. The American bee keeper. Bee culture; Honey. Vol. XI JANUARY, 1901 No. 1 UNPAINTED HIVES. BY ARTHUK C. MILLER. MR. DOOLITTLE has for a long time championed nnpainted hives,and has supported his cause with much vigor and persistence. Both on account of his having had so many more years of experience than myself, with many more colonies, and his gen- erally thorough and careful observation, I am somewhat loth to take a position antagonistic to him. For three reasons I object to unpaint- ed hives: First, appearance ; second, economy; third, condition of bees. Generally speaking, unpainted hives
. The American bee keeper. Bee culture; Honey. Vol. XI JANUARY, 1901 No. 1 UNPAINTED HIVES. BY ARTHUK C. MILLER. MR. DOOLITTLE has for a long time championed nnpainted hives,and has supported his cause with much vigor and persistence. Both on account of his having had so many more years of experience than myself, with many more colonies, and his gen- erally thorough and careful observation, I am somewhat loth to take a position antagonistic to him. For three reasons I object to unpaint- ed hives: First, appearance ; second, economy; third, condition of bees. Generally speaking, unpainted hives go with unpainted buildings, shabby fences, farm implements etc., etc, and I have almost Invariably found that where the hives wei'e unpainted, that man did but indifferently with his bees; in a word, he was "slipshod" in all liis work. (I do not imply that is). W(!ll-painted hives encourage an orderly apiary and that helps to main- tain a spirit of neatness and care in everything pertaining to the business; and if the constant insistence on this by apicultural writers and honey- dealers is any criterion by which to judge, there is certainly need of wider practice of these virtues. As to the economy, I maintain that a coat of thin paint each fall is fas cheaper than a new hive every little while—I cannot say how often, for I gave up the unpainted business before my hives had a chance to deteriorate much. Beside the saving of the hive there is the economy of stores and vital force of the bees; and this brings us to the third phase of the question. Mr. Doolittle's position is that by leaving the pores of the wood open the moisture from the bees will pass out (with mine it <ill goes out the front door} but he does not say where the rain and water from melted snow will pass to from these same pores when they be- come filled with it. Let him put on an overcoat and sit out in a good, cold rain and see where the moisture goes and how warm it is inside of i
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbeeculture, bookyear1
