704 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



a btM' on the outside can lick from a bee on the 

 inside, they will learn the way back and forth: 

 that there must be ample room in the escape- 

 case below the board foi' the bees from the sec- 

 tions to cluster, and oijli^e them to so down the 

 sides of the case to the liiv<' or sections below, if 

 you want your sections to be freed of bees 

 quickly. 



I know, from what I used th(> escapes in 1888, 

 "89, and "90, that I can have the sections freed 

 of bees so I can handle them three times as fast 

 as without the escape: but I don't want them 

 less than 4^^ inches dee]), and I like them from 

 5 to () inches deep better. I can handle more 

 honey alone with the escapes, and easiei'. than 

 I can with a helper without the escai)es. Twen- 

 ty-tive esi'ap(^s are as good as one man to handle 

 1(X) colonies of bees when taking off sections. 



Milford, Ct.. Aug. 14. H. L. Jeffrey. 



Many thanks, friend J., for your suggestions. 

 It is only by repeated trials and experiments 

 that we can tell just what bees will or will not 

 do in matters of this kind. Now, Inasmuch as 

 you know just exactly what is needed in this 

 matter, can yon not make them and offer them 

 for sale ? 



SOLAR WAX-EXTRACTORS. 



A DEVICE USED BY ONE OF CAEIFOKNIA 

 PROMINENT BEP;-KEEI'EHS. 



THE MOLE CRICKET. 



ITS HAUITS. 



The insect forwarded by you from E. W. 

 Hammond. Lima. O.. is the' niole cricket. As 

 Mr. H. says, it is a cui'ious insect, and it is not 

 strange that he should wish its name and hab- 

 its. The technical name of this is (iniUntnlpa 

 horealis. The name GniUotiilpd i-eal'lv means 

 cricket mole, which, if re'versed. woukl b(^ (piite 

 the truth. It is really a cricket, but is very 

 molelike, as is at once a|)ijarent from its front 

 legs. This insect is very common here: but as 

 it rarely comes forth from the earth, it is not 

 often seem. It inhabits low moist ground, and 

 is not infrequently seen or found in cultivating 

 or ditching in such places. All authoi'S sav. 

 as did Harris, which the others coi)v, that it 

 feeds on the roots of grass. In,;Northern Oliio 

 and ISIichigan it has been known to eat into po- 

 tatoes quite seriously, especially when planted 

 on low gi-ound. As the |)otato is onlv an en- 

 larged root, it is not sti-ange that tiiese crickets, 

 like the win^-woi'ms. should desire to t<>st their 

 quality. 



One year our students took several of these 

 crickets fi-oin one of the rooms on the first floor 

 of one of the coll(>ge dormitories. Thev flv 

 forth from the earth to mate, anrl I presume 

 were attracted to this room by a femak' which 

 had been brought in by the students. If these 

 are plentiful enough to be ti-ouhlesome. we 

 must plant our potatoes on upland. 



Agricultural College, Mich. A. .1. Cook. 



Nearly every apiary in California has Its " sun 

 e\tract(')r." as' they call them here, to melt up 

 cappings and broken combs: and. so fai' as my 

 ol)servation goes, they are all built on the same 

 plan and about the same size. It looks as though 

 they were all made after the same pattern, 

 without any thought of improvement. I believ<^ 

 they were origina lly made to extract combs full 

 of honey Ix'fore the honey-extractor came o^t: 

 and. aft<'r the honey-extractor came, the same 

 implement was us< d to melt the cappings. I 

 think, however, that they can be greatly ini- 

 |)rov<'d for melting cappings, and that is the 

 object of this article. Perhaps you would like 

 to know how the old original California sun 

 extractor is Imilt, so I will desci'il)e it first and 

 then give what I think is an impi'ovement. 



The box is made of >« lumtier. lined inside 

 with tin, and is 58 inches long. 30 wide, 13 deep, 

 outside measure. The glass cover is two ordi- 

 nary window-sash 9x13 glass. A wooden frame 

 inside. ."> inches b(>lo\v the glass, supports a sheet 

 of perforated tin, the size of the inside of the 

 box. The cappings are laid on this perforated 

 tin. and, when they melt, the wax and honey 

 run through int<t the chamber ))elow, leaving 

 what Californians call the "sliimgum '" on the 

 tin above. The wax hardens immediately into 

 lumps of every shape when it gets below the 

 tin, and is always melted over a tire and run 

 into cakes before sending it to market. The 

 honey is drawn off through a lube or molasses- 

 gate in the lower end of the box. and is usually 

 kept for feeding. Is it not a mistake, where -the 

 A 15 C book says the wax i^ u uh foi miik(t' 

 and also whei'e it s i\s V pipi mnbeconiiMt 

 ed with it to run tin m< Iti d w a\ into tin in^idi 



.M INTYliE S SOI.AI! WAX-EXTHACTOH. 



of a building"? Taking the wax out of these 

 extractors, and getting it ready for market, is 

 an inconvenient and disagreeable job. because 

 the lumps of wax are all smeared with honey. 

 What we want is something that will separate 

 the wax. honey, and slumgum. and leave th<' 

 wax in a nice s'olid cake ready for market. In 

 order to do this the wax must not be allow(^d to 

 fall in the shade of the perforated tin or zinc 

 and cool off', but it should Ix' ke[)t in the sun 

 until all is melted, when it will cool in one solid 

 cake. 



We have l)eeu experimenting a little along 

 another line, and lind that, if the capi)ings are 

 laid on an inclinefl plane under glass, the hon- 

 ey and wax will run down and leave the slum- 

 g'lnn on the inclined plane. Now. all we have 

 to do is to ha\'<' a box at the liottom of the in- 

 clined plane, also under glass, to hold the wax 

 and keep it melted mitil it has all run down, 

 w hen it will harden in one solid cake. To make 

 a long story short, here is a picture that will 

 exijlain bett(>r than words. 



A is the inclined plane, where the cappings 

 ai'e i)ut. I would nuike it :.' fe(4 wide. 4 feet 

 long. 5 inches deep. B is a piece of wire cloth 

 to i)revent any slumgum from running into the 



