1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



805 



the riglit to make 'em fur one's own use fur 612. 

 One man over liere tried making some of 'em 

 without Iniyins tlie right, but they got on to it, 

 and stopped liim. (luess tiicri'"!! he rigiit smart 

 of 'cm nuidc as soon as the patent "s out on 'em. 

 Did you ever see any thing like 'em befoi'e?"' 



"No. sir. T never did: but I have heard of 

 them, and am for that reason somewhat curi- 

 ous about them." 



" Well, they be right smart ahead of the old 

 boxes. I'll transfer all mine into 'em next 

 year. I took forty pounds off 'n that 'n over 

 thar, bedsides a good swarm I got of 'em. I 

 count that purty good. Don't you ?" 



"Yes. that is good: but how do you take the 

 honey off? and how do you get the bees off 

 fromit?" 



" Oh I I forgot to say that they furnish a smo- 

 ker and feeder with the right. And that smo- 

 ker is just the greatest trick for handling bees 

 that can be. I can just blow a little smoke 

 into the hive, and it tames 'em so I can take 

 out the frames, and they don't sting at all. 

 There's two sets of frames. The ones below, 

 we don't git much honey from. Wejistblow 

 smoke into the top fram(>s". and that drives 'em 

 down so we can take out the top frames that 

 has the hoiu^y. Then we can just cut it out of 

 the frame and put It back in again. But may be 

 you would like to see inside of the hive. I will 

 go get the smoker and show you." 



I dismount, and tie up my horse. Ci'ossing 

 the fence into the yard I meet him coming witli 

 the smoker, puffing the smoke from cotton rags 

 furiously. He turns the nozzle into the en- 

 trance of the hive: and if there is any virtue in 

 smoke, those helpless little fellows got the full 

 benefit of it. After smoking them vigorously 

 through the entrance he partially removes the 

 cover by hammering and jerking it loose, and 

 renews the smoking business from this point. 

 He then ventures to remove the cover entirely, 

 and I take a look into the hive. But my sym- 

 pathies being fully aroused on behalf of the 

 frightened and half-smothered little tenants, I 

 thought they had received punishment enough 

 on account of my curiosity: and after giving 

 time for the smoke to escape I suggested that 

 he cover the little fellows up. and I would 

 show him how to open a hive without smoke. 



I crossed over to another hive, and. carefully 

 removing the cover, I began taking out the 

 frames, making a general examination of the 

 constiuction of the hive, while my friend stands 

 back and gazes in open-eyed astonishment. I 

 then told him that a smoker is a convenient 

 thing to have at hand, and sometimes serves a 

 very good purpose when bees are disposed to be 

 cross. But generally I have no use for it, and 

 I regard his method of using it a positive cru- 

 elty to the little fellows. 



And now. fi'iend Root, what a sight the inside 

 of that hive would have pn^sented to your criti- 

 cal eye I Why, if that man were a careful and 

 systenuitic observer his shoi't experienc(; should 

 enable him to give all you veterans pointers 

 unlimited on the much - vexed questions of 

 thick vs. thill, and wide vs. narrow toiJ-bars, 

 end-bars, and bottom-bars: close vs. wide spac- 

 ing; irregular spacing, device for exact sjiacing. 

 etc.. for certainly he is trying all of them, and 

 that, too, in one and the same hive. Every 

 frame was a law unto ilsdf. as to thickness anil 

 width of bars, size, and position. Siiaces ranged 

 from IV to 2 inches from center to center, and 

 this variaticm was .^^ometimes existing between 

 the same two frames. The hives should have 

 had two more frames in each tier tiian he was 

 instructed to use in them. How it i)uzzled the 

 brains of the little architects to accommodate 

 their building to their mastei'"s j)laii. was l)iit 

 too plainly evidenced in the wonderful varietv 



of combs they had built. Every style of comb 

 was to be found there except straight. 



The exact-spacing device was unique if not 

 practical. It consisted of two lath nails driven 

 in one side of each top-bar. projecting from 

 half to three-quarters of an inch. 



I closed the hive: and on being asked what I 

 thought of it I told the gentleman that I had 

 seen l)(>tter. but tiiat, with some very much 

 needed improvements in frames, it would do, 

 but that there was not a patentable idea in or 

 about it. and that that part was a fraud. I 

 then invited his attention to the book strapped 

 to my saddle, and spent an hour in showing 

 him through it. telling him of A. T. Root, the 

 Home of the Honey-bees, the ABC book. 

 Gleanings, etc.. with the result that he con- 

 cluded he must have the ABC: and if he 

 found it as I stated, he thought he could sell 

 lots of them. I gave him directions how to re- 

 mit, and promised that I would have a cata- 

 logue and copy of Gleanings sent to him. 



Wheelersbui'g, O., Aug. 31. J. M. Bkown. 



It may be well to remind our readers that 

 this Golden bee-hive is one that has a forged 

 testimonial from Prof. Cook. Treat every one 

 who tries to sell or talk Golden bee-hive, as you 

 would treat a forger or counterfeiter. 



RAMBLE NO. 32. 



CONITNDRUMS: MAYDOLP: HAMMERS, ETC. 



When we left home it was our intention to 

 return via Syracuse, Borodino, etc.; but "the 

 best-laid plans of men and mice gang aft 

 aglee." The force of circumstances found us 

 away south of that line in Chemung Co. Here 

 we found near and dear friends, and not many 

 bee-keepers. Our relatives and even bee-keep- 

 ers, wherever we went, were very hospitable, 

 and did their best to entertain. Sometimes we 

 were inclined to think they were overdoing the 

 matter. With some of our talkative friends it 

 was a steady run of talk until midnight. We 

 couldn't get a chance to read the papers or 

 write a letter; and even at meals, questions 

 were answered with our mouth full of hot po- 

 tato. Sometimes the man of the house and his 

 wife would take tui'ns. If he stepped out. she 

 would step in; and when both went out, the 

 hired girl was sent in. 



Now, there is quite a difference in the quality 

 of hired girls. Some are decidedly handsome 

 and entertaining: they read the papers, read 

 the poets, and ])lay the organ, and sweetly sing. 

 With such a queen of the kitchen we didn't 

 mind much how long the heads of the family 

 did stay out. The smartest hired girl we met 

 on our journey was not only musical, but full 

 Df riddles, and let one drive at us the first thing. 

 " Why do a dog's lungs give out first?" 



After many futile ett'oits we gave it up. 



" Because," says she, " it is the seat of his 

 pants." 



Now. we had been sitting around in chairs 

 rough and smooth, and we surmised that our 

 pants wei-e getting rather thin in some parts, 

 aiul we surmised that this girl was insinuating; 

 but hef'oie we could change the subject she let 

 drive another: 



"If the Devil loses his tail, where will he go 

 to get anotiier?'' 



"Don't know, unless he would come to Mill- 

 port and hunt up a hired girl." 



"Oh. no'." s;ii<i she; "this is a no-license 

 town. He would go where tiiey re-tail sjiirits."' 



Tile hired girl's iiuestion may not entertain 

 your readers, however, and we will turn our 



