746 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jsiov. 21, 



by dropping a drop of melted beeswax here and there. To 

 drop the wax there I make a wax candle by taking a slender 

 string and pressing around it scraps of foundation, then 

 lighting it and letting it burn till a little pool of melted wax is 

 formed, then this melted wax is allowed to drop where I want 

 it. The wire is imbedded in the foundation by moving it along 

 over a lamp, wire side down, and pressing lightly upon the 

 foundation with the hand. The heat of the lamp makes the 

 wire so hot that it melts its way into the foundation and im- 

 mediately cools as the wire is moved along, so that when it is 

 done it looks as if the wire had grown in the foundation. The 

 wire can be heated more quickly by electricity by means of a 

 battery. 



Soutl^erjj Departtrjer^t^ 



CONDUCTED BY 



OK. J. P. II. BROll'A^ AVGVSTA, GA. 



[Please send all questions relating to bee-keeping In the South direct 

 to Dr. Brown, and be will answer in this department. — Ed.] 



Painliii^ Hivc§ — The Proper Method. 



Painters usually put on all wood-work exposed to the 

 weather what they call a " priming" coat. Many do this be- 

 cause they are ignorant, or were so taught. Brighter ones 

 know better, and as one of them said to me once, " We do it 

 to make work — we will have to paint it again much sooner." 



Good architects step in and prevent this practice, and in 

 the specifications of one of the best architects of Boston, Mr. 

 John A. Fox, this clause will be found: "All outside wood- 

 work, as soon as put up, to be given one heavy coat of raw 

 Calcutta linseed oil, as old as the market affords." In my own 

 experience of many years on Government work, where only 

 the best work was the object, this was the course pursued. 



When the dovetailed hives, as usually made, are procured 

 in the flat, all the joints of the dovetails, wherever the cleats 

 go on the bottom-board or cover, the joints of the cover and 

 bottom-board, the whole outside of the hive which bear on 

 other parts (such as the edges of the hive and bearings of the 

 cover), should be given a coat of old raw linseed oil. Do not 

 forget that the underneath part of the bottom-board, being 

 so close to the earth, will become damp and rapidly decay un- 

 less it is oiled. 



Now, after the oil has dried, put the hive together and 

 give it a heavy coat of paint outside and on all bearings. If 

 the oiling was thoroughly done, and your paint is thick, all 

 joints will be filled, the ends of dovetails and cleats will be 

 thoroughly protected, and the oil from the coat of paint will 

 not soak into the wood, leaving the paint dry and easily 

 rubbed off in a white powder. 



The best paint to use is a mixture of white lead and white 

 zinc. Use nothing but raw oil to mix it with. Use no dryers 

 of any kind. The paint, when dry, should have a glossy ap- 

 pearance. Should you put on a "priming" coat, which is 

 simply a very thin paint, the oil from this coat sinking into 

 the wood would leave a great part of the paint dry on the out- 

 side, and the next coat of paint cannot properly take hold of 

 the wood, and quickly disappears under the action of the 

 weather. 



After the paint is dry, set the hives np with covers on in 

 the sun, some distance from the earth, and let them remain 

 out a week, turning the hives once during the time, in order 

 that all sides may be thoroughly sunned. While still in the 

 sun go over any joint that may have shown signs of opening, 

 with some more of the paint. 



In repainting hives, if the paint is not actually off the 

 wood, one good coat of raw oil is quite as good as a coat of 

 paint, and much cheaper. 



If, when you received the hives in the flat, you had placed 

 them for a week or so in a hot and dry room, and then oiled, 

 dried and put the hives together in this room without exposure 

 to the open air, the joints of the hives would have gone to- 

 gether more easily, and will remain tighter when exposed to 

 the weather. E. B. Thomas. 



Lynn, N. C. ^ 



The International Bcc-Kccpers' Congres§. 



Are you going to the Bee-Keepers' Congress ? Remember, 

 it meets in Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 4 and 5. It is not contemplated 

 to interfere with tha North American Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion. It will simply be a sortof informal meeting of represen- 



tative bee-keepers from different portions of America, to de- 

 liberate and discuss questions that concern the present and 

 future interests of the industry of bee-keeping. Essays will 

 be read by W. S. Hart, O. O. Popplelon, Dr. Peete, G. W. 

 Deniaree, Messrs. Dadant, Doolittle, Van Deusen, Mrs. L. 

 Harrison, and others. 



The City Hall has been secured for the meeting. Excur- 

 sion rates to the Exposition can be obtained from all the 

 principal towns and cities. Rooms can be had at the Jackson 

 Hotel (near the depot, and one block from the place of meet- 

 ing) for 75 cents per day, and 50 cents for meals. 'Vhe Jack- 

 son is a new hotel, and good place. Those who want less 

 rates can find them at the Adkins House, 12 Broad Street. 



ftoics ^ Con)n)cr)is. 



CONDUCTED BV 



Rex'. Emerson T. Abbott, St. Josepb, iXo. 



Full of 'Wonders. — "At our very feet lie wonders 

 for whose elucidation a lifetime would be too short." — Mrs. 

 Dana, in " How to Know Wild Flowers." 



How true this is, and yet there are people who think that 

 this is a very dull and uninteresting world. All this comes 

 about simply because they "have eyes, but see not." 



I remember a remark made in the sitting-room of a hotel 

 by a gentleman last winter while I was at the State University 

 lecturing. As X came into the room after the lecture, he said 

 to a gentleman with whom he was engaged in conversation, "I 

 do not see what there is of interest about bees." The other 

 gentleman, who had used his eyes to better advantage, immedi- 

 ately began to ask me questions about their habits.and as I was 

 in a talking mood, I sal down and for half an hour answered 

 his questions as best I could. At the end of our conversation 

 I walked into another room to get a drink of water, and just 

 as I left the room I heard him say, "Now tell me there is 

 nothing of interest about bees !" and the other answered, 

 " There is more than I thought." 



There is more to almost everything than most of us 

 think, I fear, and the man who fails to find anything of inter- 

 est in the everyday affairs of life misses much of the pleasure 

 of living. I am interested in my bees on account of their 

 money value, but if I had never found anything but money 

 value in them, I am quite sure I should know less about them 

 than I do now — and I know little enough as it is. The man 

 who sets out to master the wonders of the bee hive will not 

 want for a field of investigation, even though he live far be- 

 yond the allotted age of the human family. Fiquier quotes 

 Pliny as saying that Aristomachus, of Soles, consecrated 58 

 years to the observation of the habits of the bee, and that 

 Philiscato, of Trace, passed, for the same motive, all of his 

 life in the forests. Yet many tell us, "There is nothing very 

 interesting in a bee-hive!" 



An Outing. — My mileage book shows that I have trav- 

 eled 1,0UU miles less 28, and as I covered more than 200 miles 

 without bringing this into requisition, I passed the 1,000 mile 

 mark. After a pleasant night's ride on that prince of rail- 

 roads — the Burlington — I made my first call (Oct. 10) on our 

 genial and wide-awake editor, finding hin\ busy, as usual. I 

 want to say in a low tone so he cannot hear it, that if anyone 

 thinks Friend York is not working hard to win success for 

 the American Bee Journal, he makes a serious mistake. 

 There is no question but what he is putting the best he has into 

 this work, and this is all anyone can do. All that seems to be 

 needed is for more people to take the paper, and for all of those 

 who do take it to pay for it promptly. 



My next stop was at Watertown, Wis., where I called on 

 the G. 15. Lewis Co. 1 missed my old friend, Mr. Parks, but 

 received a kindly reception from Mr. Lewis, who is now the 

 nominal head of the business. However, the real manage- 

 ment is in the hands of a young man who has been well trained 

 for the position he now holds, so that, while those who know 

 him will miss Mr. Parks, there will be no halt in the business 

 progress of the factory. After a pleasant visit with Mrs. 

 Parks and her children, I returned to Chicago and made Mr. 

 York and his most excellent wife a visit. I also had the pleas- 

 ure of dining with Dr. Peiro, better known as " Emm Dee." 



The Doctor is one of those genial, broad-minded men 

 whom it does one good to meet. He is a believer in large 

 hives, that is, if every man may be said to believe in the things 

 which he has. Now the Doctor has a hive which would re- 



