1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



741 



(luite the facilities which are offered by a 

 reversible frame. Tli^, board is not materi- 

 ally different from the Hutchinson honey- 

 board, except tliat tlie slots run the whole 

 length of the honey-board. Our objection 

 to this plan was, that so long a slot, and also 

 so long a strip of wood between each two 

 slots, made the possibility of variations in 

 tlie width of the slot much greater : that is. 

 these narrow, slender pieces of wood are 

 much more liable to twist or sway a little 

 than if staved every two or three inches. 



FOOT-POWER SAWS FOR BEE -HIVE 

 MAKING. 



STIIJ. FlHTtr?:i{ I.MPR(JVE.MKNTS .IIST liltltlHillT 



OUT uy AV. f. & J. ijaum;s. 



LTIK )UGiI foot-power is hardly suffi- 

 cient foi- making bee-hives in any con- 

 siderable nund)er, yet such machines 

 will always prove a' boon to nearly all 

 who are just commencing in bee cul- 

 ture, or who are located in places remote 

 from power-mills. Our enterprising friends 

 who make the machine shown below have. 

 I believe, for years taken the lead in ma- 

 chines of almost all kinds to be worked by 

 foot-power. Althougii we have not had the 

 new machine yet so as to test it. we judge 

 by the engraving and their descriptitJU that 

 it is ahead of any thing heretol'orc in the 

 market. We can furnish them at exactly 

 the same prices we have been selling 'their 

 old style; viz.. S3/>.()() for the saw as sliown 

 below, or $40.00 with the scroll-saw attach- 

 ment. The latter is needed but little it' any 

 for plain hive-making. From the altov'e 

 prices we can make a discount of -j oer cent 

 where cash accompanies the order. \Ve also 

 include a cloth-bound A B (' book with each 

 machine, as it contains very full directions 

 for using the foot-))ower buz/.-saws. iJelow 

 is a cut of the machine, and e\plaualor> re- 

 marks bv the manufacturers: 



machine is the result of our experience during the 

 last ten years in foot-power machiaery, and we be- 

 lieve it is safe to say that there is little room for 

 further improvement. We have put out aeonsidcr- 

 able number of these machines, many with those 

 acquainted with our old style, and in every in- 

 stance we have expressions of satisfaction. The 

 peculiar arraufrement of parts avoids any strain on 

 belts to cause friction, and yet there is no slippinj; 

 of belts. The machine runs without noise, and has 

 g-reat power to execute the work. The gauges and 

 adjusting parts for the various kinds of work to 

 which it is adapted are all handy, and easily 

 managed. For bee-keepers' use we believe it to be 

 all that thc\- can ask, and on our regular terms of 

 trial. None will lie returned because they fail to 

 do the work. Wo still sell our machines subject to 

 trial, asking no one to keep any machine that is not 

 suited to his use, after he has tested it in his shop. 



W. F. & .lOHN IJ.\UXES Co. 



Kockford, 111.. Oct. IT, l,S8.->. 



IMl'llOVEMENT IN THE H.VKXES FOOT-l'OWEK SAW. 



This improved combined saw will take the same 

 attachments, in substantially the same manner of 

 our old combined; viz., the scroll - saw - boring at- 

 faclimont, antl tlje cutter- heads, Tbe jriiproyc.'] 



DO MARTINS EAT BEES? 



liKO.NKS, IICT NOT WOKKEHS, THE VlCTl.MS. 



JH.WE been reading in the last Gle.4NIxc;s a 

 complaint about martins eating bees, and wish 

 to state that it is a well-authenticated fact that 

 they do eat bees. But, what kind of bees do 

 they eatV Has it ever bten proven that they 

 eat worker-beesV I have a nice martin-box in 

 front of my house, and it is tilled with birds every 

 season, and my apiary is on the other side of the 

 house. T have given much time during the past 

 season to determine, if I could, whether they caught 

 workers or not, and 1 am not able to say that they 

 do. One thing I have demonstrated, that when 

 j drones are out during the last half of .luly and Au- 

 gust, that tlie birds are out also, and I have seen 

 them take drones, one after another in quick suc- 

 cession, luit I h;ive never seen them touch a laden 

 worker, thougli they were Hying right among them 

 where there were hundreds coming in. 



My bees have done better since I have had mar- 

 tins than ever before, and 1 think they are a help to 

 tlie bees when they are driving out drones, if not at 

 other times. I thought, however, that they might, 

 through mistake, pick up a queen, and so be a dam- 

 age to the bees; but I don't know it to be a fact. I 

 think it is about the same with king-birds as with 

 martins. 1 watched some during the past season, 

 'i'hey would take theirjstand on a tall dead-toppeil 

 tree near my ajiiaiy. I took my gun, and went out 

 to investigate, intending t<»bring.down the flr.st one 

 that took a laden worker, and so be sure in relation 

 to the matter. Hut I didn't have occasion to shoot. 

 It is singular how far they will sight a drone. I 

 have seen them leave their perch, and, with almost 

 lightning speed, go from 00 to T.5 yards, -when, snap! 

 you would bear their bills, and another drone is not. 

 The above is the sum and substance of my observa- 

 tions during the season just past. 

 We had a splendid yield of honey in early spring 

 I from soft maple and fruit-bloom. I took 100 lbs. in 

 2-lb. sections from 4 swarms before the first of June, 

 and the brood-nest was as full as it could be packed, 

 and I think it himleied the queen materially in 

 brood-rearing. If I had had an extractor, I think 1 

 could have taken 500 lbs. during that early flow, and 

 tp,y bees would hayp bpen J)etter off fof it. Since. 



