1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



761 



which is held in place with a small rope drawn 

 tight by being twisted with a stick. This cloth 

 strainer must, of course, be fastened very firmly 

 or it will go down into the can when a pail of 

 honey is emptied on to it. At the bottom of the 

 strainer-tan Is. is a 1 l2-inch Perfection gate through 

 which the honey always runs in a round stream 

 which is just right for filling the 60-pound screw- 

 cap cans. Most of the other gates throw the 

 stream to one 

 side during the 

 time they are be- 

 ing opened or 

 closed, and some 

 of the honey is, 

 therefore, daubed 

 over the side of 

 the can. All this 

 is avoided by us- 

 ing the Perfec- 

 tion gate, which 

 throws a round 

 stream, no matter 

 how wide it is 

 opened. 



The strainer- 

 can is elevated in 

 order to run the 

 honey from the 

 gate into a 60- 

 pound can set on 

 the scales. The 

 gate is open all 

 the time except 

 when the cans are 

 changed. An 

 electrical alarm, 

 as first described 

 by Mr. Hutchin- 

 son, is used to 

 give us warning when the can is full — see Fig. 2. 

 No one should hesitate about trying one of these 

 alarms, for they are very simple. The engraving 

 shows the method of connecting the bell to the 

 battery. In brief, two wires run from the two 

 posts on the battery to the two posts on the bell; 

 but one wire is broken, one of the ends being 

 fastened to the scale-beam at the pivot, and the 

 other being located just above the outside end of 

 the beam. It can be seen that, when the can is 

 full, the scale-beam rises and the circuit is com- 

 pleted so that the bell rings. It is necessary to 

 have all of the connections tight, as the bell may 

 fail to ring if there are any loose contacts. We 

 set the scales as usual at the 62 H-pound mark to 

 allow for the 60 pounds of honey and the weight 

 of the can, and then lay a two-pound weight on 

 top of the can and turn on the honey and go on 

 with our work. It can be seen that, when the 

 scale-beam goes up and rings the bell, there will 

 be 58 pounds of honey in the can. We then re- 

 move the weight and weigh the honey as usual. 



Mr. E. E. Coveyou, of Petoskey, Mich., has 

 made an automatic scale that closes the gate 

 when the can is full. He uses an eight-frame 

 automatic extractor provided with a Holtermann 

 strainer in the bottom. This extractor is located 

 on the platform about 2 ft. above the honey-house 

 floor, and a rubber hose from the strainer in the 

 extractor conveys the honey to the gate on the 

 scales. This rubber hose stops all the vibrations 



FIG. 2. — E. D. 



TOWNSEND S ARRANGEMENT OF STRAINER AND SCALES, ILLUSTRATING 

 THEHUTCHINSON AUTOM.'VTIC ALARM. 



caused by the running of the extractor, and this 

 precaution is really necessary; for if the automatic 

 scales were fastened solid with the extractor the 

 vibration would so afi^ect the flow of honey that 

 some of it would not go into the small openings 

 in the 60-pound cans. 

 Remus, Mich. 



[Mr. Hutchinson will soon describe the Cove- 

 you automatic scale in these columns. — Ed.] 



THE TROUBLES OF AN AMATEUR 

 BEE-KEEPER. 



Failure through Success. 



BY F. DUN DAS TODD. 



Bees not troublesome.? May be not; but you 

 could not prove the fact on the witness-stand by 

 me. My neighbors learned of my trouble, and 

 came to give me sympathy, but I did not want 

 it. I told them I was delighted with things as 

 they were. I really was, but they could not un- 

 derstand. I had a problem to solve, which was 

 something far more fascinating than robbing a 

 hive of fifty pounds of honey at the end of a 

 smooth-flowing season. So I begged to be left 

 alone with my entrancing troubles, and turned 

 more assiduously than ever to the books. I bought 



