112 



SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



er will pay a little higher price if he 

 gets a good bottom-board and a good 

 cover. I think they are the important 

 things. 



Mr. Wheeler — I am a friend of the 

 bee-keeper, and a friend of low prices 

 as far as you can get a good article for 

 a low price, but at the same time on 

 this bee-hive body, I think the dovetailed 

 corner is a great improvement. I have 

 had hives side by side and have tried 

 them for 15 or 20 years — one with cor- 

 ners simply nailed together, and another 

 lot where I dipped the dovetailed cor- 

 ners into a good strong paint, drove 

 them together, and they have stood the 

 weather nearly 20 years without being 

 warped or twisted. I believe the dove- 

 tailed-corner bee-hive is far and away 

 ahead of the other, in which the nails will 

 rust and they will begin to twist, and 

 they won't either fit the cover or fit the 

 bottom-board, but they will twist out of 

 shape, out of square. The dovetailed- 

 corner hives, if they are put up right 

 and driven together, with new paint, will 

 last indefinitely. They will never lose 

 their shape, and no matter if the nail 

 rusts off they will keep their shape. 

 They have great trouble nowadays with 

 the nails rusting off. It is surprising how 

 well those hives will keep their shape 

 even after the nails are gone. I am in 

 favor of the dovetailed corners. 



Dr. Miller — There are so many dif- 

 ferent points of this question we hardly 

 know where to grab on. One thing that 

 has been neglected is the cover. That has 

 not been tackled, and the thing I am 

 most anxious about is the cover. We 

 haven't a good cover yet that I know 

 of — a satisfactory cover. Some of these 

 good people that have learned how to 

 make hives, let them tell us how to 

 make the cover. 



Pres. York — Mr. Hutchinson says a 

 ^ cover. 



Dr. Miller — Plain board, with a cleat 

 on each end. I have had lots of them. 

 They will warp so that a bee will crawl 

 out from underneath, "in my locality." 

 It makes a very satisfactory cover; if 

 it would stay always new and always 

 straight I would like a plain board cover, 

 I wouldn't want any thing better. An- 

 other objection to them is that they do 

 not protect enough. They don't keep 

 warmth enough. A cover with an air- 

 space is very much better than that. 

 They are very expensive ; but if we could 

 get one that was reasonably inexpensive, 

 I should like that kind better. 



Dr. Bohrer — Dr. Miller, do you use 

 covers made in 3 pieces, that is, the cover 

 itself, with the cleat on the end? How 

 do you like them? 



Dr. Miller — I have used them with 3 

 pieces, with 2 pieces, and with one piece. 

 The one piece is the most satisfactor}- 

 for me, and yet it has that objection. I 

 can not keep it square, and no amount 

 of cleating will keep it square, either. 



Mr. Taylor — What kind of lumber do 

 you use? 



Dr. Miller — I never tried basswood. 

 That might twist worse. 



Mr. Taylor — What kind of pine? 



Dr. Miller — A white pine. 



Mr. Taylor — Your locality must be 

 very bad. 



Dr. Miller— It is. 

 • Mr. Wilcox — I shall have to agree 

 with Dr. Miller about the covers. I 

 have them in use and have for many 

 years, and as they get older they will 

 warp and sometimes crack. I have 

 never been able to make any that would 

 stay good, year after year, for any great 

 length of time. We have fine yellow 

 pine up in our country. If it were not 

 for the cost I would want a gable roof, 

 and I would really think I would do 

 better if I had a little cleat around the 

 outside of the hive, and had that set 

 over on that. I rather object to the 

 wind blowing straight through it under 

 the cover — in at one side and out at the 

 other. It ought not to do that. I would 

 have room for covers if I wished to 

 use them. I believe the cover is quite 

 an important matter for the bee-nive. 

 There is just one more point in regard 

 to the dovetailed corners. If you are 

 going to buy your hives made in a fac- 

 tory, they are a nice thing, and I would 

 buy them. If you are going to make 

 them yourself, don't, because you make 

 them up pretty quick and they are liable 

 to shrink, some pieces more 'than others, 

 and the dovetailing does not fit. An- 

 other reason why: I can make a very 

 good hive and one that will stay good 

 by rabbeting the end pieces % inch deep 

 half way through the board. That is 

 equal to 7-16 inch deep on the three 

 sides. The top and the two ends and 

 the side of the hive are nailed into them, 

 and they are also nailed the other way. 

 They are nailed both ways, and they 

 hold together just as well as the dove- 

 tailed. I have had them in use side by 

 side for the last 10 or 15 years, and can 

 see no difference; and it is easy enough 

 to make them that way. 



