THK BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



233 



I will oulliiie some work that is beinjf 

 done aljiig this line with some ilegrees of 

 snccess. In the first place a shallow 

 super is requiie I. If the cover is quietly 

 removed from such a super and a clolli 

 saturated with a sululion of carbolic acid 

 is spre.id over it the bees, having a dislike 

 to the odor, will soon leave the super and 

 it can be removed. Or a shallow super 

 that is fitted with close end frames that 

 cm be held firmly in place can be rid of 

 the bees by a peculiar method of shaking. 



The Porter bee-escape has been recom- 

 mended by some bee-keepers, but it is 

 too slow in its operation, and on that ac- 

 count should be discarded for this par- 

 ticular purpose. 



Then, when the exegencies of the time 

 demand, we will have a machine for un- 

 capping the hone}'. 1 have gone so far 

 with some experiments in this line that I 

 am (luite sure that a machine can be con- 

 structed that will uncap six or eight 

 combs in just a few seconds; or, in other 

 words, you touch the button and the ma- 

 chine will do the rest. 



When a bee-keeper can uncap a num- 

 ber of combs as quickly as he can one 

 side of one comb there is a distinct gain 

 in time, and a consequent reduction in 

 the cost of production. 



.■\n ordinary two-frame honey extractor 

 will, when the combs are well filled with 

 honey, enable us to extract ten pounds at 

 one operation; and 10 double this amount 

 the four-frame extractor has been intro- 

 duced; but now we need in a large apiar\', 

 and to follow the lightning uncapping 

 machine, an extractor that will enable us 

 to extract 100 pounds at one operation, 

 and nearh- as rapidly as one man can ex- 

 tract ten pounds with a small machine. 

 The labor then woul 1 in a great measure 

 be with the care of t le honey, getting it 

 into cans and to market. 



I also certainly expect that the automo- 

 bile will play an imjjorlant part in honey 

 production. There is no bee-keeper who 

 feels safe to drive a .spin of horses near a 

 bee-ranch, except in the night, and we 

 learn of the death of horses every year 

 frotn the stings of angrv bees. The auto- 

 mobile will enable the bee-keeper to ap- 

 proach, or pass directly through, the 

 apiary with his load of a])pliances and 

 honey at any seasonable hour; and. as I 

 pointed out in a recent article in dlean- 

 ings in Bee Culture, the automobile can 

 be used for a variety of purposes in the 

 apiary, running a saw, running the ex- 

 tractor or anything where light power is 

 needed. 



Franklin's printing press was a crude 

 aflair but it answered the purpose when 



Franklin was a printer, and the circula- 

 tion of pipers was limited, but Franklin's 

 press would mike a sorry show beside 

 tile mo lern lightning press; but the bee- 

 keeper's interests are not so extensive, 

 like the making of ne A'sp ipers, and in- 

 ventors will not give their time to the 

 inventioa of appliances that will have but 

 limited sale; bat we m ly be quite sure 

 that if the bu-iiness had warranted it, 

 such rapid manipulation as I have out- 

 lined would have been in use long ago. 



When we further consider the subject 

 of new inventions for the apiar}' and its 

 management, we find that there is room 

 for improvement in every line of our 

 work. The smoker with which we sub- 

 due our bees is too large and cumbersome 

 to operate with dispatch. In fact, with 

 any of our bellows smokers quite a per- 

 centage of our time is spent in working 

 the bellows. My ideal .smoker would be 

 not overlarge, and with it I would have a 

 propi-r prepared fuel, and it should be 

 self-operating: and so arranged that both 

 hands of the bee-keeper can be used in 

 the manipulation of the hive while the 

 smoker is doing its part automatically. 



We need new and fancy packages for 

 small amounts of honey, something that 

 cm be sold on the street and on the lines 

 of transportation. 



Such a package was sent to me some 

 time ago and it worked like a charm. 

 The honev could be eaten from it as it 

 was held in the hand, but there was a 

 strong objection to the material it was 

 made from. It was made from the same 

 material that forms the covering for 

 sausages. Such material is all right 

 when applied to sansayes, but there is an 

 evident unfitness of things when applied 

 as a receptilce for honey. 



The foregoing improvements I think 

 will occupv the attention of bee-keepers 

 in the near future and greater than these 

 will certainly be developed ii the exegen- 

 cies of our industry demand. 



NEW BOOKLETS. 



The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 

 Railway is issuing a series of booklets 

 regarding points of interest along its 

 lines, and if you are intere.sted in the 

 western country, or contemplating a 

 trip, write Gko. H. Heaki-ord, General 

 Passenger Aijent, Chicago, 111., for the 

 special publication desired, enclosing 

 four cents in stamps for postage for each 

 one. 



No. I. The Pioneer Limited. 



No. 2. The Land of Bread and Butter, 



