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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June 15 



E. M. GIBSON'S POWER EXTRACTING-ROOM. 



r..The starting, stopping, and reversing are accomplished by means of foot levers operated by the uncap- 

 per's foot. 



fastened to the idler. It runs over two pul- 

 leys, such as are used for window-weights, 

 one placed directly over the point where the 

 cord is fastened to the idler, and the other 

 over a jwint where it is fastened to a foot- 

 pedal which is shown under the uncapping- 

 table in easy reach of the operator's foot. 

 The pedal can be worked almost instantane- 

 ously, while both hands may be busy with 

 other work. The ratchets by which the ten- 

 sion of the belt is adjusted do not show in 

 the picture. As soon as time will permit I 

 am going to attach a foot pedal to the brake 

 also, which will enable one to finish a set of 

 frames without stopjiing his other work, 

 which will be (]uite a saving of time. 



With the kind of foundation here de- 

 scribed, and with the engine resting perfect- 

 ly level, it can not fail to last much longer 

 than one having no foundation. Indeed, I 

 think an engine set level and solid, and if 

 used only for running the extractor during 

 the honey-llow, and well cared for in other 

 ways, will last as long as the average man 

 will need one; and instead of the work be- 

 ing hard and drilling, it is made very light 

 and pleasant; anil with a good man outside 

 and an intelligent boy or girl in the house, 

 a large crop of honey can be harvested. 



TOO MUCH VENTILATION NOT SAFE IN 

 CALIFORNIA. 



I want to sound a note of warning to Cal- 

 ifornia bee-keepers and others who keep 

 bees in climates where the nights are as 

 cool as they are here, about too much ven- 

 tilating of hives. So much ventilation may 

 be all right in sections of the country where 



the nights are as warm as the days; but in 

 l)ortions of the country where one needs a 

 warm covering every night during the sum- 

 mer, a ^i-inch entrance the full width of the 

 hive is sufficient, with a sunshade to cover 

 them well, and extending one foot in front 

 to shade the alighting-board. 



By the way, the entrance should front to- 

 ward the east on this coast, as the prevail- 

 ing winds are from the west, and bees can 

 not alight living with the wind if the wind 

 is strong. Occasionally we have an east 

 wind which is usually very strong; and the 

 bees coming in are carried to the back of 

 the hive, waiting for a lull, when they can 

 steal around the corner. Those which do 

 try to fly straight into the entrance do not 

 alight but tumble in. 



Returning to the subject of ventilation, I 

 would say I have tried every means of ven- 

 tilating tliat I have ever read or thought of, 

 and they have all proven failures with me; 

 and I have tested the matter so thoroughly 

 that I believe they would prove failures in 

 any locality where the nights are as cool as 

 they are here; and for the same reason I 

 would especially caution beginners about 

 spreading brood a la Doolittle in sections of 

 the country west of the Rocky Mountains. 

 In fact, I question the w'isdom of such a 

 proceeding in any locality. The queen 

 seems to be as anxious to build \\\) in the 

 spring as the bees, and she disi)lays excel- 

 lent bee sense; for as fast as the young ones 

 hatch she again lays eggs in the cells so as 

 to keep the brood-nest as compact as possi- 

 ble, showing no disposition to spread beyond 



