1S79 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Get a wire cloth screen such as is used to 

 cover dishes to keep the tiies away. They 

 can be had of any tinsmith, for a few cents 

 each, and can be had of different sizes. Cut 

 out a piece of hoard so as to just fit inside, 

 and then make a large hole in the center of 

 the hoard, so as to leave, in fact, only a ring 

 of wood. Tack a piece of tin on the bottom 

 of the board to cover this hole, and then fas- 

 ten a low. Hat bottle in the center of the 

 hole. A couple of wires twisted around its 

 neck, with the ends tacked into the^wood, 

 will hold it. Now the space between the 

 wood and bottle is to be rilled with candy. 

 The candy must not be put in until it is 

 nearly cold, or it may break the bottle. Eill 

 the bottle with water, put in a large wick, 

 and the bees will have pure sugar, pure wa- 

 ter, and plenty of pure air while on their 

 journey, and the shape of the package is 

 such that the expressmen will not -be likely 

 to tip it over, or to throw anything On to it. 

 The engraving below will show the arrange- 

 ment. 



p;. 



CAGE FOR SENDING I5EES BY EXPRESS. 



If you can devise a cheaper and lighter 

 package for sending bees alone, by express, 

 I shall be very glad to have you do so. Per- 

 haps a light pine box with a comb or two of 

 honey in old, tough combs, may answer as 

 well as the arrangement I have described, 

 but if you do not want the bees to die, you 

 would better have wire cloth on at least two 

 opposite sides, and some arrangement for 

 giving them plenty of pure water. Pure wa- 

 ter and pure sugar enables bees to stand 

 confinement much better than honey, so far 

 as my experience goes, and if you want 

 simply to confine bees, without having them 

 rear brood, I would not put any flour in the 

 candy. 



The price I have mentioned is for live bees 

 delivered at our express office, and if they 

 smother or starve, it will be your loss. A 

 good swarm of bees will often fill a peck 

 measure, and at the price I have given, 

 would be worth S8.00. without any queen. 

 If you choose to send a queen with them, I 

 will allow you the usual price for her. How 

 many bees make a quart V Well, I have just 

 been to the apiary and counted out 100 bees, 

 and found that they weigh i oz., and mea- 

 sure 1-10 of a pint. This would give the 

 weight of a quart of bees at just about lib. 

 These bees were picked from the combs with 

 their heads in the cells. I think a dollar a tt> 

 will be a very fair price in the spring, or be- 

 fore the honey season. Weigh your box with 

 the requisite provisions etc., before the bees 

 are put in, and then again afterward, and 

 you will have their exact weight. Now who 

 will help get this new product of the apiary 

 into working shape? I suppose you know 

 that if you have one stock of bees left, from 

 which to get brood, you could soon replenish 

 all your hives, even 'if you had no queens at 

 all, for a pint of healthy young bees will 



raise a queen without trouble, if given a bit 

 of brood during the month of Majs 



THE MARKET PKIL'E OF A BE^' 



There are 3200 bees in a It)., so you se? 

 market price of bees to-day is about two doz- 

 en and a half for a cent. Who wants to sell V 

 And who will buy ? Next month I will open 

 a department, and will publish the names of 

 all who will sell or buy at these figures. 

 Names inserted first time free. Now am I 

 not right in saying a good lesson may he 

 gained from all our troubles, if we only look 

 at them aright ? 



HOME MADE Bl/7, SAWS. 



^fp NOTE, in April No., that you give a plan of a 

 Jr|| foot power buzz saw, almost like the one that I 

 =si have been using - for two years; but I use two 

 treadles instead of one. I also have a seat to rest 

 my weight on, when the sawing does not require my 

 entire weight on the treadles. The shaft, A, with 

 the fly wheel, turns on steel points, as also the saw 

 mandrel. It runs much easier and very true. I also 

 have two screws, B, to set the table high or low. 

 The fly wheel is i ft. in diameter, and the pulley, '.} 

 in. The fly wheel sets back so as to give more strap 

 on the pulley. I use a mandrel for each saw. They 

 are easily taken off and easily put on, by turning 

 the one steel point. I never take the saws off from 

 the mandrel when filing or setting, because they 

 are very troublesome to get true. 



carpenter's double treadle foot power 



BDZZ SAW. 



T made the frame. It cost $3.00. The mandrel 

 and all the irons and two 6 in. saws cost me $5.00, 

 making the whole cost $S.00. I like it much better 

 than any single treadle I have ever used. 



Polo, 111. H. F. Carpenter. 



( )ur neighbor, Dean, of Eiver Styx, has a 

 saw on a similar principle, with double tread- 

 le, wdiich he has used for years past with 

 excellent satisfaction. The power obtained 

 by using both feet is quite an item, but with- 

 out some practice the swaying of the body 

 while at work is a little annoying. Friend 

 Dean saws out hives and all kinds of frame 

 stuff, with wonderful rapidity; but in sawing 

 thick stuff for sections, I believe he usually 

 attaches a horse power to the saw. One who is 

 expert with the double treadle will make 

 the sawdust fly, and his appearance, when 

 making both arms and feet go like a small 

 threshing machine, gives me a vivid idea of 

 a man who is trying to fly. 



So many losses are reported in sending money by 

 mail this spring, that 1 do not see but that I shall 

 have to advise sending all sums of more than $1.00, 

 by postal order or registered letters. Sums less than 

 $1.00 may be sent in postage stamps. One's and 

 two's preferred, as we have a great quantity of 

 three's on hand. 



