162 DR. miller's 



cattle or other live stock. So far as I now remember, not a single 

 man expressed any agreement with me, although since then a 

 good many have. There is quite a general agreement that a man 

 has a prior right morally, although some do not even believe in 

 that. But in matters of business moral rights are not very re- 

 liable. I have a moral right to the possession of my horses, but 

 if I had no legal right to them I doubt if I would keep them long. 

 Some day beekeepers may be advanced enough so that a man may 

 be just as safe from interference in his bee-pasture as he now is 

 in his cow-pasture. At present you have no redress, and must 

 just grin and bear it — or else bear it without the grinning. 



Paint. — Q. Should I paint my hives all the same color? If so, 

 what color would you advise? I see frome reading the American 

 Bee Journal that some beekeepers advise painting hives different 

 colors, as one color bothers the bees in locating their hive. 



A. There would be some advantage to the bees in the way of 

 recognizing their hives if they were of different colors, but it is 

 hardly necessary. Bees locate their hives by means of surround- 

 ing objects, and except on a bleak plain utterly without any sur- 

 rounding objects there is very little difficulty where the hives are 

 5 feet or more apart from center to center. But you can just as 

 well have double the number of hi\ es on the same ground by hav- 

 ing them in pairs. Set two hives close together on the same 

 stand, then leave a space of 2 feet or more, then another pair, 

 and so on. Ground may be still further economized by placing 

 another row close to the first, letting the hives stand back to 

 back. 



There is probably no better color, all things considered, than 

 white, using good white lead. 



Q. Please advise me relative to the painting of hives with the 

 bees in them, and at what period of the year is it best to do the 

 work? I should also like to know whether or not standard paints 

 are all right to use. 



A. You can paint a hive with bees in it at any time when you 

 can paint the outside of a house, and can use any paint proper 

 for the same purpose, with the exception of the part at the en- 

 trance where the bees alight. If you put enough drier in the 

 paint used there, and paint in the evening after the bees stop 

 flying, it will be dry enough next morning so the bees will not 

 stick in it. 



Q. Should bottom-boards of hives be painted inside? 



A. It is not necessary, although, of course, a bottom-board 



