187!) 



(.LEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Bees have suffered terribly hereabouts this win- 

 ter. I have lost colonies, another man has lost 10, 

 another 15, another 1~, and several others have lost 

 from 1 to 10. I suppose Gleanings will give re- 

 ports from all sections. Has not this been the se- 

 verest winter on bees for some time? 



ROYAL J. FtJNK. 



Plqua, O., Feb. 17, 1879. 



Strong stocks, with plenty of good stores, 

 have done as well as usual with us; but 

 some swarms, with stores of bad tasting, fall 

 honey, from the West, have had the dysen- 

 tery badly, and we have lost several colo- 

 nies. Where this disease is prevalent, a 

 cold winter like the present is not so favora- 

 ble as a mild one. 



How mueh beeswax do you want at 30c. per lb.? 

 and how long will you pay that priee? About % of 

 the bees in this country, I think, are dead, and there 

 will be a large quantity to be had. 



Chas. H. Carpenter. 



Dunlap, Tenn., Feb. 14, 1879. 



We cannot say how long we will pay 30c, 

 but consider ourselves under obligation to 

 do so until notice is given in Gleanings to 

 the contrary. We at present advertise to 

 take any quantity of good, clear wax. at o"0c, 

 and we always intend to make good our word 

 given in our advertisements. We are sorry 

 to hear of the heavv losses. 



THE COM) N1IOKEIJ AND THE WAY IN 

 WHICH IT IS DEVELOPING. 



GOD S GIFTS TO HIS CHI LI) KEN. 



STOLI) you last month that the voice of 

 God could be heard through the voice 

 - 1 of the people. In this matter of smo- 

 kers, it comes in a way that is almost start- 

 ling, and seems clearly to indicate that 

 these great inventions shall come through 

 the united efforts of the masses ; and that it 

 is not His will that any one of us should 

 hold a monopoly over the others. Orders 

 came for the cold blast smokers, almost be- 

 fore—as it seemed — the Feb. No. could have 

 reached you. A Simplicity smoker, on the 

 cold blast plan, was ready to send out about 

 as soon as the orders came, and it is so much 

 ahead of any of our former Simplicities, 

 that 1 can but regard friend Bingham's 

 visit, as a special providence. I give you a 

 cut of the smoker below. 



(I, ARK'S COLD SMOKEK. SIMPLICITY COLD SMOKER. 



You will see that we have used friend 

 ( orey's damper as a place, for supplying the 

 fuel, "by enlarging it and adding a wooden 

 handle to open it by. By turning the ring, 

 it is opened to put in fuel ; by turning a lit- 



tle farther, the small semicircular notch 

 gives the proper draft ; still farther, and the 

 opening is closed so tight that the Ore goes 

 out. This is wonderfully simple, and 

 works beautifully. With 'this smoker, it 

 is an easy matter to deluge a hive with 

 smoke, when standing as much as 6 ft. 



; away from it. 



"Well, as there are many of our friends 



| who prefer an upright smoker like Mr. 



' Quinby's original one, I very soon thought 



i of adapting the cold blast principle to these. 



1 Several correspondents sent letters similar 

 to the one below. 



Mr. Corey's smoker looks like the long sought for 



concern. I have always made it a point to hold the 



nozzle of the smoker as far away from the bees as 



was practicable, to avoid the hot smoke; but this 



could not be done in windy weather. I. that smo- 



, ker (Corey's) proves a success, we all owe him a 



vote of thanks. I will order one as soon as you get 



them in selling order, and if it is all I think it will 



be, I will lay aside my "Bingham," which has, until 



I now, been the best smoker made. Can't you make 



the new smoker with an upright bellows? A flat 



: one, I think, is very unhandy. 



T. F. C. VanAllen. 

 Adams' Station, X. Y., Feb. 5, 1879. 



Accordingly we set to work, and found 

 , we could make a smoker as large as Bing- 

 ham's largest, almost as easily as the Sim- 

 plicity, and at about the same price, only 

 that the blast tube must be turned at right 

 angles to accomplish it. To do this, with- 

 out solder, was no small problem. The tin- 

 ners, myself, and Mr. Gray studied on it, in 

 vain. I wanted all the operations done so 

 i cheaply, that it could be sold for the same 

 price as the others. After we had all given 

 up being able to make a 75c smoker, on ac- 

 count of this little difficulty, a box came, by 

 j express. Inside of it was the first smoker 

 shown in the engraving, and the following 

 letter : 



I received my Jan. Gleanings promptly on time, 

 and at once set myself down to read. Somehow I 

 get to "Our Homes" very soon, and before one quar- 

 ter of the book is read. When 1 read your talk with 

 Bingham, and your decision about the smoker, I 

 thought there might be some other plan of one that 

 would answer as well ; very soon a plan came to me, 

 and [ worked it out in its details. 



Now I have your Feb. number of Gleanings, and 

 lo! and behold! you have the same principle em- 

 bodied in one from a friend in California; but I have 

 decided to send you the one I have made, and per- 

 haps there may be some features about it that you 

 may like even better than Corey's. 



It works beautifully; the draft of air across the 

 top of the fuel causes it to burn clear and slowly, 

 and leaves very little creosote. I find that rags 

 burn, but perhaps 54 as fast as where the air is 

 forced up through the bottom. Its convenience as 

 a "breech loader" is an Item in its favor, also that 

 it retains its position while in use. The Simplicity 

 always seemed to me a little awkward, on account 

 of being obliged to turn it bottom up so often, while 

 in use. 



Now, if you can use this to advantage, or modify 

 it to suit you any better, you are welcome to it. 



As a counterbalance to friend Sedgwick, I will 

 say that the best part of Gleanings, to me, is "Our 

 Homes." Four years at>-o I would have written as 

 he dues, but I see things differently now, and am 

 happy in beina able to place myself by your side, as 

 a Christian. Mav God speed you in your good work, 

 and bless "Our Homes." Your friend, 



Sterling, 111., Feb. 4, 1879. NORMAN Clark. 



Our engraver has hardly done justice to 

 friend Clark's beautiful implement. The 

 cold blast is obtained by a small cone just 

 inside of the large one, and near its mouth. 

 The air goes directly into this through a 



