82 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



My machine cost 88.00 and :i day's work for 2 of us. 



Mr. Root, I almost forgot to tell you the kind of 

 saw I used for cutting the mitre to my hives; I tried 

 my cut off, but that did not cut fast enough or eas- 

 ily enough, so I used what I call a mongrel saw, 

 neither a rip nor cut off saw, but just half way be- 

 tween them, and that went nicely and easily. 



Now, Mr. Root, don't think I am too much of a 

 brag - for telling- you what I have done and can do. 

 for I am finite sure of it. 



I have taken more honey out of that hive which I 

 got of you, than anyone around here has taken from 

 all they have got; some have '.• swarms, and did not 

 get 20 lbs. I got from that hive 54 lbs. and 10 oz. of 

 comb honey, and it was not a good season here for 

 honey, last year. D. S. Bassett. 



Farnumsville, Mass., Jan. 27, 1879. 



I ;ini not quite sure that any advantage is 

 gained from the way in which you make 

 your treadle. We use a saw a great deal in our 

 work, that is half rip and half cross cut. It 

 lias a decided advantage for cutting mitres. 

 or for cutting across the grain of the wood 

 diagonally. We keep in stock saws of this 

 kind. Sin. in diameter, that we can furnish 

 at the usual prices. 



Do you mean, my friend, that yon got a 

 new mandrel made for 50cts. V I would like 

 to hire the man who can do it. all the time : 

 also one who could make a new 65ft. balance 

 wheel, for SI. HO. 



1SEWINVKMIONS OF THE IUOXTII. 



(<7J IXCE my invention of the Simplicity 

 ||P feeder in 1S77, there have been a great 

 many additions and improvements; hut, 

 as it was made almost expressly for the pur- 

 pose of feeding at the entrance in the night 

 time. I did not then, nor can 1 say I do now. 

 think any addition necessary. Feeding in 

 the day time, especially, when any honey is 

 to be had in the lields. is a very bad plan." as 

 I have many times demonstrated. I have 

 kept a colony at home fussing with a lt>. of 

 honey in feeders while one by its side would 

 get 3 lbs. in the fields. For the benefit of 

 those who must feed in the day time. Mr. 

 Gray, our foreman, has invented the follow- 

 ing addition to the Simplicity feeder. Our 

 friends who have buzz saw's will find it a 

 nice little exercise for their ingenuity. 



SIMPLICITY FEEDER, ARRANGED TO RE USED 

 AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE HIVE, 



IX THE DAY TIME. 



Get a piece of bassvvood 2i by 1". by 1 foot 

 long; pine will do, but is more apt to split. 

 Bore a hole in the centre, almost through, 

 and then bore for the screws to hold the cov- 

 er on. Next drop the block over a very thin 

 saw. to cut a place for the tin slide which is 

 to close the auger hole. Then rip off the 

 cover just below this slot, and finish with 

 the grooving saw, which should cut about S; 

 this saw may be a. wabbler, a saw with a very 

 wide set. or a group of 3 thick saws. Yon 

 will observe there is a cut made under the 

 cover, precisely like the one on the side fa- 



cing you. After these are done, von have 

 only to cut the little troughs, 3 in number, 

 and you are to cut them jnst i inch deeper 

 than the bottom of the auger hole. Roll up 

 a piece of tin, and push it to the bottom of 

 this auger hole, letting the tube come just 

 up to the tin slide. This tin tube is to carry 

 the feed down under the bees, that it may 

 well up under their feet when the feeder is 

 tilled, and so need not daub them or soil 

 their wings. The feeder is to be used tight 

 up against the front end board of the hive, 

 partially closing the entrance. I used the 

 Simplicity feeder in the same way when it 

 was first made, by laying a board over the 

 top except one end, when I wished to feed 

 in the day time. The price is 12c; if sent 

 by mail, 20c. 



MAT FOR COVERING THE FRAMES. 



I am sorry to say. that even the enameled 

 cloth is, in time, eaten through by the bees, 

 and it seems that nothing is going to hold 

 them permanently but wooden boards. The 

 boards, however, need not be very thick, or 

 very wide. Mr. Gray has come to our aid 

 again, and given us the device shown above. 

 The great beauty of it is that while it can- 

 not shrink so as to let the bees out at the 

 n\t\* or sides, it can be rolled back, folded 

 smaller, and adapted to the varying sizes of 

 the hive with a division board.' even better 

 than any cloth, and in placing it over the 

 bees, we can see through the cracks, so that 

 not a bee is killed. The strips are of bass- 

 wood, and are 1-10 by ■} inch. They are 

 woven in a loom, with hard hemp twine. I 

 consider this a great acquisition. Price. 

 10c; by mail, 15c. 



COMBINED SIIIPPINQ CASE A.ND HONEY 



(KATE. 



I have for years thought of a shipping case 

 thatcould lie set right on the hive to be 

 tilled, and taken right off the hive and sent 

 to market ; but difficulties have always stood 

 in tlte way, until now. The above lias bot- 

 tom bars to protect and hold the sections. 

 precisely like those on the broad frames, and 

 they are supported by a groove cut along the 

 lower edge of the end hoards. Now to space 



