1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



17^ 



• HONEY-EXTRACTORS. 



HOW SHALL WE HAVE THEM MADE TO HE HANDIEST? 



^ EST any of the friends should accuse me 

 Jyil of coiiyinfT, I will explain, in the ont- 

 '^"'^ set, that 1 have purchased from friend 

 Everett his patterns and all the materials for 

 his extractors, and have therefore a perfect 

 right to copy his extractor cut, or to lind 

 fault with it. even, if I choose. I do not 

 think I shall find very much fault, however, 

 for I know what different notions we all 

 have of things, and I ought to know pretty 

 well what different ideas we have in regard 

 to the convenience of implements for the 

 apiary. The engraving below shows an ex- 

 tractor made so as to contain 100 lbs. or more 

 of honey under the revolving frame. 



HONEY FROin: CORN, ETC. 



ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT "BEES THAT WODLDN'T 

 FREEZE." 



EXTRACTOTt, AVITH A STORAGE CAPACITY 

 BENEATH THE REVOLV'ING FRAME. 



Now the question is. Shall we have stor- 

 age room in the extractor, or have a separate 

 receptacle for storageV I Avould have the 

 latter because it is cheaper, and because I 

 Avant the extractor made short enough to ad- 

 mit of its delivering the honey right into 

 pails, tubs, or the bung of a barrel, while the 

 handle stands at easy height to be worked 

 by one standing by its side. Our little bags, 

 made of cheese cloth, are the handiest and 

 most perfect strainer of any I have yet seen 

 devised. I do not know how you can well 

 use these with a tall extractor like one in the 

 cut, unless you deliver the honey into the 

 cellar, or other room below. Now, after 

 having had my say about it, I will make you 

 extractors just like above, all you want, and 

 you can liave the heavy Everett gearhig, in 

 place of ours, at an expense of 50 cts. extra, 

 if you prefer it. We can also furnish any of 

 the parts for repairs, for the Everett ex- 

 tractors. 



fl HE subject of honey from corn has been ngitat- 

 ed, and I would say that I have made the 

 source from which honey is produced a spe- 

 cial study for the last few years, and the following 

 are the deductions in regard to honey from corn (dif- 

 ferent varieties tested.) 



I have never known honey to be secreted in cither 

 silk or tassel; but the smooth gland, or plate, situ- 

 ated at the base of leaf, or, rather, at the junction of 

 blade with stalk, usually furnishes honey, and, at 

 certain- climatic changes, the tlow from this source 

 is quite heavy. I do not wish to be understood as 

 claiming that honey is never foimd on other parts of 

 the corn, for, if there Is such a phenomenal occur- 

 rence as a honeydew, then I should expect to And 

 the bees licking honey frotn all parts exposed to 

 the same. I am not pi-epared, however, as yet, to 

 give a positive answer as to dew or no dew; but my 

 investigations during the past three years have led 

 me to favor such a possibility. 



With your permission I will call attention to two 

 sources from which honey is produced, that I have 

 not seen spoken of before. First, the common 

 buckeye; second, a plant (name not known) that I 

 found growing in waste places such as roadsides, old 

 pastures, slashings, and in thinly timbered landi 

 This plant seems to be an intermediate between 

 motherwort and the mint family. It resembles the 

 mint somewhat, but is odorless; bears its flowers on 

 a spike like the former; the flowrets are white and 

 small, growing in tufts around the spike, about 9i of 

 an inch apart. It blooms after basswood, and con- 

 tinues a long time. My observations have led me to 

 believe it will bear cultivation, and will be much im- 

 proved thereby. I will send you a specimen iti Iti 

 season. It is an annual. 



A BEE-TREE ITEM. 



In January a party of workmen cutting timber one 

 mile from my place felled a tree in which was snugly 

 housed a colony of nice Italian bees. The tree fell in 

 such a position as to split open the cavity, and throw 

 combs and bees out, with but little loss to either. 

 Thcj' had a fair supply of stores, and brood nearly 

 ready to hatch. The day was mild, so that the bees 

 could fly, and an interval of one hour occurred be- 

 tween the falling bf the tree and the discovery of 

 the bees, during which time they improved by load- 

 ing up to. their greatest capacity, and then clustered 

 under a hollow shell about two feet from the ground. 

 That evening the wind changed to south-west, and 

 became very violent. The next morning the mer- 

 cury was 4° above zero. The day continued windy 

 and cold; at eve the wind fell, and the following 

 morning the mercury stood 4° above. A gentleman 

 told me that those bees were still clustered under 

 the hollow shell. I lost no time in going to their re- 

 lief with a nucleus hive, a brick, and a smoker, t 

 built a Arc and threw in the brick, then cut a hole 

 through the shell immediately over the cluster. I 

 placed the hive over this, and when the brick was 

 ready I placed it beneath the cluster. In ten min-' 

 utes after, I had the satisfaction, with the assist- 

 ance of a little smoKc, of seeing those bees securely 

 hived. At this date, March 7th, their numbers have 

 been augmented by a recently hatched lot of young 

 bees; they are doing finely. How does this compare 



