216 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



To make the frame- 

 work more secure, it 

 was guyed to the ground 

 with telephone wire. 

 The mill is nearly 20 

 feet high to the top of 

 the sails. The power is 

 transmitted by means of 

 a rope belt Irom the 

 pulley on the main axle 

 to a pulley on an ISfoot 

 finch gas-pipe used for 

 a line-shaft. On the op- 

 posite end of the line- 

 shaft a two-foot pulley 

 is placed under the saw- 

 table, on which a belt 2 

 inches wide is run to the 

 six-inch saw. The table 

 has a top 3.\ ft. by 4 ft., 

 on which is placed a 

 movable top, set per- 

 fectly square in every 

 direction with the saw. 

 The top of the table, in- 

 stead of the lumber, is 

 fed to the saw in much 

 of the work. This guar- 

 antees square ciats in 

 every direction. The 

 saw and mill are geared 

 40 to 1, and I have seen 

 the mill clip off over 100 

 revolutions per minute, 

 giving a rim speed on 

 the saw of over one mile 

 a minute. At this speed 

 the only tremble the op- 

 erator has is in getting 

 boards to the saw fast 

 enough. 



The whole affair is set 

 north and south so as 

 to utilize the prevailing 

 winds. It fronts south, 

 but it runs just as well 

 with a north wind. Of 

 course, it will run back- 

 ward; but all the operator has to do is to 

 cross the driving-belt. 



The photograph of the mill shows the piles 

 of cut hives at my feet, showing the results 

 of an hour's run. In another photo are 

 shown a few supers and hives nailed and 

 painted, as a product of this hive-plant. 

 They are good enough for me. 



In another engraving is shown a ten-frame 

 hive complete, every bit of the sawing for 

 which was done by the mill. Notice the con- 

 struction of the lid. It is a little heavy, but 

 will stand the weather. It can not warp, as 

 two separate pieces above and below are 

 clinch-nailed through and through. The 

 frames are not seli-spacing, but are of the 

 regular Langstroth dimension, and therefore 

 interchangeable with the Hoffman frames. 

 The ten-frame two-full-story hive complete, 

 with 20 frames for extracted honey, costs 

 about 60 cts. for material. 



The mill or hive-plant complete cost about 

 $12.00 for material, all told. I did all the 



ROBINSON'S HOME-MADE WINDMILL FOE SAWING HIVE LUMBEi; 



work, made all the pulleys, mandrel for the 

 saw, and all boxes or bearings, etc., here at 

 my shop. The outfit paid for the material 

 the first day it was run. 1 shall use the ma- 

 terial in building as soon as I am done mak- 

 ing hives for use. I have no hives or bee- 

 supplies to sell. 

 Bartlett, Tex., Dec. 4, 1907. 



[Any one who has skill enough to make a 

 mill like this will certainly be able to maku 

 hives. The whole arrangement is very sim- 

 ple and ingenious, and we see no reason 

 why some of our subscribers of a mechani- 

 cal turn of mind could not do likewise. The 

 scheme of using corrugated iron for the 

 sails, and then using the material for build- 

 ing afterward, is certainly very unique. We 

 should not have supposed that a mill that 

 could not face the wind squarely at all 

 points of the compass would be a success: 

 but in territory such as our correspondent 

 describes, it evidently does the work. — Ed ] 



