1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



275 



Instead of placing the tank to receive the hon- 

 ey as it runs from the extractor outside on the 

 ground, it will be made to occupy the space un- 

 der the floor. It will hold enough for at least 

 half a day's extracting. The operators will not 

 be bothered filling cans as fast as it is extracted, 

 etc. It can be drawn from the large tank at spare 

 time in the evening, or early morning before ex- 

 tracting can begin, oi at the noon hour. 



The open tank placed outside, covered with 

 cloth, as shown, was very unsatisfactory. It re- 

 quired a lot of time to place it and make it bee- 

 tight; also time is wasted digging a place under 

 the gate to put the five-gallon cans to be filled. 



With a tank placed under the floor with gates 

 in the side or end it will always be ready for op- 

 eration. There will be two compartments in the 

 tank for the purpose of receiving the two grades 

 of honey should there beany. The combs show- 

 ing a dark grade of honey can be extracted sepa- 

 rately, and run from the extractor into a separate 

 compartment in the tank. 



The house on the wagon is fitted with double 

 doors in the back end, which swing both ways. 

 A plank is placed on a level with the floor at one 

 end, the other on the ground. A wheelbarrow 

 loaded with supers of honey is run up the plank, 

 the load pushed against the door, which swings 

 in and closes as soon as the man is in, this giving 

 but little chance for robbers to enter. As soon 

 as the load is off the wheelbarrow the operator 

 backs out, pushing the door outward, which closes 

 the same as before. 



There are no screen-doors. The screen is plac- 

 ed on the sides the whole length of the house as 

 shown in the pictures. This makes a cool and 

 comfortable place to work, even in the hottest 

 weather, when no air is stirring, as the motion of 

 the extractor causes a current through the house. 

 Curtains are hung outside that may be dropped 

 (or rolled up) to cover the screen if necessary to 

 keep out wind or dust. 



The outfit is equipped wiih a six-frame auto- 

 matic extractor run by a gasoline-engine; also a 

 capping-melter similar to the one described and 

 recommended in Gleamngs. This year we will 

 make a new one, changed somewhat, which we 

 think will be much better but more expensive. 



We will try to solve (by experiments) this sea- 

 son several questions that remain (for us) unsolv- 

 ed in connection with operating a series of out- 

 yards on a large scale. 



Why can we not have more articles from the 

 large honey-producers, describing the equipment 

 used in operating and handling bees and honey 

 on a large scale, such as honey- houses, extracting- 

 houses, wagons, storage-tanks, etc. ? 



North Yakima, Wash. 



[We are very glad to receive articles from ex- 

 tensive honey-producers, especially those who use 

 power-driven extracting-outfits. There must be 

 something like three dozen of these located in va- 

 rious parts of the United States; and there are 

 some hundreds of other bee-keepers who are con- 

 templating putting in power to drive big extrac- 

 tors, and they want to know, of course, whether 

 it pays to have a portable extracting-house of the 

 type here shown, or whether it is more economi- 

 cal to have a permanent extracting-house located 

 at home and haul the combs to and fro from the 



outyards, as is practiced by Mr. Chalon Fowls, 

 whose extracting-outfit we illustrated on page 

 1375, Nov. 15, 1908. In Gleanings for Jan. 1, 

 1904, page 26, we showed a portable extracting- 

 house that made use of a shallow tank under the 

 house, the extractor being run by hand power. 

 Perhaps the reader can get some suggestions 

 from this article. 



The advantage of hauling the combs is that 

 the honey will be stored in safety at the home 

 yard, where there can be plenty of room and ev- 

 ery convenience. If the honey were extracted at 

 the outyard it could doubtless be hauled home 

 with a tank under the portable building; but if 

 there is very much hill country or rough roads no 

 ordinary team of horses would be able to pull 

 the load. The question of hauling the power 

 extracting-outfit and the honey after it is extract- 

 ed, or drawing the combs home to be extracted, 

 will depend to a considerable extent on the char- 

 acter of the roads and the lay of the land. 



This is a very important question for the exten- 

 sive producers of extracted honey, and our col- 

 umns are open for its further discussion. — Ed.] 



A PLEA FOR BABY NUCLEI. 



BY THE LATE E. L. PRATT 



Of late I have noted some criticism of small 

 nuclei (baby mating-boxes if you please) from 

 certain quarters, to the effect that these small 

 mating nuclei are being given up by many as too 

 much trouble to look alter, and that strong three 

 and five frame nuclei colonies are preferred. 



The criticism of this economical small-niating- 

 box plan of queen fertilization, you have perhaps 

 noted, comes mainly from large honey-producers 

 — from men who own from 300 to 500 colonies of 

 bees. For such large producers the strong nuclei 

 may be more sitisfactory. but look at the num- 

 ber of bees and the quantity of extra bee material 

 required! Simply out of the question with the 

 one owning perhaps but twenty colonies. 



The large producer will think nothing of break- 

 ing twenty- five colonies into full framed nuclei, 

 both for increase and queen-rearing — but what is 

 the little fellow with a queen trade to do.'' Can 

 he afford to sacrifice even ten of his full colonies 

 in this fashion.? No, he must economize; he 

 must not use so many bees in his mating nuclei 

 or he will not have strong colonies enough left 

 to supply him with queen-cells, drones, and ex- 

 tra bees for his queen-raising operations. 



Those who have most sweepingly condemned 

 small mating nuclei overlook the fact that there 

 are thousands of bee-keepers who do not own 

 twenty-five full colonies each in all, yet have a 

 desire to rear a few queens for their own use and 

 have a few to sell. To such, it must be admit- 

 ted, the small baby-nuclei plan is a boon — it is 

 economical, efficient, satisfactory, and possible to 

 the small producer. 



Small mating nuclei are not so much bother 

 after all when expense is considered. All that is 

 required is regular feeding of thin sugar syrup 

 once a week or so, when honey is not coming in 

 — that is all. 



The twin mating-boxes are provided with con- 

 venient feeders, and the task of giving each box 



