AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



731 



dueries and Replies. 



To Prevent Hive CoyersLeaMnp:. 



Query 769. — My liive covers are flat, 

 and made of three pieces of matched 

 pine lumber. What is the l)est and 

 cheapest way to keep them from leak- 

 ing ? I find that, no matter how well 

 the lumber may be seasoned, the hot sun 

 of Summer will shrink them apart, 

 cause them to leak, and often stain the 

 sections. — Illinois. 



Cover them with tin. — M. Mahin. 



roofing tin. — J. P. H. 



Cover with 

 Brown. 



A faithful use of white lead and oil. — 

 R. L. Taylor. 



I use a sheet of tin, or a tin roof. — G. 



M. DOOLITTLE. 



Cover with tin. If that rusts, paint it. 

 — Eugene Secor. 



Keep them heavily painted with white 

 lead, and use sunshades. — J. M. Ham- 



BAUGH. 



I do not like such covers. Some cover 

 the tops with tin or zinc, and paint 

 them. That is sure. — A. J. Cook. 



Our hive covers are of two pieces of 

 matched lumber, and kept well painted, 

 and we- are not troubled with their leak- 

 ing. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



We use a rough roof over the top. It 

 is very economical and useful, as it saves 

 the hive, J^nd shelters the bees from the 

 hot sun. — Dad ANT & Son. 



Cover them with tin, zinc, or galvan- 

 ized iron. Cotton cloth, well painted 

 (and kept so), will answer the purpose 

 for a long time.— J. E. Pond. 



After no little experimenting, I set- 

 tled on tin for any cover too wide to be 

 made of a single board. It costs more, 

 but it lasts longer. — C. C. Miller. 



Give the covers a good heavy coat of 

 paint, and then run the cracks full of 

 dry sand. After a day or two scrape off 

 the surplus sand, and give them another 

 coat of paint. — C. H. Dibbern. 



Cover each crack with a strip of tin, 

 about IX inches wide, laid in paint and 

 well nailed. You can use cotton cloth, 

 laid in paint, with good results if it is 

 well painted. — H. D. Cutting. 



Strips of tin, well nailed down, over 

 white lead paint, as thick as it can be 

 put on, will stop the leaks ; but whole 

 sheets of roofing steel (which is cheap- 

 est), or of roofing tin, is best. — G. L. 

 Tinker. 



No flat cover will protect my hives 

 from slight leakage. I use an over- 

 cover, or shade board, made of rough 

 lumber, and break the joints so as to 

 turn water. In this way my hive covers 

 are protected from sun warp, and .the 

 combs are kept dry. — G. W. Demaree. 



The best way is to make them of one 

 piece — I do so. Or, you might use a 

 piece of cloth, and paint over it. I have 

 done this for 15 years where splits or 

 checks compelled me to, in order to save 

 a cover. Paint rots cloth, however. I 

 learned this trick of Ed. J. Oatman, of 

 Dundee, Ills. — James Heddon. 



It is more desirable to have the flat 

 covers of hives made of one piece of sea- 

 soned lumber, with end cleats to keep 

 them from warping. When this cannot 

 be done, have the boards well matched, 

 and put together with paint. Then keep 

 them well painted, and they will the bet- 

 ter endure the heat of the sun. — The 

 Editor. 



Suiidry Questi-oiis. 



Sugar Syrup for Winter Stores, Etc. 



1. If a colony of bees (in the Fall) 

 have 20 pounds of honey, and it is all 

 taken away, how many pounds of granu- 

 lated sugar will it be necessary to feed 

 to them to put them in as good condition 

 for wintering as before ? 2. Calling ten 

 hours a day, how many pounds of honey 

 ought two men to extract in a day ? 



A Reader. 



[1. While I believe that properly-made 

 granulated sugar syrup is not only 

 safer, but will go further, pound for 

 pound in wintering bees than will honey, 

 I should make a rule to give them about 

 the same number of pounds they had 

 before. Another thing, you must re- 

 member, there is what may be called 

 silent robbing in all apiaries, and I never 

 fed 100 or more colonies, but what 

 there were several in the apiary wholly 

 destitute after I had finished, and yet no 

 robbing had been seen to take place. 



