22 The Townsend Bee Book 
it is used. We use nothing but white paint on our hives and su 
pers, and we make sure that the paint contains nothing but pur 
lead and oil, although some of ours has a little zine added also, ti 
be used as a last coat to give a hard glossy finish. We buy thi 
paint in one-gallon pails, and then use an extra two-gallon pai 
besides. The paint is well stirred, and poured from one pail to the 
other until it is thoroughly mixed. For the priming coat two 01 
more quarts of oil can be added to the gallon of paint, before 
stirring, to thinit. Buy paint marked for outside use, and thin the 
first coat with raw oil. 
There is a knack in applying the paint, for it should be rubbed 
well into the wood. Apply several thin coats rather than fewer 
thick ones. The same amount of paint is much better applied in 
three thin coats than in two thicker ones. For the second and 
third coat not much oil will be required in thinning the paint usu- 
ally found on the market; but if it appears rather heavy a little oil 
should be used, especially when the pail becomes nearly empty. 
Each coat should be allowed to get thoroughly dry, of course, 
before another is applied. 
HOW TO HANDLE BEES WITHOUT BEING STUNG; THE USE 
OF SMOKERS; TRANSFERRING 
The beginner is likely to use too much smoke or else not 
enough, for the different dispositions of colonies are often con- 
fusing, and the amount of smoke needed to subdue one colony will 
often drive a more sensitive lot of bees out of the hive. More 
smoke is necessary during a honey-dearth than during a bountiful 
flow ; but this additional amount of smoke must be given in smaller 
though more frequent doses. After removing the cover from 
the hive, and smoking the bees so that most of them run down 
between the combs, the first frame may stick in the hive so that 
it is finally lifted out with a snap or jerk, causing some of the 
bees to fly at the hands as if they would sting. In this case a more 
experienced beekeeper would have noticed that the bees were 
ready to sting before any of them had taken wing, and he would 
have given them just a little smoke. The smoke should never be 
blown clear down into the hive, causing the(whole colony to stam- 
pede, for it is then much more inconvenient to do the necessary 
work. There should be just enough smoke to drive down those 
bees that are on the tops of the frames; then at any time when a 
bee is seen about ready to take wing, as if to sting, a very little 
smoke is needed again. In time one learns to use the smoker just 
before there are any bees in the air. 
