189b. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



779 



ceeded to make an examination of his stomach. To my sur- 

 prise I found that it contained 46 bees, which, to judge from 

 their appearance, were all taken in that same morning. I 

 have kept bees for the last 35 years, but this is the first time 

 I have seen toads catch them. — T. Bailey." 



It seems strange that any one could keep bees for 35 

 years without finding out that toads are among their most 

 deadly enemies. But they operate very stealthily, and have 

 a way of darting out their tongues with lightning-like rapidity, 

 so that without close and careful observation their true char- 

 acter may easily be overlooked. On this subject, a rhyming 

 bee-keeper has written as follows : 



I set my hives two feet above the ground, 

 Where ease of handling them is always found. 

 The man who first devised a four-inch stool 

 To set his hives on was an arrant fool, 

 And needlessly condemned himself to stoop 

 Till with fatigue and pain his spirits droop. 



Why set your bees away down near the ground 

 Where damp, foul air, vermin and toads abound ? 

 Some say because the heavy-laden bees 

 Can gain the entrances with greater ease. 

 While higher up their foothold they may miss. 

 And Mother Earth's cold bosom often kiss. 



Well. I have watched the honey-laden bee 

 Returning honae. and I could seldom see 

 Failure to gain the alighting-board, but in 

 They hasten, and home's glad enclosure win. 

 For one poor, weary, heavy-laden bee 

 That prostrate on the ground, tired out, you see, 

 I'll point you out a dozen with their load. 

 Caught by the lightning-tongue of some big toad. 



Beside the hive he squats, and there prepares. 

 Apparently, to say his evening prayers; 

 He looks so solemn, grave, demure, devout — 

 But wretched hypocrite and graceless lout. 

 He knows too well the mischief he's about. 

 And catches bees quicker than you can shout 

 " Jack Robinson !" or any other thing — 

 Regardless of the poison and the sting. 



So keep your hives well up a foot or two. 

 For it is good both for your bees and you. 



Honey Tliicves. 



On page 739, 26 practical bee-keepers discuss the subject 

 of "Catching an apiary thief." Many advices are given, both 

 wise and otherwise, but not one has alluded to the only meas- 

 ure I have found thoroughly effectual, namely, a house-apiary. 

 Before adopting this plan of keeping bees I was robbed of honey 

 several times, and usually the marauders, not content with 

 stealing honey, destroyed the bees and bee-hives. But since 

 my bees have been domiciled in a bee-house, the door of 

 which is kept securely padlocked, I have had no trouble 

 of this kind. This is a better plan than keeping Cyp- 

 rian bees and bulldogs on the premises, setting spring guns, 

 trying to curry favor with thieves by sending them presents 

 of honey, or catching them by the coat-tails or whiskers — all 

 of which, together with other devices of questionable proprie- 

 ty, are suggested by one and another. 



Makius Hives by Hand. 



It will soon be time to begin getting ready for another sea- 

 son, making hives, supers, stands — in fact, anything you will 

 need around the apiary. 



I have always made my own hives by hand, and think it 

 will pay any one who is at all handy with tools to make his 

 hives in the winter when he is not very busy. Before com- 

 mencing, there are a few things that may be made very easily, 

 which will be a great help to you when you do get started. 



The first thing, of course, is to have saws, planes and 

 chisels in good condition ; then if you intend to halve the 

 corners, make a gauge from two pieces of lath, or something 

 a little wider ; leave them as long as the hive is deep, nail one 

 flat on the edge of the other, so that when you put the hive- 

 end in the vise, after planing it, and marking it an inch 

 shorter at each end, you can run a pencil along the edge of 

 the gauge, and just leave half an inch ; rip this down, and 

 saw it across. I generally nail a straightedge along the mark, 

 as it is a hard job to saw in the flat side of a board. Now, if 

 you have the sides squarely cut, you will have little or no 

 trouble in nailing. 



Next you need a mortise-box to saw the stuff for the 

 frames. Make it about 5 inches wide, 4 inches deep, and two 

 feet long ; cut a saw-kerf 5 inches from one end of the box, 

 and be sure to get it square ; then nail a little block at one 

 side for a stop, so that you may place a strip M's.% against it, 

 and cut off an end-bar every time, and have them all exactly 

 the same length. Put another stop on the other side for top- 

 bars, and nail the box to the side of a bench. 



I also use a small sort of box for taking the ends out of 

 top-bars. It is made from strips of hard wood 6 inches longer 

 than the top-bar, land 1 6-inches wider than the top-bar. 

 The second is nailed to the edge of this, and is 1 inch thick 

 and o inches wide. The third is -.j-inch thick by 13i wide; 

 this is nailed on the other edge of No. 1 ; set this on its end in 

 the vise, place a top-bar in it, get a saw-kerf in the right 

 place, and it is complete. 



Now you want a nailing-block to put the frame together 

 on. This is made of a good solid piece of board, hard wood is 

 preferable ; leave it 2 inches wider and longer than the frame; 

 screw on a strip, also hard wood, at each end, leaving room 

 for the length of the frame between. These should be a little 

 shorter than the end-bar, so as to leave room for the hammer 

 to drive the nails, then nail two more strips where the bottom- 

 bar should be, one on each side of it. The bottom-bar goes 

 between the end-bars, and the %, or 1 inch top-bar, is halved 

 onto them. With this nailing-block the frames are all square 

 and exactly the same size, and by having the stuff ripped out 

 the right width, and sawing it the right lengths in the mortise- 

 box, you can soon make a lot of good frames. Use IM-inch 

 wire nails for nailing, and make the bottom-bars %\%, as the 

 bees build better to a bar of this size. 



If you make flat covers, mark them in from the edge 2 

 inches ill around, and bevel down to % of an inch ; saw the 

 ends. This style of cover does not warp nearly so badly as 

 the common flat cover. Geo. McCiji.locii. 



Harwood, Out. 



Coal Tar and Phenol. 



Phenol is one of several products obtained from coal tar, 

 concerning which the London ( Eng. ) Daily News gives the 

 following interesting item of imformation : 



" Writing about that marvellous color-producer, coal tar, 

 a writer in Longman reminds us that it is only 36 years ago 

 Pekin ' gathered up the fragments' in coal tar and produced 

 the beautiful mauve dye. Now, from the' greasy material 

 which was considered useless is produced madder, which 

 makes coal tar worth a hundred pounds a ton. This coloring 

 matter alone now employs an industry of £2,000,00U per 

 annum. One ton of good cannel coal, when distilled in gas 

 retorts, leaves twelve gallons of coal tar, from which are pro- 

 duced a pound of benzine, a pound of toluene, a pound and a 

 half of phenol, six pounds of naphthalene, a small quantity of 

 xylene, and half a pound of anthracene for dyeing purposes. 

 According to Roscoe, there are 16 distinct yellow colors, 12 

 orange, 30 red, 15 blue, 7 green, and 9 violet, besides a num- 

 ber of browns and an infinite number of blendings of all 

 shades." 



The Alsike Clover Leaflet consists of 2 pages, 

 with illustrations, showing the value of Alsike clover, and 

 telling how to grow it. This Leaflet is just the thing to hand 

 to every farmer in your neighborhood. Send to the Bee Jour- 

 nal office for a quantity of them, and see that they are dis- 

 tributed where they will do the most good. Prices, postpaid, 

 are as follows : 50 for 25 cents ; 100 for 40 cents ; or 200 



for 70 cents. 



•^-*-^ 



Tlie Names and Addresses of all your bee- 

 friends, who are not now taking the Bee Journal, are wanted 

 at this office. Send them in, please, when sample copies will 

 be mailed to them. Then you can secure their subscriptions, 

 and earn some of the premiums offered on page 754. The 

 next few months will be just the time to easily get new sub- 

 scribers. Try it earnestly, at least. 



The IHcEvoy Foul Brood Treatment Is 



given in Dr. Howard's pamphlet on " Foul Brood ; Its Natural 



History and Rational Treatment." It is the latest publication 



on the subject, and should be in the hands of every bee-keeper. 



Price, 25 cents ; or clubbed with the Bee Journal for one year 



—bo'a for $1.10. 



*-»-* 



1^* See " Bee-Keeper's Guide" offer on page 784. 



