GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Fig. 1. — Latest form of tlie Ferguson nncappine 

 machine. Entering the points of the knives at one 

 end of the frame. 



necessary. * * * \Ve must have one of our own 

 next season. It works well and fast, and leaves the 

 combs in ideal shape. * * * i d;^ ^ot sharpen 

 the knives while here. I thought several times I 

 would; but upon examination I found them as keen 

 as they were when they arrived. * * * 



We pxit up in all, while your machine was here, 

 24,000 lbs., and the uncapper was run over every 

 comb that it would uncap, even a portion of the 

 combs, so you can tell about the amount of service 

 it garve us. 



The above amount refers to "bulk comb," 

 so the amount uncapped would be the 

 amount necessary to put up that quantity 

 of "bulk comb.'' 



Another beekeeper who had the machine 

 wrote me in part as follows, and his criti- 

 cisms are those most frequently raised : 



There are many thin combs with irregular sur- 

 faces that the machine will not get at. Another 

 thing, one could not use the machine on combs con- 

 taining any sealed brood. 



If I understand the above, it means ex- 

 tracting combs thinner than those of sealed 

 brood ; and I am free to admit that satisfac- 

 tory results could not be obtained under 

 such conditions. The facts of the case are 

 that neither of these men had made any 

 special effort to secure thick combs for use 



with the machine; and Mr. Wilder espe- 

 cially, I understand, uses eight frames in 

 an eight-frame super, securing a slight in- 

 crease in thickness by leaving out the divi- 

 sion-board, so it is easily seen that the re- 

 sults are not such as would be obtained 

 where the proper preparation had been 

 made. 



The one element of uncertainty is wheth- 

 er or not beekeepers can and will produce 

 combs that bulge Vs inch or more beyond 

 fhe top-bar for about two inches down. The 

 form of the knives will not admit of their 

 cutting in abruptly under the top-bar; but 

 they must pass straight down for about II/2 

 or 2 inches, or until their heels have passed 

 the top-bar, and then they are automati- 

 cally forced in toward each other until they 

 are just far enough apart to pass the bot- 

 tom-bar so they will take care of any ordi- 

 nary irregularities in the central and lower 

 parts of the combs where they are most apt 

 to occur. This style of knife has now been 

 used long enough to prove beyond doubt 

 that it is successful and practical. 



I will admit that bulged comb can not be 

 secured without some special care ; but I do 

 know that I can produce such combs, and 

 uncap them easily, at the rate of ten frames 

 per minute ; and a sj^eed of twelve to fifteen 

 frames per minute would not be hard to 

 attain, I am sure, after one becomes some- 

 what expert in handling the machine. 



I find that eight frames in a ten-frame 

 super are about right for good results; and 

 after the combs have once been built out 

 and uncapped, each later filling and cap- 

 ping is bound to build them out enough to 

 insure a good clean job of uncapping. 



Harvey, 111. 



BEEKEEPING IN THE SEMI-ARID REGIONS OF 

 OKLAHOMA, KANSAS, AND NEBRASKA 



How Sweet Clover is Being Developed 



BY E. R. ROOT 



Business and other reasons called me into 

 Oklahoma and Kansas along the latter part 

 of January; and in our Feb. 15th issue I 

 promised to write up the beekeeping condi- 

 tions in those States, saying I thought there 

 were exceptional opportunities for the de- 

 velopment of new bee territory alongside 

 of those immense acreages of alfalfa in the 

 valleys. In accordance with the promise 

 then made, I present a few obseiwations, 

 with particular reference to Oklahoma, 

 where I spent most of my time, in the vicin- 

 ity of Stillwater. Here resides Mr. F. W. 

 Van de Mark, Secretary of the Oklahoma 

 Beekeei^ers' Association, and Prof. San- 



