My Bees 143 



this book. I could not find that they brought 

 in an ounce unless for their own use. After 

 some weeks of anxious watching and disap- 

 pointment, I consulted a neighbor, who knew 

 somebody else whose brother had once had a 

 beehive, and in the end I discovered that an 

 old farmer ten miles off had some bees, and 

 actually got some honey from them every year. 

 I went to see him, and found out that in that 

 part of Jersey, at least, bees do very little in 

 the way of honey-making from the end of June 

 until the end of August; moreover, that if I 

 want to get them to make honey in the little 

 boxes which are sold by the grocers, I should 

 have to encourage them by placing in each box 

 a little sheet of wax marked with the comb in- 

 dentations. These wax "starters " are the in- 

 vention of a German bee-keeper. I also learned 

 that, in order to get the bees to do their whole 

 duty, a modern device, likewise the invention 

 of a German, known as an "extractor," would 

 be necessary. 



The extractor is simply a tin barrel contain- 

 ing a frame which can be made to whirl around 

 upon a central pivot. Into this frame the hive 



