AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



383 



when the food is exhausted, the larva of 

 the miller crawls up beside the bee- 

 larva, and cuts the hole in the capping 

 of the cell. 



Now, if the dead brood is removed 

 from the comb, the colony will improve, 

 but it will be better to take a comb of 

 hatching brood from another colony and 

 put in place of the comb which contained 

 the dead brood. 



I live about the middle of Ontario, and 

 for 55 years have not had anything to 

 contend with except the moth miller pest. 



We have a law in Ontario relating to 

 foul-brood ; but before that law was 

 passed I argued with Mr. McEvoy on 

 the question of foul-brood, and he said it 

 was chilled brood — now, it is neglected 

 brood. 



North Glanford, Ont. 



Paintlm HiTes to Preyent Daipness, 



B. E. EICE. 



In the last issue of the Bee Journal 

 is an article on painting hives on the in- 

 side, in order to keep dampness from 

 penetrating the walls. This may seem 

 all right to some, and especially those 

 who have had no experience in the mat- 

 ter, but I have never found any differ- 

 ence in that respect, and I have used 

 them both ways. Some years ago, I 

 would not have thought of putting a 

 swarm of bees into a hive that was not 

 painted up in good shape, and especially 

 on the outside, but of late years I have 

 changed my mind, and do not paint 

 them at all. 



I consider it a loss of both time and 

 money, and the only good it does is to 

 protect the material they are made of, 

 and, perhaps, make them last longer. 



I believe that all painted hives are 

 detrimental to bees, and especially so 

 during the dry and hot seasons of the 

 year, with the exception of one color — 

 white. I have seen bees, during July 

 and August, suffer terribly from the 

 heat of the sun on painted hives, and 

 they would crawl out and cluster on the 

 shady side of the hive, while, on the 

 other hand, a colony in an unpainted 

 hive, keeps right on at work. 



This plainly shows that the hive so 

 painted retains the heat, and makes it 

 too hot and sultry for them to remain 

 on the inside, while the others are not so 

 affected. 



I have discarded all hives that were 

 painted any dark colors, and especially 

 red. I have, for the last three years, 

 had better success in wintering bees in 



unpainted hives than those that were 

 painted, and the colonies in the un- 

 painted hives were among the first each 

 year to cast swarms. 



I would suggest to anyone that has 

 not had any experience with painted 

 and unpainted hives, to take 2 colonies 

 as nearly equal as possible. One to have 

 a good, painted hive (not white), and the 

 other an unpainted one. Both of them 

 are to be placed in the sun, with no pro- 

 tection whatever, during the months of 

 July and August, and note the difference, 

 and report the same through the Bee 

 Journal. 



In regard to damp walls in bee-hives, 

 I do not see that there is any necessity 

 of being bothered much in that way, if 

 one takes pains in preparing his bees for 

 Winter, and puts good mats over the 

 tops of the frames, with a half-inch 

 space between, so as to allow the bees 

 to pass freely from one comb to another. 

 The mats should be filled with some kind 

 of porous material. Dry sawdust is good, 

 and oat or buckwheat chaff, cotton bat- 

 ting, finely cut straw, excelsior, hair, and 

 many other things would answer the 

 purpose very well. 



Then, with a well ventilated bee- 

 house and cellar, there will be but very 

 little danger of being troubled with 

 dampness, as what accumulated in the 

 hive would escape through the mat on 

 the top of the frames. 



But in case one should be troubled 

 with dampness, and his ventilators 

 would not remedy it, set in among the 

 bee-hives three or four dishes that will 

 hold about a peck of lime each ; use un- 

 slacked lime. This will remedy the 

 trouble in a great measure. 



I should be glad, indeed, to have the 

 opinions of other bee-keepers as to using 

 so much paint, and if it is useless to use 

 so much of it, we all want to know it. 



Boscobel, Wis. 



Ailcaltiiral School in (jermany, 



REV. S. ROESE. 



A few months ago the Bee Journal 

 gave the figures in full of the amount 

 appropriated by the different States in 

 Germany, in aid of apiculture, the 

 Grand Duchy of Baden taking the lead 

 in point of liberality. 



And now another move has been made 

 by this enterprising State to make api- 

 culture one of the most important 

 branches of industry, and arrangements 

 have been completed to establish a free 

 school in the city of Eberbach, Baden, 



