1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



289 



New ideas stick out quite prominently in 

 the c )nstruction of his sun wax extractor, and 

 it is a jjenuine novelty. An old wagon-wheel 

 and half of the axle, that have seen their best 

 days, are used for a foundation. The end of 



CART-WHEEL SUN WAX-EXTRACTOR. 



he axle is planted firmly in the ground, and 

 the wheel upon it is free to revolve. The ex- 

 tractor is mounted upon the wheel, and a light 

 pressure in either direction moves the extract- 

 or and contents in direct range of the sun. 



It is also so constructed that the filling with 

 cappings or the removal of the wax can be af- 

 fected without removing the glass cover. The 

 way it is worked is shown in the drawing. 



In conclusion I would say that, should any 

 bee keeper call upon Mr. Fray, he will be 

 used courteously ; and should the call be made 

 during the extracting season he will be found 

 " skinning " combs at the old stand. 



[I have been surprised over and over again 

 in my travels over the country to find here 

 and there a bee keeper extensively engaged in 

 the business, well read, progressive and ener- 

 getic, and yet unknown as such to the bee- 

 papers or to their readers. Were it not for 

 the fact that they subscribe for all the best of 

 them, they could not be up to date. While I 

 have been fortunate in finding a few of these 

 fellows, Mr. Rambler has found a good many 

 more. So far in my experience they have 

 been perfectly willing to give us of their ideas, 

 but are very little inclined to "write for the 

 press " either because they think they " can 

 not write," or because they are too modest to 

 do so. 



Elsewhere Dr. Miller refers to a portable 

 house-apiary. While Mr. Fray's is a honey 

 and extracting house on wheels, the German 

 wagon combines the extracting-house and the 

 house-apiary in one. I suspect that, some 

 time in the future, we shall use portable 

 house-apiaries and portable honey-houses in a 

 way that we would not dream as possible 

 now. Elsewhere in this issue I have also 

 shown that the Germans are prior in the use 

 of steam wax presses. I know they have 

 been many years ahead of us in the use of 

 portable house-apiaries, of which Mr. Alberti's 

 wander-wagon is a good example. By the by, 

 the name " wander- wagon " is very express- 



ive in English,, for I suppose it does do a 

 great deal of wandering — not aimlessly, per- 

 haps, but into fields where "mellifluous 

 sweetness " would go to waste except for the 

 presence of the wanderer. One objection to 

 these portable apiaries in the Ignited S'.ates is 

 the frequently bad condition of the roads. 



We have for years used in our paint-shop 

 the revolving table for the painting of our 

 hives. The plan is all right. 



The method of wiring is quite similar to the 

 Keeney method which we used some years 

 qgo, but which we have since abandoned for 

 the horizontal wiring which we like better. — 

 Ed.] 



^^^-♦♦««»>« 



INCREASING THE HONEY CROP. 



Red Clover, etc. 



BY F. GKEINER. 



Three ways present themselves to the pro- 

 gressive bee-keeper by which he may hope to 

 attain better results, reap greater profits from 

 his apiaries, and thus better his condition gen- 

 erally. 



1. He may adopt better methods. We all 

 aim to do that. 



2. He may improve his stock of bees. Many 

 bee keepers work along this line, and some 

 improvement has been made. But it would 

 seem to me that we have made no more than 

 just a beginning in this direction. 



.3 The last, and as difficult a way as any, 

 is to provide our bees with belter pasturage, 

 introduce superior honey-plants, and improve 

 the honey- plants already present, in such a 

 way as to make certain but inaccessible sweet 

 treasures accessible to our bees. 



The moving of our bees into buckwheat- 

 fields may be regarded as an effort in this di- 

 rection. Also the scattering of sweet-clover 

 seed along roadsides, etc. ; but scarcely any 

 attempt is being made to change the flowering- 

 tubes of certain honey-plants to adapt them 

 to our bees. The honey-plant which, above 

 all others, presents itself to us for this im- 

 provement is the common red clover. Sev- 

 eral years ago I ventured to make the asser- 

 tion in Farm and Fireside, "Should we suc- 

 ceed in procuring a bee able to extract all the 

 honey or nectar from the red clover, honey 

 would become so plentiful that it could and 

 would largely take the place of sugar for 

 sweetening many articles of food, and that it 

 could then be produced cheaper than cane or 

 beet sugar." I believe this now; and the 

 same result would be attainable by shortening 

 the blossom-tubes of the clover. But this 

 kind of work will of necessity have to be con- 

 signed to experts in such work. Perhaps our 

 experiment stations may help along this line. 

 Mr. Hasty says that he has not been very suc- 

 cessful so far. Mr. Wuest, of Germany, a bot- 

 anist of reputation, writes in the Leipziger 

 Bienen Zeitung of his experiments in the 

 same directions. I believe it will interest the 

 readers of Gleanings to hear what he has 

 to say. He writes in substance : 



" There are many plants which secrete nee- 



