raised by passing teams 

 floats over the yard and settles on the hives, and if there 

 are any cracks in a hive where it can find lodgment, it 

 greatly hastens decay, for the pine dust from sand is very 

 destructive to lumber, as is sand itself. 



Probably all know, for instance, that a fence-post set in 

 sandy ground will not last nearly as long as it will in clay 

 or black soil ; besides, this yard being- on very low ground, 

 the hives are covered with profuse dews at night, and are 

 subject to the glaring sun during the daytime, which makes 

 it much harder on them than if they were on high ground 

 and shaded. 



I have had many unpainted hives in this yard warp 

 badly, twist and check in one season, and I do not believe 

 painted or unpainted hives will last here much more than 

 half as long as they would in other places but a short dis- 

 tance away, where I have had yards located. 



No less an authority than Mr. Doolittle, and, I believe. 

 Dr. Miller also, claims that bees do better in unpainted 

 hives, for they say that the moisture generated by the bees 

 can escape thru the pores of unpainted lutnber. I have 

 used painted and unpainted hives ever since I have kept 

 bees, and have never been able to observe any difference 

 whatever in this respect. I have some hives all parts of 

 which are well painted, both inside and outside, and bees do 

 just as well in them as in hives not painted at all, so far as 

 I can see. But it is far from my intention to dispute what 

 either of these men sa3-, tho, if I did, I am aware that it 

 would not matter, as the opinion of either one of them is as 

 it should be- -of more weight than that of any number like 

 myself would be. 



The only way I can account for the difference in our 

 experiences is that there must be less, or a different kind 

 of. propolis gathered in their locality from what there is in 

 mine, for here, after a hive has been in use some time, the 

 inside is smoothed and coated over with propolis of such a 

 character that it will hold vrater as well as a tin dish, so 

 there is no chance for moisture to escape thru the wood if 

 the hives are not painted. 



Unless they are kept well shaded during warm weather, 

 white is the best color to paint hives, for without shade 

 during hot weather, when honey may be yielding freely. 



bees will be able to work in white hives, when, on account 

 of the heat, they would be driven out of unpainted or dark 

 painted ones. 



Linseed oil, white lead and zinc make a good white 

 paint. It is expensive, tho, and is far from being as dvir- 

 able as some of the cheaper kinds of paints, but there is 

 not, so far as I know, anything besides white lead that will 

 give a pure white color. 



A great saving can be made, however, by using and 

 first painting hives well with linseed oil and anj- of the 

 mineral ochres. These are of dift'erent colors, but the color 

 does not, I think, matter, as I believe they are all the same 

 thing ; but my actual experience has been with what is 

 known to the trade as " red ochre." This can be procured 

 at nearh- all places where paint is sold. It is verj- cheap, 

 and makes a mucli better and more durable body mist with 

 linseed oil than white lead and zinc does, and is not, after 

 it is dry, at all offensive to bees. 



The painted hives I spoke of as being used 20 years, 

 were painted with this kind of paint, and the paint itself is 

 on most of them in good condition yet, and I believe this 

 paint preserves the wood much better than white lead does. 

 After hives are well painted with this kind of paint that is 

 thoroly dried, they can be painted with white lead and 

 changed to a snow-white color with but small expense com- 

 paratively, all cracks, as well the pores of the wood, being 

 filled with the cheaper paint, it takes but a small amount to 

 cover them again. The white paint adheres well to this 

 ochre paint ; better, in fact, I believe, than it does to the 

 wood itself. I think that it was 11 years ago that on some 

 of these red hives I painted large numbers with white paint 

 that can still be read rods away. 



To obtain the best results with white lead, whether it is 

 used alone or in connection with this ochre paint, I have 

 found that it pays to mix some zinc with it. When the lead 

 alone is used it will last but a short time before it begins to 

 " chalk," as painters say ; that is, it flakes and rubs off like 

 whitewash does. 



I have heard it said that if lumber were saturated or 

 soakt in a strong solution of lime water it would last much 

 longer. Three years ago I slackt some fresh lime in a bar- 

 rel, and after the solution had settled I dipt off the clear 

 liquid and soakt a few new unpainted hives in it. While 

 time has not been sufficient to prove whether the lumber 

 will last much longer. I found that hives so treated were 

 not offensive to bees, and I have never observed any moth- 

 worms incrusted on the under side of these bottom-boards, 

 as I have many times found on both painted and unpainted 

 ones. Southern Minnesota. 



Bees and Their Feathered Foes. 



BY H. L. JUNKS. 



EDITOR YORK :-On page 450, Prof. Cook mentions that 

 he would like to know how birds manage the stings 

 when they kill worker-bees. I enclose a clipping show- 

 ing how some of them manage here. I would like Prof. 

 Cook's comments thereon, as it seems almost incredible that 

 birds can be stung thus with impunity. H. L. Jones. 



Queensland, Australia. 



[The clipping referred toby Mr. Jones is an article writ- 

 ten by himself and publisht in the May, 1899, issue of the 

 Australian Bee-Bulletin, reading as follows : — Editor.] 



In writing on this subject, I do so as much from a de- 

 sire to draw information from others, as to throw any new 

 light on the subject myself. We have undoubtedly a good 

 deal yet to learn in this direction. In looking up the writ- 

 ings of various authors in other countries, I find that a 

 large number of different kinds of birds are included in the 

 list of " Enemies of Bees," but as I may have something 

 further to say about this later on, I will confine mj'self in 

 this article only to birds that have come under mj- own ob- 

 servation. 



The rapacious little martins were the first to introduce 

 themselves to my notice as having a partiality for a bee- 

 diet, and after them came along the magpie — yes, our com- 

 mon, innocent-looking magpie. In 1889, I first observed 

 these at their mischievous tricks, and they came in num- 

 bers, too, selected a hive apiece, and gobbled up the bees as 

 if to the manner born. Sometimes they caught the bees on 

 the wing, but in most cases snapt them up as they alighted 

 at the entrance. They carried on in this despicable manner 

 for more than a month, but certainly didn't have it all their 



