1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



105 



A CONVENIENT HORSE-POWER. 



PMIIE American Agriculturist for Feb. gives 



I ;i rut of a home-made horse-power, 

 — ' built from the parts of an old, worn out, 

 Buckeye mowing machine. As something 

 hasbeen said of such arrangements before, 

 in Gleanings, we have copied the cut. 



1IORSE-POWEK MADE FROM AN OLD MOW- 

 ING-MACHINE. 



The axle, with the beveled cog-wheel, is 

 set on end, and the latter geared to a cones- 

 ponding wheel in the drive-wheel of the 

 mower, which in turn is attached to a long 

 shaft, as represented in the engraving. This 

 shaft is bedded in blocks of timber, and car- 

 ries a belt-wheel on its other extremity, as 

 shown. A pole is fastened on top of the up- 

 right shaft, for the attachment of the horse. 

 The whole apparatus is sunk in the ground 

 beside the door of the shop, so that only the 

 upper halves of the wheels appear above 

 ground. 



— »»♦» 



UIOKE ABOIT FOOT-PCV.ER SAWS. 



^fAVING read your description of H. Smith's 

 »["" "J foot-power saw, I accepted an invitation from 

 s»-!J him to examine his saw. and test its working 

 power. So, to-day, we went to work to see what we 

 could do. 



The saw is not the one illustrated in your last 

 (Dec.) number, but the mote recent invention no- 

 ticed in your magazine in Nov., 1878; and. as he (Mr. 

 Smith) says, it entirely eclipses the one mentioned 

 in Dec. No. I have tried both, and can speak with 

 certainty. 



In your notice of it. you stated that no saw could 

 be made to beat the Barnes foot-power saws. Now, 

 I do not know what you can do with the Barnes 

 saw, but if you can beat to-day's record, it must do 

 much more than is claimed for it (8 ft. of inch stuff 

 per minute). I am a person that has not done 

 enough work for 12 months to keep my muscles in 

 trim, but notwithstanding that, after a few trials, I 

 succeeded in cutting 18 ft. 9 in., in one minute, by 

 actual time; 12 ft. 6 in. and 13 ft. were repeatedly 

 cut by others, in the same time. The stuff was 

 plump inch, pine lumber. I am confident that, with 

 the saw in the very best of trim, 10 feet could be 

 cut per minute. 



Now, if you, Mr. Barnes, or any other man can 

 beat that, I should like to hear from him. I know 

 that this saw will cut at the rate of 8 ft. per minute, 

 without fatigue to the operator, and would cut sec- 

 tions at a very good rate. 



The simplicity of this machine, combined with its 

 superior working qualities, should recommend it to 

 every bee-keeper, as the manufacturers inform me 

 that it is public property. 



As I am the owner of the original foot-power saw, 

 illustrated in your magazine, I noticed that your di- 

 mensions were not correct, in every part. The 2 

 wheels on the counter-shaft should have been 6 and 

 12 in., instead of 6 and 24 in. If made as you de- 

 scribe, it would do well for horse-power, but would 

 be entirely useless as a foot-power saw. Those in- 



tending to make a foot-power saw would do well to 

 notice this. 



QUEEN REGISTERING CARDS AND THE WEATHER. 



Could you not get up something better for regis- 

 tering cards? Even when put on with galvanized 

 tacks, they get so dirty and unsightly that I am 

 ashamed to have them about. Would not some 

 kind of varnish, enamel, or possibly soaking in par- 

 atine, overcome this difficulty? .1. <). Facev. 



New Hamburg, Ont., Can., Jan. 1, 1879, 



I am very glad, my friend, to hear of your 

 success, but I fear others may not succeed 

 so well, with the simple, slow motion saw, 

 for many of nearly the same kind are now in 

 use. 1 think your 8 in. saw must have been 

 in extremely good order, and I guess, as you 

 were simply trying what you could do, that 

 you would not be able to do the same thing 

 day after day. Please send us a drawing or 

 rough sketch of the machine. 



Our registering cards look very well, for a 

 year or two, and then we tack oh new ones. 

 They are so very cheap it is not much ex- 

 pense. I know of nothing so absolutely 

 proof against the weather, as the little 



slates. 



-«► •©. » 



TRIALS OF CEEEAR WINTERING. 



Yf? AM in a quandary as to what to do with my 

 |c|j bees. I kept them out on the summer stands 

 s=l until the sever.' cold weather in Dec. com- 

 menced, then took them into the cellar, and piled 

 I them up 15 and i tiers high. The warmth of the cel- 

 I lar, I suppose, made them uneasy, and they tried to 

 i get out; so I tried to fasten them in, by placing 

 blocks with wire cloth, before the entrances, to keep 

 them in the hives. 



Some 3 weeks ago, I found a good many, on the 



cellar bottom, dead, and swept out several quarts. 



j As some of the honey boards had warped so that 



the bees could get out, I supposed they came from 



j those hives, and that nothing serious was the mat- 



! ter; but the Jan. No. coming to hand Saturday 



evening, and being perused, 1 saw that others are 



having trouble with their bees, which induced me 



to take a peep into the cellar; and, lo! the cellar 



bottom was completely covered with dead bees, and 



some were alive and crawling around. Where they 



all came from, I cannot tell; but they must have 



got out of the hives some way. 



For some time after I put them in the cellar, I 

 could hear them making almost a constant hum- 

 ming, night and day, as my bedroom is directly over 

 them; but, for a week or two past, they have not 

 made as much noise as before. The weather is yet 

 cold, and the ground yet covered with snow, and I 

 cannot place them where I want them to stand all 

 summer, on account of the snow. 



If 1 carry the hives out doors, to examine them, 

 bees will perish, and I am afraid those fastened in 

 the hives will die. If I open the entrances now, I 

 should think they would come out and never find 

 their way "back. What would you advise me to do? 

 Galva, 111., Feb. :s, 1879. D. Norton. 



Make the cellar perfectly dark; if that 

 don't do. let in cold air without light, until 

 it drives them back into the hives; then, 

 when warm enough, set them on summer 

 stands. If you carry them out in the win- 

 ter, and then set them back again, it will not 

 matter where they are placed. I think out 

 door wintering the safest, at least for an in- 

 experienced hand. 



We have received a sample of fdn., made on Mrs. 

 Dunham's now machine. The base Is so thin, on the 

 small piece sent us, as to be transparent like glass, 

 but the walls are more than ordinarily thick. Of 

 course, it costs more per square foot than the kind 

 we furnish, but if it really prevents sagging, and 

 such may be the case, it may prove of much value. 

 I think, from experiments 1 have made, that the 

 bees will work it out more slowly, but it will proba- 

 bly have a thorough test, as soon as it is warm 

 enough. 



