88 FIFTY YEAES AMONG THE BEES 



ZINC COVERS. 



Fifty other covers are made on the same plan and covered 

 with zinc. These are not painted. So long as they remain 

 whole there is no need of paint, and whenever there seems to 

 be a possibility of their approaching anything like a leaking 

 condition they can be covered with paint. The same might be 

 said of the tin, only I expect the zinc to stand the weather 

 unpainted much longer than the tin would. 



At Fig. 38 may be seen two of these zinc hive-covers. The 

 one at the right shows the upper or zinc surface. The left one 

 shows the under or wood surface; and if you look at the right 

 end of this last cover you will see that the upper layer of thin 

 board projects three-fourths of an inch so as to serve as a 

 liandle. One of these covers weighs five pounds. 



A cover sent me by the A. I. Root Co. covered with paper 

 and painted, lins been in use several years, and so far it seems 

 to stand as well as zinc or tin. Possibly this paper may do as 

 well as the metal and save expense. I would rather pay a good 

 price for a good cover, rain-proof, bee-proof, non-warping;, 

 non-twisting, with a dead-air s]iace, than to take a poor cover 

 as a gift. 



The hundred coveis I have mentioned were made specially 

 (0 order, but 1 am ylad to see that Ihe A. T. Hoot Co. have now 

 on their lisi a cover made on the same principle. 



HIVF-STAXDS. 



My hive-stands are simple and inexpensive (Fig. 39). 

 They are made of common fence-boards 6 inches wide. Two 

 pieces 32 inches long are nailed upon two other pieces or cleats 

 24 inches long. That's all. Of course the longer pieces are 

 uppermost, leaving the cleats below. Two similar cleats, but 

 loose, lie on the ground under the first-mentioned cleats. This 

 makes it equivalent to cleats of two-inch stuff, with the decided 

 advantage that only the loose cleat will rot away by lying on 

 Ihe ground, without spoiling the wliole stand. These stands are 

 leveled with a spirit-level before the hives are placed on them 

 (sometimes not till afterward), being made perfectly level from 

 side to side, with the rear one or two inches higher than the 



