158 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' EEVIEn 



Both these things combine to make the act- 

 ual quality of extracted honey average a 

 little lower thau what should be its honest 

 normal. 



In Germany they have a pet colony of 

 bees that has lived in the open air since 

 18;t4— but they blanket it in winter. Straw, 

 Gleanings, IS"). 



Another straw on same page gives Dzier- 

 zon (one of the highest authorities in the 

 world) for the atrociously " tother way " 

 assertion that bees never eat their own 

 larva? until it has first died from some other 

 cause. That is, I suppose, starvation causes 

 the internal heat of the colony to go down: 

 larvae die from hunger and cold — and then 

 bees suck their juices. Why not try a little 

 and see if we can believe this, and get our 

 pets off from the charge of cannibalism ? 



RioHABDS, Ohio. May 22. 1897. 



Protecting an Apiary From Thieves by 

 Means of an Electrical Alarm. 

 Back in IS'Xt some one asked the editor of 

 Gleanings if there was not some kind of a 

 cartridge that could be so arranged that it 

 would explode when a hive was opened, and 

 thus frighten away thieves. The editor 

 thought that such a special cartridge would 

 not only be expensive, but would only scare 

 away the intruder instead of aiding in his 

 capture, and he advised the following: — 



" A far better and cheaper arrangement, 

 and one that we once used around a poultry- 

 yard to keep away thieves, is a simple elec- 

 tric bell, small battery, and a spool of linen 

 thread. We simply stretched the thread 

 around where the chickens were housed in 

 small coops. It was black, and passed 

 through small screw eyes attached to trees. 

 Of course, in the night time this would be 

 invisible, especially if only about two feet 

 from the ground. This thread should run 

 clear around the apiary or po Itry-yard. 

 One end should be made fast, and the other 

 tied to a wooden plug slipped between two 

 brass clips, representing the poles of the 

 battery. The battery wire and bell may 

 reach to the house and bedroom. The min- 

 ute an intruder runs against the linen thread 

 it wiU draw the wooden plug out and allow 

 the spring clips to come together and com- 

 plete the circuit of the battery, when the 

 bell will ring in the bedroom and give the 

 alarm, unknown to the thief. In our own 

 case, fortunately or unfortunately, the thief 

 did not come any more. If he had he 

 would have been surprised. Now, this 

 plan will protect 100 colonies at a cost 



not to exceed S1..50 for material, and per- 

 haps three or four hour's time in putting up." 



The idea is just this : When the two 

 poles of a battery are connected there is a 

 How of electricity from the positive to the 

 negative. If there is a long wire connect- 

 ing the poles the electricity flows through 

 or upon this wire. Now. if somewhere in 

 this "circuit " there is placed an electric 

 bell this bell will ring so long as the electric 

 current is passed through it. I won't take 

 the time and space to explain the construc- 

 tion of the bell nor the philosophy upon 

 which it acts, as it is only su Bicieut for this 

 purpose to know that the passing through 

 it of a current of electricity will cause it to 

 ring. The moment that the current is 

 broken the ringing stops. The moment 

 the circuit is completed again, that mo- 

 ment the bell begins to ring again. Set the 

 battery anywhere that if most convenient, 

 place the bell near the head of the bed, then 

 connect them with insulated wire, forming 

 a circuit. This circuit of wire may be just 

 as long as is convenient. Somewhere in 

 this circuit let there be a break, that is, cut 

 the wire and introduce two brass springs, 

 fastening one end of the wire to one spring, 

 and the other end to the other spring. When 

 these springs touch each other the circuit is 

 complete and the bell rings. Fry them 

 apart and introduce some nonconductor, 

 like a piece of wood, to hold them apart 

 and the ringing ceases. The springs need 

 not be very stiff; simply strong enough to 

 hold a piece of wood in place. Now, around 

 the apiary, as explained by Mr. Root, string 

 some stout, black linen thread, running it 

 through screw-eyes, put into trees or posts. 

 I think it ought to be placed low enough so 

 that the owner can easily step over it, but 

 high enough so that whoever comes into the 

 apiary at night will catch his foot on the 

 thread and make it pull out the wooden 

 plug that is between the brass springs, and 

 thus complete the circuit and set the bell a 

 ringing. 



My brother, who lives at May ville, Mich, 

 has had quite a little experience with thieves, 

 and thought of giving this burglar alarm a 

 trial, but did not quite understand how to 

 arrange it, and wrote to Gleanings asking 

 for further particulars. In the last issue 

 R.ppear8 his inquiry, which reads as follows: 



" I wish to protect my bees from 

 thieves, with an electrical bell, such as you 

 describe on page 266, 1895. but ' I don't 



