THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



19 



iuj^ throu<;h the air-chainlier, keeps the 

 heat of the iioon-da)- sun from driving 

 llie bees out of the super. 



The cover of which you took a picture 

 when you visited at niv house, is the 

 cover I now use; except that I now use 

 thin tnusHn for a covering instead of "Ne- 

 ponset Roofing Paper." I put the mus- 

 lin on with paint so it is incorporated 

 with, and becomes a real part of, the 

 cover. I was first led to use the muslin 

 covering after seeing a cover that had 

 been covered with lo-oz. ducking and 

 painted, that had been in use for 12 years. 

 I at once noted the remarkably good con- 

 dition of the wood-work of the cover, and 

 and the ducking was still water-proof; 

 but the ducking was put on with small 

 nails, and the sun would pull them out. 

 Rt'ineinber, always, that there is no nail 

 puller like the sun heat of the arid regions. 



The owner told me that such a cover- 

 ing was hardly practical, as it took too 

 much paint to fill the ducking. I have 

 known for years that some kind of a cover- 

 ing, over all the wood-work and nail- 

 heads of the hive cover, amounted almost 

 to a necesity here in this climate; and I 

 at once saw that it was not the thickness of 

 the cloth that did the work, but simply 

 the coi'erini[ that kept the sun from the 

 wood and nails, together with the paint, 

 that had worked such desirable results 

 with the cover in question; and I at once 

 began the use of thin, unbleached muslin 

 instead of the Neponset Paper, and I 

 nmst say I have been highly j)leased with 

 the results. 



I use the standard, 8-frame hive, and 

 in getting out the material for the cover, 

 I first get out a rim, the sides of which 

 are i x 2^'s x 22 inches long. Along one 

 side of the side-pieces I cut a rabbit ^ x ^4 

 inch. Across the ends of the strips I da- 

 do in fg X "s of an inch, to allow the end 

 pieces of the rim, which are i x 2}% x 14 

 inches long, to set in, and I nail both 

 ways, as vou will notice by referring to 

 the cut of the cover. 



( )n top of the rim I nail two boards 

 that are simply ship-lapped together 



(very common lumber can be used). In 

 nailing the cover together I use thirty, 

 7-penny, cement-dipped, flat-head nails. 

 I then give the cover a heavy coat of 

 paint, using outside white made from 

 oxide of zinc and lead, and then right on 

 to this green paint I lay a piece of thin, 

 unbleached muslin, cut two inches larger 

 all around than the top of the cover. 

 Standing at the end of the cover, 1 cut i. 

 two-inch gash into the cloth, two inches 

 from the corner. This allows the side 

 strips to lap around under the ends. I 

 now give the whole cover another heav}' 

 coat of the same paint right on top of the 

 cloth, and make the laps at the corners 

 in green paint, both underneath, in the 

 middle, and outside; and I would advise 

 to give it another coat of paint after it is 

 dry. Such a cover will not warp, twist 

 nor check, and it can be exposed to all of 

 the elements of this or any climate; and, 

 in mv opinion, if given a coat of paint, 

 such as I have named, once in three to 

 five years, its owner will have a good 

 water proof cover as long as he cares to 

 keep bees. 



When this cover is placed on the hive, 

 it rests upon the sides only; the ends 

 shutting down over, as will be noticed by 

 referring to the picture. There is about 

 '4 inch play all around, and it is at the 

 ends where is secured the circulation 

 through the air-chamber, which I con- 

 sider one of its most important features. 



As an inside covering I use two or 

 three thicknesses of burlap, both in sum- 

 mer and winter; and when I crowd the 

 cover on, the burlap, being cut y^ inch 

 larger than the hive, is drawn taut so 

 that the bees have a space above the 

 frames; and the cover is held securely 

 without any stooping over 700 times 

 each week to pick up a ten-pound stone. 



I know there are some, perhaps many, 

 who would want some kind of an inner 

 cover, but as I never yet saw one that was 

 bee-tight at all times of the year, and as 

 I am working about 700 colonies of bees, 

 and inust have all claptraps reduced to 

 the minimum, I don't want it. 



