,n lA' 1. 1915 



545 



AN ELECTRIC BARREL- FILLING INDICATOR 



BY G. W. HAINES 



"When 1 stalled in beekee]iing' as a busi- 

 ness ] soon learned it was a hard dirty job, 

 as well as a rather expensive one, to allow 

 a honey-ean to run over. So 1 rigged up 

 the scales at each apiary with an electric 

 bell to ring every time the scale-beam raised. 



The weight was set to equal that of a full 

 can. When the beam raised the bell rang 

 and shut down tlie honey-gate. This worked 

 to perfection for several years; but since 

 my apiaries have outgrown the small cans 

 1 could not set a GOO-lb. barrel on the scales. 

 1 so<in found the old trouble. About 25 lbs. 

 of honey Avould run down over the barrel 

 and over the floor. 



I sat rigiit down and said to myself, "1 will 

 have a bell on that barrel." I got through 

 the season by running over tw'o more bar- 

 rels. During the winter I made an electric 

 outfit for each apiary. It hooks in the 

 bung of the barrel, set in the hose or funnel. 

 When the liquid gets to within 2V2 inches of 

 the top it raises a wooden block or cork, 

 working on the same plan as a batteiy 



switcii, making a connection, and the bell 

 rings. A heavy coid hangs over the ex- 

 tractor, attached to the blades of a small 

 switch and to a hole bored in the end of 

 the handle of the honey-gate. When *l",! 

 bell rings I pull on the string. The switch 

 •stops the bell ringing, and shuts down the 

 honey-gate. Then I change the barrel for 

 an empty one. 1 have several honey-tanliS 

 that hold a ton each. I hook an electric de- 

 vice made a little differently from the one 

 for the barrel to the top of the tank. When 

 the liquid is about four inches from llie top 

 it raises a wooden float-block, makes a con- 

 nection, and rings the bell. I havo spent 

 considerable time looking to see if a tank 

 was full. You all know it is well worth 

 $2.50 to clean up about 25 lbs. of honey 

 spread over the floor. 



The outfit requires a roll of wire, electric 

 bell, dry cell, small switch, and the device 

 for the barrel or tank. 



Mayfield, N. Y. 



CHUNK HONEY ADAPTED TO CAFETERL4S 



BY THE OUTLAW 



It is a matter of common knowlege that 

 bees do their best when the cluster is least 

 broken up. The ordinary comb-honey section 

 has this fault of breaking up the cluster. 

 Sections also have to be bought in quan- 

 tities, and there is also the expense of the 

 furniture for the supers. In my own case 

 with one colony of bees hidden away on a 

 roof, it naturally follows that the idea of 

 purchasing sections and making super fur- 

 niture did not appeal. I might also state 

 that I have a natural avei-sion to pajdngout 

 real money where satisfactory results can 

 '>€ obtained without making any investment. 

 The solution was to have the suri^lus honey 

 stored in ordinaiy shallow frames made 

 from the wood of boxes in which the city 

 grocer is in the habit of delivering gro- 

 ceries. 



In my own apiary during the past season 

 my one colony of bees, besides being in- 

 creased to three colonies, produces for me 

 apj)roximatoly 150 jiounds of honey, and 

 the only outlay was the few moments' time 

 it took to make the frames and supers from 

 the material just mentioned. The average 

 weight of such frames was between three 

 and four pounds. It is not the claim here 

 that such frames of honey are superior to 



sections, but I do claim that such frames of 

 honey can be produced with but a very 

 small fraction of the time and trouble in- 

 volved in ])roducing honey in sections ; that, 

 if properly manipulated, more surplus hon- 

 ey can be produced; that the honey is much 

 more conveniently handled; and that the 

 small amount that such city apiarists have 

 can be just as readily disposed of as if it 

 were in sections. 



In place of having to exj^end real money 

 for sections and fixtures, whose initial cost 

 v/ill amount to the value of the crop re- 

 ceived, his expenses are nothing. Such 

 frames of honey as a present to your friends 

 (and here I speak from actual exi^erience, 

 having disposed of about 30 per cent of my 

 crop in this w'ay) are preferred to a sec- 

 tion; the reason being, perhaps, that a sec- 

 tion holds a scant pound while the frames 

 hold about four times that amount. 



At first 1 was a little bit dubious about 

 being able to dispose of such frames of 

 iioney, as the average grocer having become 

 accustotned to honey in sections would not 

 take kindly to such cumbersome frames, 

 neither would the average person who has 

 become accustomed to buying honey one 

 section at a time care to purchase as much 



