16S 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 



A CABT FOR MOVING COMBS ABOUT 

 THE APIARY. 



AN INVENTION THAT COMES FROM AWAY DOWN IN 

 CUBA. 



fRIEND ROOT:— 1 send you a diagrarn of our 

 ooiub-cart. The cart is desig-ned for carrying- 

 combs to and from the honej'-house while ex- 

 tracting. The box. or body, of the cart, is 41 

 inches long, inside measure, and of ordinary 

 store combs it will hold just 30. The box is made 

 the right depth for the comb you are using. The 

 top edge of the side board is rabbeted, to receive 

 the projecting- end of the top bar of the frame, and 

 a full comb of honey haugs in the cart as nicely as 

 it did in the hive. The wheels are cast iron, 33 

 inclies high, with a tire, or face, 2% inches. The 

 body of the cart, when the handles are lield up, is 

 just .5 inches from the ground. The wheels are 

 fastened to the side of the box by means of a tlang-e; 

 that is, screwed fast to the box by 7 screws. The 

 flange is 7 inches across, and the a.xle upon which 

 the wheel turns is cast fast to this flange. You will 

 see by this arrangement we can let the box down 

 near the ground, thus doing away with the use of 

 leg-s on either end, and still have the benefit of a 

 pretty good-sized wheel. The wheels ?ire placed in 

 the middle of the box, so that, when it is loaded, 

 there is little or no weight upon the hands; and the 

 perfect ease with which we handle 30 full combs of 

 honey with this cart would beat the oldest bee-man 

 if he had never tried it. When we start out in the 

 morning- we have the cart full of empty combs, and 

 the work of exchanging combs begins— exchanging- 

 empty combs for full ones. As fast as we take out 

 a full one, we put in an empty one. We never 

 open a hive more than once. Now, friend Root, 

 this cart is my own get up, and it is not patented; 

 and if you wish to make and use it you are free to 



do so. A. W. OSBURN. 



Havana, Cul)a, W. I. 



A BOY'S SWARMING-BOX 



FKIKND ObBURN S COMB-CART. 



We are very much obliged indeed, friend 

 O., for your very ingenious arrangement. 

 The only trouble that I can see is, that the 

 combs might swing while being wheeled, 

 but I presume not more than tliey would on 

 an ordinary wlieelbarrow. Your idea of 

 getting the shaft out of the way is an ingen- 

 ious one, but I should think it would neces- 

 sitate liaving the boxes made pretty strong ; 

 and with Ijoxes so near the ground, it is 

 rather necessary to have tlie ajiiary i)retty 

 well leveled and graded. I should think the 

 cart might be extremely handy for other 

 purposes, where the ground is even and level 

 — say on the sidewalk, for instance. One 

 could carry a great weight, and not feel it 

 very much. Very light strong wlieels are 

 now made of steel, the same as are now used 

 on our new wheelbarrow. Many thanks for 

 your liberal offer. 



DESCRIBED BY THE BOY HIMSELP. 



R. ROOT:— As I see swarming- boxes ad- 

 vertised in Gle.vnings, I thought 1 would 

 send you a sample of my s warming-box. 

 It beats the Kaler bo.x, in my opinion. 

 There is no standing and holding a box up 

 in the air for the bees to go in; no taking combs 

 out of the box and putting them in the hive. Sim- 

 ply place your hives just where you want them, 

 with your empty comb in the hive. Put your sec- 

 tions on, if you want them on. VVhen the swarm 

 commences to settle, hang the box over them. 

 About nine times out of ten they will cluster in the 

 box. If they are too long going in, take your smo- 

 ker and smoke them a little on the under side. They 

 will run into the box very quickly; then lift the 

 box off' the limb, carry them to your hive, pull out 

 the pin at the top end of the handle, turn the han- 

 dle to one side, dump the bees in front of the hive, 

 and let them run in, and your work is done. 



2\ 



FEIjTON'S SWAIi.MlNG-i;0.\. 



Now, Mr. Root, please jusL take the little box and 

 hang- it on some of your shrubbery, and see how 

 nicely it will haug. Tiie handle will be supported 

 by the limbs, so that it will hang almost anywhere. 

 The little block on the side of the box, under the 

 handle, is to keep from smashing bees. The notch- 

 ed piece on top of the bo.x is lor a handle. There is 

 no better method for catching (jueens from after- 

 swarms that I know of, than to catch them in this 

 box and dump them on a sheet. Set the box back a 

 couple of feet, and catch the queens while they are 

 going- to the box again. 



My papa says it is the lazy man's swarnjing-box. 

 When the bees commence to cluster, just hang the 

 box over them, and sit down in the shade till they 

 are in the box, in place of holding the box up in the 

 air. S E Frt.ton. 



Newtown, Forest Co., Pa , Jan 31, W-iT 

 Very good, my young friend. No tloubt 

 your swarming-box will answer as you de- 

 scribe, but will not ours also V May be, 

 however, yours is handier and easier \x\ man- 

 age. If you have tried both. 1 presume very 

 likely you are right a))out it. I am sorry 

 you did not tell us how old you are. I think 

 tlie engravers have made a pretty good pic- 

 ture of your device^dou't \ou think so V I 

 will explain to our leaders, that a little 

 model was sent in a papei' box, with a letter, 

 and the engravers made this cut from the 

 model. 



