86 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



lug at each end is used a cuuimon tenpenny wire nail, which is 

 3 inches long and % ii^ch thick. Lay the nail on top of the 

 dummy, with the point projecting as far as it can and yet admit 

 the dummy into the hive. The head of the nail will not allow 

 it to lie down flat. All the better. Hammer on the head till 

 the nail does lie flat. Now take a piece of tin 31/0 to 4 inches 

 long and wide enough to cover the part of the nail that lies on 

 the dummy, not including the head. Lay this tin on top, bend 

 down over each side, and near the lower end drive through two 

 light wire nails an inch long or longer, and clinch. There's a 

 feeling of solid comfort every time one opens a hive containing 

 such a dummy. 



HIVE-COVEES. 



At the risk of losing caste as a beekeeper, I am obliged to 

 confess that I never got up " a hive of my own," never even 

 tried to plan one, but I have tried no little to get up a hive-cover 

 to suit me. A hive is so seldom moved that I care less for its 

 weight, but when I, or, more particularly, my female assistants, 

 have to lift covers all day long, when hot and tired, a pound 

 difference in weight is quite an item. The first covers I had for 

 movable-frame hives were 8 inches deep and weighed about 18 

 pounds. Needless to detail the different covers I ha-\'e devised 

 and tried, with upper surface of tin, oilcloth, and wood, painted 

 and unpainted. Although I don't paint hive-bodies, I want 

 covers painted or at least waterproof. Some of my covers have 

 been the common plain board cover, and I don't like them. 

 Some of them are of two boards united at the middle by a V- 

 shaped tin slid into saw-kerfs, and I like these still less. A new 

 board cover is a nice thing. After a little it warps, and then it 

 is not a nice thing. Put a cleat on each end so it can not warp 

 — cast-iron cleats, if you like — and it will twist so that there 

 will be a i:riniiin,u openin,t;' at one eunier (o allow bees to walk 

 out and cold to walk in, to say nothing of robber-bees. 



TIN COVERS WITH IJEAU-AIH SPAt'E. 



I have fifty covers that I like very much. They are double- 

 board covers, the boards being % thick, the grain of the upper 



