384 



GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



to pages 130 and 133. A. B. J. for 1886, but it has been 

 much more fully treated in other places. 



It is very rare indeed, friend H., that I write to 

 any one as this is to you ; but the spirit chanced to 

 move, and its promptings were obeyed. Certainly, 

 no liarm can be done, while you ina'y be induced to 

 more fully investigate some of these disputed 

 points before a revision of your work is made. 



O. O. POPPLETON. 



Hawks' Park, Fla., Apr. 1, 1887. 



I see this article is already too long, and I must 

 defei- the " explanation and defense " of all these 

 points until next issue. W. Z. Hutchinsojn. 



Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. 



SMALL INVENTIONS. 



OUU FKIENl) J. A. (JRKEN GIVES US A FEW VAL- 

 UABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



rr^si 



IP o i go about my daily work I am reminded iu 

 ^il^ numerous ways of the debt I owe to my 

 jpr fellow bee-keepers. Many a time a hint 

 ■M--^ given, a method explained, or an improve- 

 ment suggested by some one in the bee- 

 journals, or at conventions, has been of the great- 

 est service to me. I am not referring to startling- 

 theories or revoiutionai-y methods or inventions, 

 but /(7f?c things that help to smoothe the way and 

 make the lot of the bee-keeper pleasant. A little 

 improvement, into which the author has worked 

 his way so gradually that he does not realize that it 

 is any thing new or particulai-ly valuable, may prove 

 a i-evolution and a boon to some fellow-worker. 



HOW TO MAKE THE SCREEN-DOOR OF A HONEY- 

 HOUSE OPEN BY FOOT-POWER. 



1 have experienced a great deal of satisfaction 

 this summer in the use of a device which I think 

 would be useful to a great many bee-keepers. 

 Most honey-houses, pi-obably, are provided with 

 screen-doors, closing with springs. If they are not 

 they ought to be. Ft is unnecessary to mention the 

 advantages of screen-doors, and almost as unnec- 

 essary to say that they should close of themselves. 

 A honey-house should be so arranged that it can 

 not be left o]icn lor the bees to enter. 



<:i(EKN S IIKVICF, FOR OPKNING SCRKEN-DOORS. 



In carr\iiig lione.y or other articles into the 

 honey-house, both hands of the bee-keeper are 

 generally fUli; and to open an ordinary door he 

 must stop and set something down to get his hands 

 free. This is not only an inconvenience, but it 

 requires some little time, and in the busy season 

 every moment of a bee-keeper's time is valuable. 

 Sometimes, too, his hands are daubed with honey 

 which he docs not care to leave on the door-knob 

 as a bait for robbers. All this inconvenience and 

 loss of time is saved by arranging the door so that 

 it can be opened with the foot. I have had such a 

 contrivance on the door of my honey-house this 

 Bummer, and it has proved a great convenience. 



On the top of the outside of your door, nail a 

 piece projecting outward five or six Inches. Four 

 or five feet away from the hinge side of the door, 

 nail a board projecting about a foot from the side 

 of the building, and four or Ave inches higher than 

 the top of the door. In the outer end of this put a 

 small grooved pulley, running horizontally. On the 

 same level, and three feet from the other side of 

 the door, put another grooved pulley, running ver- 

 tically. A few inches further from the door, and 

 three feet from the ground, put a similar pulley. 

 Now fasten a strong flexible line to the projection 

 on the door, and run it through pulley number one, 

 then back over number two, then down to about 

 two feet from the ground. There fasten it to one 

 end of a light but still' piece of wood about four 

 feet long. Let the other end of this stick extend 

 back under the door. Bore a hole through this end, 

 and drive a loosely fitting pin through it into the 

 ground. Fasten another piece of line to the free 

 end of the stick; run it over the third pulley and tie 

 a weight to it, heavy enough to raise the stick. 

 Now, b.y stepping on the stick as you approach the 

 door, the latter is opened; and as you pass through 

 it closes behind you without your being obliged to 

 touch it with your hands, while none of the rigging 

 is in the way or interferes with the ordinary use of 

 the door. 



If the door-spring is strong enough, the weight 

 and third pulley may be dispensed with; but with 

 ordinary springs they are necessary to raise the 

 treadle-stick. 



AN -ADDITION TO THE FOLDING TENT. 



Another little convenience I have used this sum- 

 mer is an addition to your folding tent. I was oft- 

 en annoyed by the tent collapsing and blowing 

 over just when I did not want it to. To prevent 

 this I made two light sticks, 53 inches long, and 

 sawed a notch in each end. I then drove a two- 

 inch wire nail into the end on one side of the 

 notch, and bent it over so as to close the notch. 

 One of these sticks was then put at each end of the 

 tent at the bottom, the cord placed in the notch, 

 and the wire nail turned over it. holding it secure- 

 ly. This makes the tent much stiffer and more 

 reliable. When the tetit is lolded, the sticks can be 

 put inside of it. They add very little to the 

 weight, bulk, or expense of the tent. See Fig. 3. 



A SLIGHT DISCREPANCY. 



Friend Root, on page H,")3, last > ear, at the close of 

 m.v article, you make the statement that pins, 38ii 

 of which cost three cents, are cheaper than 94-inch 

 wire nails. Your price list sa.\s there are 2750 

 iU-inch wire nails in a pound. The inice is 13 cts. 

 per lb., so that 687'/4 nails may be had for the price 

 of ;iSO pins, the nails costing scarcely more than 

 half as much as pins. The expense of either, 

 though, for bagging grapes, is insignificant. 



Dayton, 111. J. A. Green. 



Eriend G., tlie point yoii make about the 

 importance of having a door that opens of 

 itself, or, rather, that can be opened by the 

 foot, is an important one. I have, in simi- 

 hir cases, been accustomed to unlatch doors 

 witii my foot ; but it is a wearying and un- 

 gainly thing to do, even if one "succeeds. A 

 good "many times, the first kick with my toe 

 didn't raise tlie latch; and sometimes, be- 

 fore I succeeded in getting the door open, I 

 would get red in the face, and come pretty 

 near (?) getting cross. Sometimes I have 



