T'HK mmimmicmM be® joi^RNStiL. 



329 



and the electric displaj- beggars all 

 description. All Nature seemed to 

 vomit lire, aud the heavens and the 

 earth blazed incessantly till no mortal 

 I'je conld bear the sight. 



Whenever the whirling monster 

 toiiclied tlie earth, nothing could with- 

 stanil its force. Mj' friend and coiin- 

 trj-mau, Mr. Ed. Drane, has already 

 reported (.see pages 253 and 275) the 

 damage done to the fine Drane blue- 

 grass farm ; but he has told the story 

 with characteristic modesty. In fact, 

 the wreck was indescribable. 



Christiansburg, Ky.- 



BEE-IMPLEMENTS. 



HiveiS, Supers, Extractors, Scales, 

 Hivins-Baskct, etc. 



Bead at the Newaygo Co,, Mich., Convention 

 BY WM. E. GOULD. 



The purpose of this essaj' is to de- 

 scribe the hive and implements which 

 I use and prefer. One of the first 

 questions to confront the beginner in 

 bee-keeping is. Which is the best hive 

 for all purposes ? 



In a climate like ours, I prefer the 

 chatr hive and out-door wintering. 

 Right here allow me to state, that in 

 all my experience as a bee-keeper, I 

 have lost only one colon}' in winter- 

 ing. I believe that 2 inches of good 

 chaft" all around the brood-nest is sufli- 

 cient. Wheat chaff, or straw that has 

 been cut up short, is the best packing. 

 The brood-chamber should be 12f 

 inches wide, and contain 9 Langstroth 

 frames. In the 8-frame hive the brood- 

 chamber should be 11 inches wide. 



Now why should we use the Lang- 

 stroth frame ? I have used a different 

 frame in a few hives which, on some 

 accounts, I prefer to the Langstroth 

 frame ; but I shall use tlie Langstroth 

 frame because it is the "standard." 

 Ten Langstroth frames are used to one 

 of any other size. 



In the past I have made hives and 

 roofed them with narrow ship-lapped 

 slats. These soon leaked. Then I 

 tried ship-lapped siding with the pitch 

 of the roof steeper. This worked bet- 

 ter. When the siding was of good 

 qualit}-, and the roof well painted, it 

 did not leak. But in the future I shall 

 use tin for roofing. It costs much 

 more, but it makes a water-proof roof. 

 Were I to use a single-walled hive, I 

 should prefer the dovetailed hive, in 

 connection with the T-super. 



SUPERS FOR HONEY. 



I have used several styles of section- 

 cases. The one that I prefer is what 

 is known as the "T-super." The in- 

 .side measurement of this should be 



4|xl2txl7f inches. I prefer the bee- 

 space to bo at the top. For a cover, I 

 use a thin board cleated at the ends. 

 This super will aitcomniodate 2-inch 

 sections witli separators, or the l|-inch 

 sections without separators. Separa- 

 tors should be used with sections that 

 are more than Ij inches wide. I pre- 

 fer to use the 1 5-inch sections without 

 separators. Almost any size of sections 

 may be used. 



I would not advise any one to use 

 more than one width. Sections should 

 be I'emoved c?» masse. To do this, in- 

 vert the super, loosen the sections 

 from the side of tlie crate with a thin- 

 bladed knife, and the super can be 

 easily lifted from the sections. I use 

 the tins both above and below. 



The super for extracted honey should 

 contain 12 Langstroth fraiues, spaced 

 IJ inches from center to center. There 

 is much discussion in regard to the use 

 of a honey-board between the brood- 

 nest and the extracting super ; I seldom 

 use one. The presence of a little brood 

 in the combs need not interfere with 

 extracting, while I think its presence 

 encourages the bees ; but if a honey- 

 board is used, there is no danger of 

 losing the queen when extracting. 



I should always use a honey-board 

 between the brood-nest and the sec- 

 tion-cases. I prefer the slatted queen- 

 excluding honey-board. I like the 

 sheet-zinc "board," but it should be 

 bound with wood, so as to give the 

 proper bee-spaces. 



THE HONEY EXTRACTOR AND KNIFE. 



There should be room enough below 

 the revolving basket for at least 100 

 pounds of honey. With the extractor 

 we should have a good uucapping-can 

 — so constructed that the caps fall on 

 a wire screen, and all the honey is 

 drained from them. Enough honey 

 will be saved in this waj' in an ordi- 

 nary season to pay forthe can, and the 

 honey is the best qualitj', too. 



The Bingham honey-knife has no 

 equal. When extracting, it is a good 

 plan to keep a dish filled with warm 

 water where the knife can be kept in 

 it when not in use. A warm knife 

 will take off the caps without tearing 

 down the cells ; especially is this a 

 help in cool weather. 



THE SOLAR ■WAX-EXTRACTOR. 



As fast as the wax accumulates, I 

 place it in the solar wax-extractor, and 

 the heat of the sun soon converts it 

 into a marketable shape. Perhaps I 

 should explain that the extractor is 

 covered with glass, aud a bright tin 

 reflector is so placed as to throw the 

 rays of the sun upon the glass. The 

 interior of the extractor may, in this 

 way, be heated above the boiling-point. 

 But so much heat should not be used 

 in rendering wax. Wax rendered by 



the solar wax-extractor is more salable, 

 and will bring several cents per pound 

 more than wax that is rendered by 

 artificial heat. 



STOKING EXTRACED HONEY — SCALES. 



For storing extracted honey, I use a 

 large extractor-can. This has a honey- 

 guage, and is very convenient when 

 tilling glass receptacles, in fact when 

 filling any small glass receptacles. 

 Lard cans, which can be got at any 

 grocery, are very good and cheap for 

 storing honej' in. They are not con- 

 venient for filling smaller receptacles. 



Every bee-keeper should have a pair 

 of accurate scales. I would recom- 

 mend those that weigh over 250 pounds, 

 and that have a beam for taking oft 

 the tare. 



Every bee-keeper should have a 

 hand-pump which can be used in a 

 common pail. By its use in swarming 

 time, each swarm can be driven where 

 you wish it to alight. 



A SWARM-HIVING BASKET. 



For taking down swarms from the 

 tree, I use a bushel basket which is 

 nailed on the top of a ten-foot pole. 

 Most of mj' swarms alight in apple- 

 trees, and I can take them down while 

 standing on the ground. I have 

 another pole of the same length, with 

 an iron hook fastened on one end. I 

 stand the basket so as to be in under 

 the cluster, and with the other pole I 

 shake the bees into the basket. As 

 soon as they are quiet, I carry them to 

 the hive that I wish them to enter, and 

 shake them on a paper which I have 

 spread before the hive. Usually they 

 enter readil}'. 



CARNIOLANS. 



Best Race of Bees for llie Sierra 

 STevada IMoiiiitains. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY S. L. WATKINS. 



After the past very hard winter, a 

 great many bees have been lost in the 

 northern counties of California, es- 

 pecially the counties where the snow 

 fell to a depth of 15 or 20 feet. 



Where Carniolan bees were kept, 

 they wintered splendidly, thus proving 

 the hardiness of this race, especially 

 where long confinement was necessary. 

 They seem to be the best adapted to 

 this climate. Their quietness in win- 

 ter is a good point in their favor. 



Some bee-keepers claim that their 

 swarming propensities are a serious 

 drawback against this race ; others, 

 that as soon as the queen is gone, lay- 

 ing workers immediately take posses- 

 sion. I have had considerable experi- 

 ence with this race of bees — have 



