368 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



M INTYBE S TWO- 

 COMB REVERSIBLE 

 EXTRACTOR. 



extractor. I have every thing now except the 

 extractor, which is still ying on the ground where 

 his apiary was. Now, I do not mean to insinuate 

 that the Novice extractor was the cause of his fail- 

 ure. I only want to show you where the small bee- 

 keeper and the small extractor are going. 



A TWO-COMB REVERSIBLE GEAR. 



It saves time and combs to have a reversible ex- 

 tractor, and it saves time and temper to have all 

 the baskets reverse at once, 

 without hitting each other. 

 I have such a high opinion 

 of the reversible baskets 

 that I would use them, even 

 in a two-comb extractor. I 

 Ifti [I * would have the axle attach- 



|) -, '^ ed to the frame above and 



below, but not run clear 

 through, and place the bas- 

 kets so close together that 

 they would just pass each 

 other by turning one at a 

 time, like this. 



I think the above extract- 

 or would be a good one for 

 a man to take with him to 

 extract a small out-apiary, and bring it home in the 

 evening; but we don't do that way in California. 

 All our out-apiarles are large, and we have a com- 

 plete outfit at each apiary, and a man to take 

 charge of each one for the seaso|^ Sometimes he 

 must have an assistant; and it would never do to 

 give them a poor extractor, or one that would 

 break down; they might get lazy, and lay the blame 

 on the extractor. 



Although much thought has been spent on some 

 arrangement to turn all the baskets at once, the 

 basket itself is the greatest invention, and I should 

 like to know very much who invented it, for I owe 

 him a debt of gratitude. 



The reversing principle illustrated on page 841 

 has several advantages over the Stanley. It is 

 easier to put the combs in and take them out; the 

 baskets never hit each other, and you don't need 

 any experience to reverse it. If you don't 

 want to reverse it with the crank, you can key 

 the frame fast to the axle, and leave the cog- 

 wheel in the center loose, when, by turning one 

 basket, all will turn. 



I have no uge for a brake. I uncap two combs 

 while the extractor is stopping. If you ever make 

 a four-comb reversible, try the one on page 841; 

 and if the workmanship is as good as the principle, 

 I know you will be pleased with it. Any one is wel- 

 come to make and advertise them; and if some one 

 doesn't, I shall say it was for lack of a patent. 



Baker & Barnard, Ventura, Cal., made several ; 

 but they had no facilities for making them, and the 

 workmanship was poor. They made enough, how- 

 ever, to show that the principle was all right. 

 Fillmore, Cal., Mar. 31. J. F. McIntybe. 



Friend M., Ernest had an engraving made 

 of the inside of a two-comb reversible ex- 

 tractor before I knew any thing about it, 

 and he did it without knowing that we once 

 made extractors on this very principle — 

 namely, without any center-shaft. I think 

 they were abandoned because they cost 

 quite a little more, and at that time most of 

 the people were ordering and using a cheap- 

 er extractor. It would be hard to say who 



invented the comb - basket. I think our 

 German brother Mehring used wire cloth 

 for supporting combs first in extractors; 

 and as soon as reversing the combs inside of 

 the extracting-can came up, there was no 

 other way but to make a basket to hold the 

 comb, with wire cloth on each side. The 

 idea illustrated above A. e., of omitting the 

 center-shaft, is very old. It was described 

 if not illustrated as much as 15 years ago. 

 To be sure, friend M., we want the best ex- 

 tractor in the world, no matter where it 

 comes from ; but I think it very likely true 

 that large apiaries, such as you have in Cal- 

 ifornia, necessitate larger machines for ex- 

 tracting than are ordinarily used in moder- 

 ate-sized apiaries about here. 



BROODING STICKS OR AIR. 



DR. MILLER CONSIDERS THE MATTER. 



I AM glad, friend Root, that you and Ernest don't 

 always agree. It sometimes gives us a chance to 

 see both sides more fairly. I hope you will always 

 let your disagreements, more or less, come out in 

 print. I'm " ferninst " you in the triangular contro- 

 versy on page 277. Don't you think you're a little 

 unfair in your illustration— just a wee bit, you 

 know? You are calling the top-bars " right in the 

 center of the brood-nest." and they are not in the 

 brood-nest at all. True, the bees in harvest time 

 must keep every thing warm to the top of the 

 supers; but at that time it doesn't cost much. 

 Evenif it should cost something to keep the extra 

 lumber warm, what does that lumber take the place 

 of? You know well enough, that, with nearly all 

 of us, it is a choice between slat honey-boards and 

 thick top-bars that is now under consideration. 

 Now, which is easier to keep warm— a piece of 

 wood or a piece of air of the same size? In either 

 case there is the same distance between the brood- 

 combs and the sections— the same space to keep 

 warm--but the wood is easier kept warm than the 

 air, for the air is such slippery stuff that, just as 

 the bees get it warmed up, away it slides, and a 

 fresh piece of wind must be warmed by the bees, 

 So, you see, if brooding " sticks " is bad, brooding 

 wind is worse; and please tell us what you would 

 have in place of the thick top-bar. 



But I think Ernest is astray in his claim that 

 " thick top-bars cause the combs to be built clear 

 to the bottom-bar." I can't find the correspon- 

 dence to which he refers; but were not the combs 

 in question raised over other combs? I can hardly 

 imagine how the bottom-bar can be affected by a 

 top-bar several inches above it. 



REVERSIBLE BOTTOM-BOARDS. 



If combs will be built down to bottom-bars by 

 means of extra space beneath, and if that extra 

 space can be maintained without detriment all the 

 year round, we shall owe friend Murray a vote of 

 thanks. That will allow me to discard my reversi- 

 ble bottom-board, at the same time retaining all its 

 advantages. I may say to friend Gretn, that, al- 

 though his objections are not great compared with 

 v/hsitlthink are the advantages, yet 1 am not as 

 well pleased as I expected to be with the reversible 

 bottom board. The reversing is too troublesome. 

 If, however, I can't have the deep space in summer, 

 I shall continue to reverse. 



