388 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



Salt, applied wet, says Mrs. J. E. Cham- 

 bers, of Vigo, Texas, beats all my "cures" 

 for bee-stings mentioned on page 88. 

 ^> 



Say, Mr. Editor, how are your chickens? 

 Contrary to the arguments against keeping 

 poultry with bee keeping, the writer now 

 has a pen of nice Plymouth Rocks. If I can 

 ovei'come the trouble of so many bee-keep- 

 ers who handle poultry as too many poultry- 

 men handle bees, I may be at least as suc- 

 cessful in the poultry-business as I have been 

 with my bees. [Wait till A. I. R. gets home. 

 —Ed.] 



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MOVING BEES TO NEW LOCATIONS. 



Experience in moving bees at all kinds of 

 times has taught me that bees moved to a 

 new locality, just a short time before the 

 honey-flow, will give better results than if 

 previously moved. The excitement stirs 

 them up to activity and gives the bees a vim 

 and vigor that come just at the right time 

 for them to take full advantage of the flow. 

 It seems to awaken them in such a way as 

 will cause them to rush out in full force and 

 a determination to gather all in sight, while 

 colonies already in the place are slower to 

 begin operations. This is an important 

 matter when locating new outyards or chang- 

 ing locations. The bees are left on the old 

 location, and stimulated to build up as much 

 as possible when they are moved to the new 

 lo(^ation in time for the flow. I am doing 

 this again this year. 



AUTOMOBILES FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



' 'Hauling bees to outyards, without horses, ' ' 

 is mentioned on page 1109, 1906, and two il- 

 lustrations to show how an auto is used for 

 carrying a load of "baby nuclei." The ad- 

 vantage of such a horseless vehicle is that it 

 is sting-proof, and there's no trouble with the 

 bees. Another bee-keeper's "automobile " 

 of California is shown as a frontispiece of 

 the Nov. 15th issue, 1906 — another horseless 

 carriage in the shape of a mule. The editor, 

 page 1418, thinks it is probably sting-proof. 

 While there are automobiles in Ohio and 

 California, we Texans have them also, and a 

 picture of one of these horseless carriages is 

 shown on page 406. 



But. all jokes aside, a "rig" of this kind 

 is not a bad one for moving bees, especially 

 over bad roads or where the sand is deep. 

 There are a good many advantages in moving 

 bees on such a heavy wagon, which rolls over 

 the ground much more siiioothly. and with 

 fewer jolts, than a lighter one. While small 



stones and sticks jolt a light wagon, this 

 heavy kind acts more like a steam street- 

 roller, simply rolling the obstacles into the 

 soil. Another advantage is the slow steady 

 gate of the team, besides being sting-proof 

 to a greater extent than horse teams. A 

 larger number of colonies, too, can be load- 

 ed on such a wagon, and, although the move 

 is slow, it is more apt to be sure. It beats 

 real autos on the kind of roads over which 

 I have moved bees, loading from 30 to 40 

 heavy colonies on at one load. 



SCATTER YOUR APIARIES. 



The advantage of having bees scattered in 

 different yards has been more apparent this 

 past season, and shows up again in our 

 spring examinations. Three of my apiaries 

 along the mountain-ranges did nothing, while 

 heretofore a good crop was obtained year 

 after year. Three yards in mesquite range 

 secured a good crop, while two other yards 

 on cotton plantations turned out better than 

 any of them. Only locations of the former 

 kind would have left my crop report blank. 

 It might be suggested that the three first- 

 mentioned yards be moved to better locali- 

 ties; but this would be impracticable, as re- 

 sults another season might be just the re- 

 verse as regards yields of the respective lo- 

 cations, or, in other words, if all the apiaries 

 were located where the best results were ob- 

 tained last year a failure of a honey crop 

 might be experienced, while on the old loca- 

 tions much honey might have been secured. 

 This has taught me to scatter my apiaries, 

 and in different kinds of locations. In some 

 portions of our country, localities differ very 

 much, even when only a few miles apart, as 

 regards the honey flora. 



CHEAP PAINTS FOR HIVES. 



Some bee-keepers do not paint their hives, 

 because "paint costs." If they could get a 

 cheap paint for bee-hives they would paint 

 them. It must be admitted that a well-paint- 

 ed hive, one kept painted, will outlast an 

 unpainted one, if made of the same material. 

 It holds good with dwelling-houses, and so 

 it will with bee-hives, notwithstanding the 

 arguments put up in favor of unpainted 

 hives; and the better painted the hives are, 

 the more lasting; hence the best paint should 

 be used for the purpose— a strictly pure lead 

 and zinc, and pure linseed oil, outside white, 

 should be used. Several years ago some of 

 the much advertised cold-water paints, such 

 as "powderpaint " and "asbestine, " a white 

 fire-proof weather-proof paint, were given a 

 trial. The work seemed satisfactory until 

 exposed to rain, which penetrates and soaks 

 into the wood just as badly as when no paint 

 is used. While it is fairly satisfactory for 

 hive sides and ends, it is almost worthless 

 for covers. However, such paints are better 

 than no paint at all when hives are not shad- 

 ed. All things considered, however, "the 

 best paint is the cheapest in the end." This 

 can, perhaps, be better shown by the follow- 

 ing illustration which I take from a coloiv 



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