812 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov 1. 



addressed, and stamped. I put in from 8 to 25 

 bees, according to distance and size of ciige. 

 Swedona, 111., Oct. 10. S. F. Tiskgo. 



[Friend T.'s suggestions are good; but if he 

 will use paraffine instead of wax, and apply 

 the same while hot, with a small sash-liush, 

 such as painters use. he will do the work more 

 rapidly still. Paraffine melts at a lower tem- 

 perature, and soaks better into the grain of the 

 wood. We have tried wax, but the other, in 

 our estimation, is far better.] 



RAMBLE 95. 



TilE MURDER OF A BEE-KEEPER, AS TOLD BY 



RAMBLER; A HONEY-EXTRA CTOK THAT 



EXTRACTS BOTH SIDES AT ONCE. 



The pigs that sought to put bangs on our 

 hair aroused us, as we desired, at a very early 

 hour; and long before sunrise four hunters 

 with their guns, and mounted on horses, disap- 

 peared in the forest. It was the intention to 

 hunt both small and large game. Messrs. Fer- 



little time-saving devices, and will try to ex- 

 plain some of them. 



It is an established fact now, that the feed- 

 hole in a queen-cage must be waxed; and to do 

 this rapidly I till the oven of the cook-stove 

 (that is, cover the bottom with one layer of 

 cages), having the feed ends all in one direction 

 [from you as you take the cages out). Get the 

 cages as hot as you can handle them, and have 

 some hot wax in a basin or tin pan on the stove 

 before you. Now take a seat directly in front 

 of the oven, and take a cage out with your left 

 hand. Dip a teaspoonful of wax with your 

 right, and hold the cage at an angle of 30 or 40 

 degrees, feed end down, over the wax-pan, and 

 top (or open) partof cage turned slightly toward 

 you; pour in the wax; turn the top of the cage 

 quickly/rom you; lower the upper end slightly, 

 and dump the wax out quickly on the side from 

 you, and drop the cage on the floor (have a 

 paper to catch the wax that drips out, or your 

 wife may dump you and the wax and cages all 

 outdoors). With a little practice you can wax 

 them very rapidly, and very little of the wax 

 will be in the queen's "living-rooms" or on the 

 outside of the cages. 



By having the cages hot, the 

 wax penetrates into the wood, 

 and is not so unsightly as when 

 it is put on to cold wood. 



Now you have your cages 

 waxed, we will put in the candy 

 and get ready to catch the queens. 

 Have your candy made up two 

 or three days before you want to 

 use it, and just stift' enough so 

 that it will not run or look wa- 

 tery on the outside. Get as many 

 cages as you want to use at once, 

 and pick the cage up in your left 

 hand and put the candy in with 

 your right; smooth it off with 

 your thumb, so the hole is just 

 full, and lay aside, etc. Now cut 

 as many pieces of foundation as 

 you have cages, and, if conven- 

 ient. 1 .y theni out on the top of 

 the reservoir on the stove (or any- 

 where that they will get soft, 

 but not too soft to handle). Put 

 the wax on; press it quickly all 

 around with your thumb, and lay 

 aside. Now get your wire-cloth 

 covers (as many as you have 

 cages) and put them on, leaving 

 them drawn back far enough at 

 one end to admit a queen easily; fasten the wire guson and Wilder carried Winchester rifles, 

 on by putting a %-inch rubber band around the while Mr. Squh-es, the man with big green gog- 



cage. As you put the queens in. slip the wire 

 over the cage, and the rubber band will liold it. 

 Continue until you have thecages all full; then 

 take them to the house (or wherever you have 

 a workbench) and drive four i^g'-inch flat-head 

 wire nails, one in the upper left-hand corner. 



gles, and the Rambler, carried shotguns. Mr. 

 Ferguson took the lead, and our horses had 

 some dil'flculty in surmounting the steep and 

 ragged hillsides. However, we kept together; 

 and, while clambering down the side of a can- 

 yon, Mr. F. suddenly leaped from his horse. 



and another a little to the right of the middle threw his gun to his shoulder, and shouted 



of the upper edge; another in the lower right 

 luind corner, and another a little to the left of 

 the middle of the lower edge. I use a magnet 

 hammer, as it picks up the nails easier than 

 one can do it by hand. As you nail on the 

 covers, slip off the bands and save them for an- 

 other time. Get all the wires on, then pile up 

 as many as each customer has ordered (say half 

 a dozen) ; tack a strip of strong pasteboard 

 along the ends, to hold them together, as it 

 saves putting on extra addresses and cards (or 

 thin boards); put a card on the top one, and 

 address. If the weather is hot, slip a piece of 

 thin wood between the cages as you pile them 

 up, to admit more air. 



I recently went into the apiary with eight 

 cages, and in 22 minutes they were nailed up. 



"Here she goes!" and tired. It was quickly 

 followed by another shot. Friend Wilder had 

 also dismounted, and his rifle awoke the echoes 

 of the forest. We that were in the rear had 

 our minds on deer, and expected, when the fir- 

 ing commenced, to see a noble buck, with 

 antlers broad, plunging in his death-throes 

 through the forest; but, no — the game was 

 nothing more nor less than a mountain sheep. 

 With a bound or two it ceased its earthly ca- 

 reer, and in an incredibly short time it was 

 duly dressed and hung up in a tree against the 

 time we should come back. Our next game was 

 a few gray squirrels. 



About eight o'clock we entered a beautiful 

 park under the lofty pine-trees, and. picketing 

 our horses here, we separated in various direc- 



