1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



951 



A HiVE-LIFTING WHEEL-CART. 



Honey production having grown from retail to 

 wiiolesale, hives, of necessity, need handling 

 more rapidly and easily. As shown by your 

 journal, honey-producers are trying to evolve a 

 portable crane. Now, why multiply tools when 

 they are already too numerous.? The above sug- 

 gested the idea given herewith. Every profes- 

 sional apiarist surely must always need a hand- 

 cart of some sort. Then why not try to make it 

 do more than one thing.'' By the plan shown in 

 the illustration I think any one can modify the 

 details to suit his needs; as, owing to hives be- 

 ing so various in many ways, one particular pat- 

 tern would suit only one man. In a truck made 

 as suggested, I would have the floor-boards of 

 the truck nearest the front free — just to rest on 

 the handles — and kept in place by cleats on the 

 under side, either to come inside or outside of 

 handles, so that when the truck is wanted to lift 

 hives off the bottom-boards or to carry to an- 

 other stand they can be removed; and by open- 

 ing the front pull -bar the handles may be sprung 

 open sufficiently to go easily each side of the 

 hive; and when the pull-bar is put back in place 

 and the pin put in, the hive can not slip or shift. 

 The drop-leg shown will hold the hive up and 

 leave both hands free, and two ends and sides 

 clear to work at. As regards the drop-leg, make 

 the joint so that the leg will be free to 

 work only one way — back and forth; otherwise 

 the weight of the hive will swing the truck 

 round and let the hive down. I suggest a joint 

 something like the hinge of a rule; and below 

 the pin the leg swings by, have a hole right 

 through the joint and leg to put a pin through; 

 then the truck can not possibly move. Now, 

 when you lift a hive by the truck you can, if you 

 wish, move it sidewise, or back or forth, as need- 

 ed; and in putting it back you can guide it home 

 to i',- inch. When the drop leg is lifted for or- 

 dinary work about the yard I would have short 

 fixed legs to come, say, just back of where the 

 back of the hive comes for lifting; and when the 

 drop-leg is hooked up to the side-rails it is out of 

 the road. With the loose floor-boards in place, 



[The arrangement shown is very good, provid- 

 ing the ground is not uneven, and hives so placed 

 that one can get around with the outfit. We are 

 working on a modification, the lift being in 

 front of a pair of wheels rather than in the rear. 

 All these devices seem like a lot of machinery, 

 and it is a question how far they can be used to 

 advantage. We shall have more to say on this 

 question at a later time. — Ed.] 



A NEW HIVE-LIFTER. 



I would not bother with a hive-lifter for one 

 super or for two or three eight-frame comb-honey 

 supers; but when I have a good crop I have two, 

 three, four, and sometimes five ten-frame supers 

 on at once, and then is the time I expect a lifting- 

 device to be of use. 



/n Hanc/Huies. 



you have a handy cart for carrying supers and 

 the many other things needed in a yard worked 

 for bread and butter. With a pair of wheels 

 and an axle a handy man would make it in a 

 day, and have a tool that would make many a 

 hard task pleasant and easy. John Bell. 



Greenhithe, Auckland, N. Z. 



The standard or upright part of my lifter is a 

 2/'2-inch boiler-tube 5 ft. 9 in. long. There are 

 three oak legs, fs X 3, by 4 ft. 6 in. One end each 

 of these three strips is fastened to the upright 

 pipe 18 inches from the lower end. The other 

 end is connected to the lower end of 

 the pipe by a light iron brace, mak- 

 Pin% ing a triangle of each leg. The angle 



is such that the lower end of the up- 

 right is three or four inches above 

 the ground. Three light iron braces 

 about ten inches from the center con- 

 nect the legs and hold them the 

 right distance apart. The upprr 

 part of the lifter is a piece of barn- 

 door track 3 ft. 9 in. long. It ex- 

 tends out 2 ft. 4 in. from the center, 

 and is free to make a complete circl^e. 

 The tackle-block may move in 

 toward the center or out to the end 

 of the track; a bolt through the end 

 of the track prevents it from run- 

 ning off. The end of the track has 

 supported the weight of a 210-pound man. 



This first machine weighs about 40 lbs. It is 

 heavier than necessary. The proportions and 

 details could be much improved, making alighter 

 machine; but just as it is, it is very easy to 

 handle, as one can take a good hold with scarcely 

 any stooping. It would be easier to pick up the 



