1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



425 



at least. I expected to find some eggs lying on 

 their sides; but I could see no particular differ- 

 ence between eggs in this hive and the one pre- 

 viously exanained. In some of the cells the 

 eggs were straight out, and in others they were 

 slightly inclined: but in none do I remember 

 of seeing where the eggs were lying in the bot- 

 tom of the cell, although I found hundreds of 

 larvte just hatched, seeming to have hardly 

 broken the envelope or shell, as we might call 

 it. off from around them. In the course of the 

 afternoon Mr. Spafford examined other colo- 

 nies, and he could not discover that the length 

 of time during which the eggs had been laid 

 had any particular effect upon the angle as re- 

 gards the point of attachment. 



Now, either our bees do very differently in 

 this country, or else our friend Vogel, of the 

 Bienenzeitung, has been careless in his obser- 

 vation. In the language of Herr Vogel him- 

 self, "To err is human." His statements, it 

 seems to me. are the ones that "hobble around 

 on crutches." 



There are hundreds of queen -breeders who 

 will be prepared to substantiate or disprove the 

 point; and I shall be glad to hear briefly from 

 quite a number. If some Yankee had put 

 forth such a proposition I do not know but I 

 should be inclined to drop it right here as all a 

 hoax; but those German bee-keepers have the 

 reputation of being very careful observers; and 

 one needs to be a little careful before he dis- 

 putes their statements upon his own ipse dixit. 

 -Ed.] 



A HANDY HIVE-CARRIER. 



By N. Toung. 



Mr. Root: — I have of late been rigging up a 

 contrivance or device which I think can be 

 used in many apiaries to good ad- 

 vantage in moving light loads 

 about the apiary; and as the cost 

 of it is so trifling I think almost 

 anyone can afford to give it a trial. 

 Get a large-sized fence wire, say 

 one or two hundred feet long. Tie 

 one end to the corner of the honey- 

 house or bee-cellar; perhaps a good 

 solid post near by, well braced, 

 would be better. Then tie the oth- 

 er end to something solid out in the 

 bee-yard, or wherever you think 

 you want it; then stretch it tight 

 with a wire-stretcher. I make a car 

 like that shown in the cut. Get a 

 drygoods box, or make one large 

 enough to receive a bee-hive. 

 Knock off the sides, then take two pieces, 2x4, 

 about 20 inches long. Nail them edgewise to 

 the end of the box; then get two roller hinges 

 and fasten on to each end of the box or car, and 

 then hang it on the wire, and you have the 

 outfit. 



Ackley, Iowa. 



[This I regard as a very simple and practical 

 device, easy to make, and perfectly free from 

 the jolt of wheel vehicles that run on the 

 ground. It is very desirable, in carrying col- 

 onies of bees to and from the cellar, to do it in 



such a way that they shall not be jolted or dis- 

 turbed; and this hive-carrier will do the busi- 

 ness perfectly. Our engraver has failed to show 

 the scantling set edgewise to the tray, as speci- 

 fied in the description. The object of this is to 

 permit of the use of the ordinary door-pulleys, 

 such as are used for sliding barn-doors. A few 

 cents' worth of lumber and two door-pulleys, 

 and 100 feet or so of stout wire, is all that is re- 

 quired. It is not necessary, as shown in the 

 engraving, to have a post at the honey-house, 

 because the latter is supposed to be rigid enough 

 for that; and in place of the window shown, 

 there should be a doorway. 



If the taut wire runs centrally through the 

 apiary it will be necessary to carry colonies 

 only to the carrier; but if one wishes to carry 

 out something a little more elaborately, he can 

 have branch wires connecting honey-house in 

 such a way as to intercept the whole apiary. 

 Of course, the wire should be set up high enough 

 to be above the head, but the carrier itself can 

 hang down low enough so as to be the right 

 height for loading and unloading. 



Thousands of tons of coal are carried by 

 systems similar to this. A cable runs into the 

 mouth of a mine on a side hill, and the coal or 

 ore is loaded on. A smaller cable hitched to 

 the carrier draws it out and conveys it to a 

 point directly over a railway track or river, 

 where the load is dumped on to a car or into 

 the hold of a boat, as the case may be. 



In the device above, an attendant simply 

 pushes the machine from one point to another. 

 If most of the loads go toward the honey-house, 

 the far end of the wire can be raised up a little 

 so as to make it down grade. But I imagine 

 some bee-keepers will not be content with this, 

 but will arrange it so that the wire can be rais- 

 ed at either end— something as in done in large 

 drygoods stores where they send the cash-boxes 

 or bundle-carriers from one point to another. — 

 Ed.] 



YOUNG 8 HIVE -CARRIER. 



"SWEEP SWARMS.' 



ANOTHER METHOD OF PREVENTING SWARM- 

 ING: SHALLOW EXTRACTING-SUPERS; HOW 

 TO SECURE MORE HONEY; HOW TO KEEP 

 DOWN INCREASE. 



By T. H. Kloer. 



I have practiced the Elwood dequeening 

 method from the time Mr. Elwood first pub- 

 lished it, in the winter of 1888, I think, up to 

 1894. So far as prevention of swarming, and 



