172 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



be locked at any desired tension and 

 can also be adjusted to give tenson 

 only when held in place. This will 

 allow us to lead the wagon down grade 

 and stop at any desired point. On ar- 

 riving at the yard in the morning the 

 wagon should be stopped on the upper 

 corner, and the brake pushed up and 

 locked, when the team can be unhooked 

 and driven rapidly away before tlie 

 bees find out you are there. When the 

 honey is all off for the day, the pile 

 that stands nearest to the wagon is set 

 in, and the wagon led down to the next 

 pile, and so on, until the lower side of 

 the yard is reached, when the hone^' is 

 covered and tied on. If two men are 

 present one can work the brake vvhile 

 the other leads the wagon. If one is 

 alone it will a require a rope from the 

 operator to the brake-lever. If the 

 bees are cross the wagon can be led 

 some distance from the yard before 

 hitching on. 



PROTECTING THE TEAM FROM STINGS. 



If the yard is level the honey is piled 

 near the wagon as it is taken oft", and 

 when we were ready to hitch the team 

 on they are brought as close as thought 

 safe, and then covered within three 

 inches of the ground and from the mid- 

 dle of the neck to the tail, with blank- 

 ets made of factory cloth. We then 

 take one of those cloth tubes we had 

 around the piles of honey, which we 

 we will call a head-slip, and, holding 

 one end up, let it fall from the hand. 

 It will now lie on the ground in folds 

 and can be picked up and put over the 

 horse's head like a collar. If you at- 

 tempt to draw it over the horse's head 

 while it is at full length, the horse ma}^ 

 object. 



Now when the head-slip is on, draw 

 the front end down just above the 

 horse's eyes, then put on a muzzle. 

 Now the horses can be led towards the 

 load and if the bees bother, the head 

 slip can be instantly pulled down so it 

 will hang a foot or two below the 

 horse's nose. The muzzle will prevent 



the horse being frightened by drawing 

 the cloth in his nose in breathing. 



PREPARING HONEY FOR MARKET. 



In the fall we had glass to wash 

 and cut, honej' to scrape and glass, the 

 bees to draw home and prepare for 

 winter, and the honey to draw to the 

 depot, which was ten miles away. 



The glass was washed in pieces 

 9x 13, so we were really handling six 

 pieces at once. 



The honey was scraped and glassed 

 by girls. Each one had a table about 

 2x3 feet to work on. The scraping 

 tables have a piece four inches iiigh on 

 the back and right side and a piece of 

 cloth tacked on the front side. This 

 cloth is to be used as an apron and 

 should have a strap to go around 

 the neck. There should be a piece V 

 inch square and one foot long nailed 

 on three inches from the cloth side, to 

 lay the sections on when scraping. 

 This tiible will keep the propolis off 

 the floor and the operator. 



The glassing tables had two strips 

 '4 X 1 inch by the length of the table 

 nailed on 4'2 inches apart. These 

 hold the sections in place while being 

 glassed. A piece of glass is fastened 

 in the center of the table about four 

 inches hii^h and on this the points iire 

 put a few at a time. 



The points are driven before the 

 glass is put on, and afterwards are 

 bent down with a stick. These girls 

 used to scrape and put on the glass 

 from 800 to 1,000 sections in a day. 



A bench could be used instead of 

 tables. 



GETTING THE BEES HOME IN THE FALL. 



Drawing the bees home was much 

 the same as drawing them awa3'. 

 Some da^'s a yard of over lOO colonies 

 was drawn home. As the hives were 

 unloaded at home they were set on 

 platform scales that were on a wheel- 

 barrow, and weighed and the weight 

 marked on top of the hive, with oil 

 crayon. This mark will sometimes 



