782 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



the yard, having- hitched our broncho, we 

 met Mr. W. J. Bunting-, and, a little later 

 on, his brother, W. D. Bunting, who is the 

 bee-keeper, and who, as I have said, has 

 the reputation of being- the most extensively 

 engfaged in the business of any one in the 

 county. A little later on we went out into 

 the apiary, located out in the open, in the 

 sand, without a sign of shade except shade- 

 boards. At this home yard there were be- 

 tween 130 and 140 colonies with a bee-range 

 of one whole square mile, or 640 acres. Mr. 

 Bunting- has bought this mile around out- 

 right; he does not, therefore, as he saj^s, 

 expect any one to come in and divide up the 

 profits of this apiary. The rest of his col- 

 onies are located on other square miles that 

 he leases; so, taking it all in all, Mr. Bunt- 

 ing is shrewd enough (and it is an honest 

 kind of shrewdness) to see that he has a 

 bee-range for all his bees that is not en- 

 croached on by any one else. No wonder 

 he gets the honey. 



While we were talking we stepped into a 

 one-story building, about 10X20 as nearly 

 as I can remember, in size. As it so seldom 

 rains in this portion of Texas during the 

 bee season, a larger structure is rendered 

 unnecessary. In this small building the 

 Bunting boys do their uncapping and ex- 

 tracting. While we were near the build ing- 

 I requested Mr. Bunting and his helpers to 

 step out in front while I snapped my kodak. 

 The result is before you. 



The man at the extreme left is W. D. 

 Bunting; then next in order are W. J. Bunt- 

 ing, F. W. Miller, and D. M. Edwards. 

 The latter will be recalled from our large 

 picture in our previous issue, page 751. 



The Bunting boys, while expert bee-keep- 

 ers, are also expert with the rifle. They 

 have a fine pack of hounds; and whenever 

 they require a little recreation they go out 

 for a hunt. Game is plentiful and the 

 shooting good, and I was urgently invited 

 to come out some time and g-o hunting. 

 This was tempting, for I enjoy this kind of 

 sport; and some day I hope I can go among 

 our bee-friends, not only armed with a ko- 

 dak, but with a good shotgun — the first 

 named to shoot my bee-keeping friends, and 

 the last to shoot at (not necessarily to bring 

 down) any wild game in that country. 



I had hoped to present in this issue some 

 views of some of the principal honey-plants 

 of this remarkable bee paradise; but as my 

 space is already taken up, I shall have to 

 defer doing so until our next issue. After 

 that I will describe through two or three 

 numbers another paradise of bees and bee- 

 keepers in Arizona. But this paradise is 

 also already overstocked. But, more anon. 



WAX=PRESSES. 



BY F. A. GEMMILI.. 



This machine, no doubt, is the result of 

 3'our experiments with the various methods 

 in vogue up to and since the publication 

 and illustration of the articles on the sub- 

 ject of wax-extractors in Gleanings for 

 April 1. As stated in correspondence with 

 3'ou at the time the articles appeared, I ful- 

 I3' intended commenting on them, my own 

 contribution included; but for want of time 

 I did not manage to do so. 



I will merely state now, in this connec- 

 tion, that I was quite sure that the best ma- 

 chine had not, up to the time mentioned, 

 been produced, and had in mind something 

 of my own, the principle being somewhat 

 similarto what you now present; but wheth- 

 er it would be round, oval, square, or oth- 

 erwise, I had not decided; but it was to 

 combine the very important feature of strong 

 pressure, which I see 3'ou approve. Do not, 

 however, imagine you have stolen my thun- 

 der, Mr. Root. I am not yet an inventor, 

 but merelj' one who has taken advantage of 

 the suggestions and improvements of others. 



I am, as 3'ou are aware, particularly in- 

 terested in this branch of apiculture; and 

 as I wish to show 3'ou and others how much 

 I appreciate the new article, I am g"oing, 

 without delajs to experiment with one as 

 soon as you can ship it to me. 



I am quite satisfied that high pressure, 

 while the mass is still in the machine, no 

 matter whether melted by steam or boiling 

 water, is the best method, all things consid- 

 ered, when such pressure can be brought to 

 bear on a £-ood quantity of the refuse at one 

 time. 



I need not here enumerate the reasons, as 

 no doubt you yourselves are quite satisfied, 

 or else you would not have g-one to the ex- 

 pense you have done to manufacture some- 

 thing you have proved a good article, and 

 which, in my humble opinion, will prove a 

 great boon to bee-keepers generally. 



On receipt of your press I will experi- 

 ment with slumgum from the Boardman so- 

 lar wax-extractor, and also from refuse 

 which has been through my late hobby, the 

 so-called Hatch-Gemmill press, and in every 

 other way that I think will be of benefit to 

 myself and the enlightenment of my brother 

 bee-keepers living under any flag, particu- 

 larly of America, Canada coming first, of 

 course. 



Stratford, Cnt., Aug. 10. 



OVERHEAD GRAPEVINE SHADE FOR THE API= 

 ARIST. 



BY T. M. .\DAMS. 



I observed with much pleasure in the 

 Aug. 1st issue of Gleanings that you had 

 illustrated and also listed the new Root 

 German steam wax extractor, or press. 



I send by to-day's mail a view of my api- 

 ary iind honey-house. It may be out of the 

 common line to your readers to see bees 

 shaded hy scuppernong grapevines. The 

 grape-arbor is 80x110 ft., 7 ft. high, and 

 posts set 10 ft. iipart each way. The hives 

 stand in rows facing each other 10 ft. apart, 

 with a walk at the back of each hive, 6 ft. 

 wide. I use a wheelbarrow after the style 

 of the Daisy, but it has two wheels instead 



