108 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1 



After one season's use I have ag-aiu made 

 a chang-e, returning to the center back dis- 

 charge, loading- and unloading from the 

 house behind the machine. On previous 

 page I give a half-tone view of the structure 

 as it stands at the present time, and as it 

 has been through this present season, and 

 having handled about half a ton of wax 

 this summer, and more than a ton of hone^v. 

 As it now stands it is 4x16 feet, has the 

 three-slope roof, and has the center dis- 

 charge. I can still see some things that I 

 would make differently were I doing it 

 anew, but it is not a bad machine as it is. 

 First and foremost, we have always made 

 a mistake in making our solars long wa_v 

 north and south. One made 4 to 6 feet lontr 

 and 2 feet or less wide north and south, 

 will get much more and continuous sun 

 than when the length is the other way. 

 made the old way with one south slope. It 



„ FlG. 1 . . It:- -.-->, 



SMOKE PASSAGE 



I I -J 



GRATES 



WAX 



ONf 

 PIT. 



• Smoke and 



■ jl Smoke AND „, ,,- ■ r - 



4' i; Fire Chamber "' and U Heat Chamber. i 



■' -HONfY;! >^ I 



"ffelFLUE. 



h^^^ 



GL A5S~_-::_ ^T -_--5l ^v— --^~- GLASS 

 GALVANIZED-' i \fBOn 



'«°^ vBar Iron. 



is the east and west walls that cast the 

 shadows. If one does not care to bother 

 with the hip or three-slope roof, make the 

 machine just one length of glass north and 

 south, and the east and west length just as 

 long as 3'ou wish, according to pocketbook 

 and convenience. Also, put it against the 

 south side of some rooin or house if j'ou can. 

 A small room may be made for the purpose, 

 and in this keep wax, slumgum, etc. Han- 

 dle every thing inside, and away from the 

 bees. 



I have made some sketches and also some 

 photos, and from these the reader will have 

 little difficulty in understanding the plan 

 upon which I have constructed my solar. 

 First, look at the photo showing the whole 

 thing, together with a portion of the build- 

 ing back of it. This needs no comment 



further than to say that the glass used is, 

 for the main part, 16 inches from bar to 

 bar, soine of it 10, and some 12 inches. As 

 for the width the other way, it is all the 

 way from 4 to 24 inches, a lot of it being 

 waste glass picked up at the stores. To 

 make the glass water-tight, the pieces are 

 butted end to end after covering the edge 

 with white lead. The bars are made of 

 g-alvanized iron and plain bar iron, the ga - 

 vanized iron bent at right angles, and bolt- 

 ed to the bar iron with stove-bolts. See 

 Fig. 3 in the line cut. The bar iron is about 

 I's wide and i\ thick, for a re 'ch of a little 

 over 4 ft. These sash-bars should always be 

 of metal. The extremes of wet and dry, heat 

 and cold, will invariably loosen the putt}- 

 from wooden bars, but the metal will sta}' 

 puttied. 



The two other photos show two inside 

 views. One is taken from the west end, 

 and shows the east-end melting-pan, the 

 stirring-ladle, two honey-pails set in to liq- 

 uefy the contents, and the wax and honey 

 separator and two cooling-pans, the latter 

 described in the preceding article. The 

 other shows the wax and honey separator 

 and pans, and beneath them is the honey- 

 tank that receives the honej' from the sepa- 

 rator. This view is from inside the house 

 looking out to the south. You will notice 

 that the separator and cooling-pans are 

 well up in the sun, the honey-tank beneath 

 partly in the shade; thus the separator and 

 cooling-pans are kept hot until the sun is 

 well down in the afternoon. 



Now look at Fig. 1. This shows the 

 ground plan. It really needs no comment, 

 more than to say that the walls as repre- 

 sented are about three feet high. Fig. 2 is 

 a view of the south wall of the brick house 

 against which the solar is built. This 

 view is also looking south from inside the 

 house. 1,1 are the doors through which the 

 melting-pans are loaded, and 2 is the door 

 to the wax and honey pit, these doors being 

 open, and showing the glass roof beyond. 

 The small door at the left is the furnace-door, 

 the smoke passing around the pit (4) and 

 entering the flue near B. The dotted lines 

 AAA represent the glass roof on the other 

 side of the brick wall, and the lines B B 

 show the melting-pans, or, rather, the 

 smoke-tight metal surface on which the}- 

 rest. 



The furnace feature is by no means a 

 small item. A fire built in it in the morn- 

 ing will have things warmed so that, as 

 soon as the sun gets high enough to shine 

 on the melting-pans, the thing begins work. 

 A little fire beneath lengthens the working 

 hours from two to four over the sun work 

 alone. When I want to do a big day's 

 work I put a fire beneath. Thus it melts 

 from both top and bottoin, and I have had 

 wax running by 9 a. m., and remain liquid 

 until sundown. 



It will be wise to give a word of warning 

 as to the construction of the furnace parts. 

 Build the brick walls not less than 3 feet 

 high at the point of putting on the smoke- 



