1890 



GLEANIXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



817 



three feet for tlie cellar, and still have a three- 

 inch tile drain, sunk below the cellar floor, 

 which comes out at the edge of tliQ swamp 

 sixty feet away. The cellar is 8)^ feet high from 

 floor to ceiling; 15 feet long, and 8 feet wide. I 

 used cull ties and slabs to support the earth, 

 which is banlved against the sides and on the 

 top. The earth is 3 feet tiiick where the bank 

 begins, and slopes up to the eaves, where it is 

 about ti inches thick. The roof is flat, and the 

 earth is piled up on it to a peak. The whole 

 is covered with a thick layer of marsh grass, 

 which keeps the earth perfectly dry. For ven- 

 tilation I have the tile drain and an 8-inch 

 ventilator in the roof. For an entrance there is 

 a hatchway made in the same mannei' as the 

 main cellar, with outside, middle, and inner 

 doors, by which, if necessary, one can enter 

 without admitting any light or cold air. I shall 

 put in only 70 colonies this winter, but I think 

 1.50 colonies could be wintered in it. I built it 

 because I have no cellar near the apiary. I 

 Avould rather construct such a cellar than move 

 the bees even half a mile to reach one. Such 

 a cellar can be constructed for $35.00 if one is 

 near a sawmill where cull timber and slabs 

 can be purchased cheajily; and by keeping the 

 roof dry I think it will hold for a number of 

 years. Harry Lathrop. 



Browntown, Wis., Oct. 17. 1890. 



Planks or slabs will do well enough for two or 

 three years for ceiling boards, but in time they 

 will I'ot from the moisture of the bees, and the 

 whole thing will cave in — perhaps at a time 

 when you can least afford it. Mr. Doolittle's 

 cellar had planks for ceiling boards under the 

 dirt similar to yours, but they rotted and caved 

 iu this spring. They might answer if lined with 

 tarred paper. 



^ I ^ 



THE SOLAR WAX-EXTRACTOR. 



or is put together. Nail No. 4 to the outside of 

 the extractor, at the sides, K i»ch from the top, 

 for th(> glass franu? to rest on, and then nail No. 

 5 to the ends of No. 4 and the extractor. Now 

 nail No. 6 to the ends of No. 7, for the glass- 

 fram(>. putting the glass. No. 13, into the grooves 

 cut for tiicm. before nailing. These grooves 

 should be -'s der]). the Upper One being 9s from 

 the top. and the next % bt^low the first. Unless 

 vou can nail this frame or sash very carefully, 

 so as not to break the glass, perhaps it would 

 be better put together with screws. The frame 

 is put tog(>ther with white lead, the same as the 

 bodv was; but there is no lead put in the 

 grooves, as we could not get the glass out. should 

 it ever be broken, if we did; and I find that air 

 passes very slowly where it has to go around 

 any thing in the way it does this glass. Next 

 nail No. 11 to the center of this glass frame at 

 each end, nailing them in such a way that they 

 will form loops or handles, for the frame is to be 

 handled by these, slid off and on, etc. Now 

 nail No. S to the ends of No. 9, nailing No. 10 to 

 the side of the frame made by nailing Nos. 8 

 and 9 together for a cover to go over the glass 

 frame when the extractor is not in use. This 

 cover will keep the glass from getting broken 

 by hailstorms, or from any other causes, and 

 will also keep the storms from swelling our ex- 

 tractor by getting the inside wet. If you can 

 not very well have No. 10 in one piece, narrower 

 stuff with the cracks battened will answer all 

 purposes. Also, if you can not get glass of the 

 size named, several, 16X inches long, will do by 

 making the joints so tliey will not come over 



HOW TO MAKE AXI> HOW TO USE ONE. 



One of the most convenient things I have in 

 my apiary is the solar wax-extractor; and as it 

 is so handy to have arf)und, I thought that, with 

 your permission. Mr. Editor, I would describe it 

 at this time, so that, during the dreary winter 

 days which are coming, any of the readers of 

 Gleanings who desire to have something 

 which they would appreciate in years to come 

 could spend a day or two of time in making 

 something that would brighten other days, even 

 if it did not the days they were working at it. In 

 order to make it plain I will give the size and 

 number of pieces contained in the extractor, by 

 numbers, and then tell you how to put them 

 together. 



Number. Pieces. Length in inches. Width in inches. Thick. 



1 2 30 10 H 



10 X 



.30 . 

 .17^- 

 .3i . 

 .16 . 



10. 



1 



.Si 



11 2 straps 10 



,9 , ( sheet Americanoo 



(stove-pipe iron 



13 2 glass. 305 



18 

 A6'4 



Having these pieces cut to the dimensions 

 above given, take No. 1. wiiicli is for the sides 

 of the body of the extractor, and nail to the 

 ends of No." 3. Next nail No. 3 on to one side 

 for a bottom. If No. 3 ai'e made from matched 

 lumber, and all joints put together with white 

 lead, no loss of heat will occur fi'om its escaping 

 through the cracks or joints where the; extract- 



doolittle's wax-extractor. 



each other so as to let the heat out too rapidly. 

 Now take No. 13 and spring the middle down 

 till the edges come even with the top of the 

 body of the extractor, and snugly against the 

 back of this body, when it is to be nailed along 

 each side to the side of the extractor. This will 

 give you a hollowing trough on which to put 

 the material which is to be rendered into wax. 

 and the black surface of the iron will so absorb 

 the rays of the sun that it will become very hot 

 in a short time after the cover is taken from 

 over the glass. If a piece of i.-inch stuff is 

 fitted on the under sid<> of number 13. 5 inches 

 back from tlu' front or open (mkI. so as to keep 

 the hot air from going under the iron, it will 

 help some about keeping the wax melted in the 

 dish into wliicii it runs wliile extracting. Thi.s 

 kei'ping the wax meltiMl in the disji helps mucii 

 about getting it caked in nice form. 



HOW TO USE THE EXTRACTOR. 



wSelect some place, as neai- the center of the 

 apiary as possible, where the sun will shine 

 from 9 A. M. to 3 p. m., the year round, and there 



