810 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1. 



sent out from these works. We are much pleased 

 with Mr. Blow's new patent section. Among- api- 

 culturi.sts it is well known that for some time at- 

 tempts have been niaile to introduce sections willi 

 glass dividers, so tliat, after tl)ese sections were filled 

 witli comb, they could be removed with the glass 

 attached, and thus be ready glazed for market. 

 Previously the great drawback was that the glass 

 has always been inserted in grooves, so that, when 

 the lioney was completed, the glass could be remov- 

 ed for clearing only with difficulty, and was often 

 broken. To send sections to market with the glass 

 soiled by the constant traffic of the bees over it 

 would reduce their chances of finding a ready sale. 

 After numerous trials, Mr. Blow devised an ingen- 

 ious expedient— one so simple that, as he said, it 

 seemed surprising that it should not have been dis- 

 covered before. A rebate is made in the corners of 

 the section, so that the glass has only to be dropped 

 into position, and, when the section is full, tlie 

 glass is easily lifted out, cleaned, and replaced, 

 while a neat label all round not only affords a sulta- 



than the completed bundles could realize. There- 

 fore, in order to make any profit, it was found 

 necessary to carry it out much more extensively, 

 and, accordingly, special machinery was put down 

 and W(jod purcliased for the purpose. About 20,000 

 bundles are turned out per week, a smart boy tying 

 KHiO bundles per day, and earning from ten to 

 twelve sliillings a week. These boys are thus kept 

 in employment all the year round, and the bundles 

 they produce are dispatched in truck-loads to all 

 purts of the county. 



Descending to the ground floor we pass out into a 

 detached workshop where the metal ends for the 

 bai-frames are being cast. Here we find a very 

 simple and ingenious arrangement for melting and 

 molding the metal by means of an oil-lamp, the 

 burner of which, being constructed on the Bunsen 

 principle, Ijurns with a blue frame, and is capable 

 of melting 4U lbs. of metal per hour. The mold is 

 held in the hand of tlie operator, who lets in the 

 molten metal, opens the mold, and turns out the 

 complete ends as quickly as shelling peas. 



MAKING STRAW HIVES. 



ble finish but keeps the glass iu its proper place. 

 Each section has to pass through eight different 

 machines during its manufacture. 



Next we come to the packing and forwarding 

 room, from which a large truck is being loaded. 

 Mr. Blow's goods find their way to many parts of 

 the world, substantial orders often coming from 

 the Cape, and a few days before our visit a large 

 selection of appliances had been ordered for the 

 Khedive of Egypt. 



The question of railway rates is one in which Mr. 

 Blow is naturally much interested; and if any ma- 

 terial rise take place it will have the effect of con- 

 siderably checking, if not wholly annihilating, this 

 industry. 



As an adjunct to his other business, Mr. Blow has 

 established a large trade in bundles of firewood. A 

 considerable number of boys are employed during 

 the busy season in the spring and summer for 

 whom it wi»8 impossible to find labor during the 

 winter. To obviate the necessity of throwing them 

 out of work, Mr. Blow hit upon the expedient of 

 thus utilizing the waste wood from tlie factory; but 

 as it is of all shapes and sizes the co<»tof cutting 

 and tying into bundles proved to be much greater 



We now visit the bees, for whose assistance the 

 hive of industry we Jiave just inspected is kept 

 going. Between two and tliree hundred hives are 

 placed on a gentle slope and arranged in horseshoe 

 form, while between each row of hives there is a 

 gravel walk and border planted with fruit-trees, 

 among which have been sown seeds of honey-pro- 

 ducing fiowers. It has a southern aspect, and is 

 situated a few hundred yards above tlie river Mim- 

 ram, which meanders through the lovely valley. 

 In a season like the present the proximity to the 

 river is very important to tlie bees, as in any season 

 they must have water. Altogether, it does not 

 seem possible to design an apiary in a more perfect 

 manner. 



Among the fruit-trees are several hundred goose- 

 berry bushes from one to two feet high, and which 

 cost a penny eacli last autumn. They are absolute- 

 ly laden with fruit, many of them containing as 

 much as two quarts, tli us strikingly exemplifying 

 the value of bees to fruit-growers. The presence of 

 a few hives— the more the better— in the vicinity of 

 fruit gardens and orchards is not simply a benefit 

 to the grower, but is a matter of the first impor 

 tance; and those who wish to secure the nearest 

 approach to constantly recurring profitable crops 



