FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 91 



honey running in a stream on the ground, one of the hives at 

 least being in a shade of trees so dense the sun never shone on 

 it, and I suspect it was for lack of air. A dense growth of corn 

 was directly back of the hives and a dense growth of young 

 trees and underbrush in front. I didn't know enough to notice 

 this, although when working at the bees my shirt would be as 

 wet as if dipped in the river. I had the young trees thinned 

 out and trimmed up, the corn-ground in grass, so the air could 

 get through, and I now work with more comfort, and no comb 

 has melted down for 30 years. 



Sometimes I have found it desirable to shade one or more 

 hives singly. An armful of the longest fresh-cut grass obtain- 

 able is laid on the hive-cover, and weighted down with two or 

 three sticks of stove-wood. But I do not think anything of the 

 kind is needed on double covers. 



MOVABLE SHADE. 



For hives that are not in the shade, especially during 

 certain parts of the day, a movable shade (Fig. 58) is a great 

 comfort to the operator when the sun shines with blistering 

 heat. Four standards are made of 7-16-inch rod iron. Take a 

 piece of the iron 6 feet 2 inches long ; bend the upper end into 

 a ring or eye, and sharpen the lower end. Twelve inches from 

 the point or lower end bend the rod at right angles. Two inches 

 higher up bend again at right angles, leaving the rod straight 

 except that knee of two inches, upon which you can set your 

 foot and drive it in the ground as when spading. 



The cloth used for the shade is about as large as an ordinary 

 bed-sheet, and is usually the linen lap-robe, which is always at 

 hand, and on which a string is kept tied on each corner so as to 

 be always ready to set up in a twinkling. This string has both 

 ends tied around the cloth at the corner, leaving the string in 

 the form of a l(fop. The loop is thrust through the eye of the 

 standard, looped back over the eye, and there you are. 



"When the sun is not far from the horizon, only two stand- 

 ards are used, from which the lap-robe hangs' as a wall between 

 the operator and the sun. 



