1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



541 



and ?C Inch thick; notch on one end }4\% m. 

 (Fig. 1) ; these are to be nailed to the hive per- 

 manently, each side of the entrance (be sure to 

 have them just far enough apart to slip your 

 Alley drone -trap in betwecMi. or you may have 

 trouble when you want to catch drones or 

 queens). Now take a strip of tin. 3-< inch wide 

 by 10}v) inches long; a strip of wood ^i inch 

 square. 10i.< long; 3 blocks i^xJoXl inch long; 

 make a frame out of this; let the tin be on the 

 bottom; cover one side with screen wire, and 

 you will have it (Fig. 3). Slip this in before 

 the entrance, and fasten with a nail, button, or 

 any thing else. Dimensions may differ to fit 

 your hive. I use the Dovetailed hive. 

 Harriraan, Tenn. Geo. Vanderpile. 



[An entrance-screen such as you describe is 

 perfectly feasible and practicable; but such as 

 we employ is far simpler, and is the one sug- 

 gested to us by Dr. C. 0. Miller. It is simply a 

 strip of wood U inch thick, in length equal to 

 the width of the hive, about % inch wide, and 

 scored out something in this shape. Wire cloth 



: 



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"~^J 



is now folded for no other purpose than to give 

 it stiffness, and nailed across this. A nail is 

 driven into each end. so it just pricks though. 

 When it is desired to attach ic to the entrance 

 for moving bees, or otherwise, three or four 

 blows of a hammer will fasten each end very 

 securely; but the wire nail is not driven far 

 enough so but the head sticks out, so a claw- 

 hammer will yank the screen off at one pull. 

 W^e keep from forty to fifty of these in our 

 apiary all the time ; and whenever we are 

 ready to move bees, or bring in a lot from an 

 out-apiary, we vput a quantity of these into a 

 basket, and the 'work of fastening the bees into 

 the hives is practically nothing. Referring 

 again to the entrance-screens of Mr. Vander- 

 pile, we would say that, unless the movable 

 piece fits pretty tight, it is liable to hop out on 

 the road, and then — oh my! if the bees get out 

 and sting the horses I Our own experience in 

 moving bees is such that we feel that we can 

 not be too careful in making entrances perfect- 

 ly tight. One bee may result in the practical 

 ruination of the whole load of colonies; and not 

 only th<^ colonies, but of the wagon, and possi- 

 bly of a good team.] 



ASBESTOS LINING TO CKANE SMOKERS ; WHAT 

 IT IS FOR. 



The impression seems to prevail, that our 

 reason for putting asbestos lining in the Crane 

 smoker was so that both the cup and nozzle 

 could be handled with the hand. That is a 

 mistake. It would take too large an amount of 

 asbestos to keep the outside cool. We use just 

 enough to prevent too great a radiation of heat, 

 and enough to make the use of the shield and 

 such things unnecessary. Many times a nozzle 

 can be handled very readily ; but if the smoker 

 has been going hard, it will be too hot to be 

 handled without protection. We use a stick, 

 and find no trouble in adjusting the nozzle. 

 The knack can be acquired very easily. When 

 said nozzle is curved it can be fitted on as neatly 

 and tightly as it can be with the naked hand. 

 While we are about it, we might say that we 

 have made an improvement in the check-valve. 

 We have put it on the new smokers in stock, 

 and are willing to send it by mail postpaid to 

 all who purchased smokers prior to .June 15. 

 Just let us know that you have one of the new 

 Crane smokers, and we will send you a new 

 valve that you can put on yourself. 



KIND WORDS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. 



I received the g'oods you sent me. Every thing 

 was all right, and of the nicest lumber, made in the 

 best shape 1 ever saw. If a person deals with you 

 lie won't need a carpenter's outfit to make tliem go 

 togetlier. James Pratt. 



Corning, Iowa, June 17. 



I am just in from the apiary, and hasten to send 

 in my dollar for Gleanings. I should have gone In 

 by the first of May— a good thing for you that j'ou 

 did not stop it, for you would have fared badly at 

 first opportunity. VVikl alfalfa comes in for a big 

 credit-mark in this s(.'i-tion. Arthur Hanson. 



National City, Cal., June 1. 



COWAN EXTRACTOR FAST ENOUGH. 



I commenced extracting honey to-day. I have 

 extracted about 1000 lbs. The queen - excluding 

 honey-zinc bought of you last fall, not a queen gets 

 through. The Cowan extractor giVes perfect satis- 

 faction. I don't want any thing faster. 



Musson, La., May 1. A. W. TuFTS. 



A KIND WORD FOR THE WATER CURE. 



I, like yourself, have been on the sick-list for the 

 last three years; but, thank the Lord, I am getting 

 tolerably well again, but not until I had about $500 

 spent in doctoring. Seeing your warm-water cure, 

 and also taking a medical journal that recommend- 

 ed it so highly, I resolved to quit medicine and try 

 it; and I derived more benefit from it than all the 

 medicine I ever took. J. E. Gault. 



Sycamore, Ohio, June 19. 



The Ohio Farmer gets off the following in 

 regard to the way the Chicago people have 

 managed: 



Having cheated congress out of the money and 

 the Lord out of Sunday, they now try to cheat the 

 people out of 25 cents each by charging full price 

 for half a show. 



A NEW USE FOR POULTRY-NETTING. 



The grandchildren are getting to be old 

 enough now to circulate around outdoors quite 

 freely; and unless their mothers, aunts, or 

 grandmother is on hand to give chase, there is 

 no end of mischief going on almost continually. 

 For instance, we have just had the turf cut out 

 along our stone walk; and in place of the turf 

 we put sifted cinders to keep the grass down. 

 The whole thing was pronounced very nice; 

 but as soon as Howard and Leland got a view 

 of it they began clawing up the black stuff by 

 the handsful, throwing it over the walk, get- 

 ting it in their hair, etc. ; and it looked for a 

 spell as if it would take all their relations to 

 keep these two young hopefuls out of the black 

 dust. One evening about sundown, however, 

 Mr. Calvert made his appearance with two rolls 

 of two-foot-wide poultry-netting, some oak 

 stakes, big hammer, saw, etc. Before bedtime 

 two little yards were made for the grandchil- 

 dren. One of these is in the shade in the morn- 

 ing, and the other in the afternoon. Inside of 

 the yards they have a lot of playthings and a 

 a great heap of clean white sand; and, oh my! 

 but don't those boys have fun! Yes, and their 

 mothers can leave them 15 minutes or even a 

 whole hour without having to go on a general 

 hunt to find where they have gone to. When 

 they get able to climb over that two-foot fence, 

 I suppose something else will have to be done; 

 but at the present writing it has filled a " long- 

 felt want." While they are playing in the 

 sand-pile they have on some plain and simple 

 clothing. After they have tossed the sand all 

 over themselves and every thing else until they 

 are tired, they are treated to a bath, and 

 dressed up. 



