IWI 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



855 



the combs are placed is carried in arms. 

 The reason for not usinif a wheelbarrow is 

 the trouble of carrying it around ; but I am 

 quite sure if Mr. S. would get one of those 

 liofht Daisy wheelbarrows he would not 

 mind the trouble of tying- it to the wag^on 

 somewhere. 



The uncapping-arrangfement is made from 

 two five-gallon tin cans. The side is cut 

 from one; the side and the center of the op- 

 posite side cut from another, a piece of wire 

 cloth is put over this center hole, and, when 

 placed on No. 1, it is ready for use, and is 

 a very simple arrangement. 



The fifty-gallon tank is mounted on an- 

 other hive; and when the extractor is full 

 the honey is drawn off into another five-gal- 

 lon can. One side of this can is cut through 



Owing to the honey being so thin, all par- 

 ticles soon rise to the surface, and no strain- 

 er is used. There is necessarily much ref- 

 use comb and lots of dead bees on the sur- 

 face, and all of this is taken home in the 

 tank, and strained. The temperiiture also 

 has something to do with the thinness cf 

 the honey. When I observed operations it 

 was up to 106°. Mr. S. has never been 

 troubled with sour honey; but as one of my 

 hobbies is having honey thoroughly strain- 

 ed, I believe Mr. Stearns' would be im- 

 proved by the use of one. 



When the apiary is done in one, two, or 

 three days, Jiccording to size of apiarj', hon- 

 ey-flow, etc., the whole outfit is loaded into 

 the wagon and taken to the next apiary. 

 Every night the team is driven home with a 



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-^•'WtwJ-.S,.. 



ONE OF MR. STEARNS' OUT-APIARIES. 



the center lengthwise, and the parts rolled 

 back and over the sides. These rolls of 

 tin serve as handles, and a good grip can 

 be secured, though the hands may be sticky 

 with honey. Mr. S. is not a tall man. and 

 he has to lift that honey nearly as high as 

 he is tall. The two-frame extractor works 

 like a charm. I really believe that, owing 

 to the ease in stopping and starting, and 

 the few whirls it takes to extract the honey, 

 just about as much can be done with it as 

 with a four or even a six frame inachine. 

 Will some one get up a competitive trial 

 and settle the matter? 



Mr. S. aims to fill that fifty-gallon tank 

 twice during the day; and, of course, it has 

 to be drawn right oft" into cans. The hon- 

 ey is quite thin as it comes from the hives, 

 for it is not much more than a third capped. 



load of honey. In the height of the honey 

 season this means work almost night and 

 day. The start for the apiary is made as 

 early as 4 o'clock in the morning, and it is 

 nearly midnight before the load gets home, 

 sticky with honey; and, weary, he often 

 sleeps on the way while the faithful team 

 keeps plodding along. 



One of Mr. Stearns' best yields was 

 about 23 tons; and in the securing of it 

 there is something more than a holiday ex- 

 ercise. It requires as much downright hard 

 work as any other rural occupjition; but 

 when the work is done, there is the satis- 

 faction of accomplishing large results from 

 a very insignificant source, the little bee. 



I present a photo of one of Mr. Stearns' 

 best apiaries, close to Willow Lake. At 

 certain seasons this is a very pretty lake, 



