60 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Sept., 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Honey Extractor and Strainer Combined. 



One of the most convenient articles in an 

 apiary, large or small, is a strainer made of tin. 

 It is in two parts— the top, say twenty inches 

 square and ten inches deep; lar.ce enough to 

 take in the largest size frame on the four sides. 

 Let the bottom be made of fine perforated tin or 

 zinc, which is made by machinery. The bottom 

 part is made five or six inches deep, and hxrge 

 enough to allow the top to fit in about one inch 

 — a fiange being made to prevent the top from 

 slipping in too far. 



In the lower part, close to the bottom of one 

 side, a metal faucet may be soldered in, to draw 

 off the strained honey. Legs two inches high, 

 also of tin, at the four corners, are convenient. 

 The cover of the top should have a flange all 

 around, to fit inside, about an inch wide. This 

 is convenient, as when you wish to lift off the 

 strainer you can turn over the cover, place the 

 strainer on it, and it catches the dripping honey. 



The writer has found this such a convenience 

 that he could hardly dispense with it. Frames 

 of honey for family use, and bits of comb, can 

 all be kept in such a vessel, accessible at any 

 time, and well protected from bees and flies. 



To extract honey from the frames, place them 

 against the sides, with strips between, say an 

 inch from the sides, and suspend the whole con- 

 cern by four strong cords some eight or ten feet 

 from the ceiling, and twist it up as near as it 

 will go, and then give it a whirl back. My ex- 

 perience is, that after a few turns my combs are 

 clear enough of honey, and it runs through the 

 strainer ready to be drawn off. 



Where there are many frames, the whole 

 should be suspended by stout galvanized wire, 

 ■ such as clothes-lines are made of, with a swivel 

 at the top to be hooked or screwed to the ceil- 

 ino-. To give a rotary motion, a board must be 

 fastened to the bottom, with a spindle seven or 

 eight inches long, passing into a hole, loosely, 

 about an inch, leaving space between the bot- 

 tom of the board and the fixture into which 

 the spindle passes, of six or seven inches. Now, 

 just as a boy passes a cord through the spindle 

 of his top and winds it up, so here — only that 

 the cord must be fastened, and the machine 

 turned whirligig fashion. 



The strainer is a very great convenience in a 

 family, wherein combs can be kept and cut as 

 wanted. Its use as an extractor, though seem- 

 ingly complicated in the explanation, is yet very 

 simple, and will be found very easy to one who 

 will make the trial. 



D. C. MiLLETT. 



Holmesburg, Pa.., July, 1871. 



Although nothing is more simple in theory 

 and practice than the history and care of bees, 

 it yet I'equires constant and unremitted atten- 

 tion, if we aim at either instruction or profit. 

 Can anything be well done and to advantage 

 without these ? 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



The Wire Cloth House. 

 To Amateur. 



Deak Sir : — I have read with much interest 

 your article in the July number of the Bee 

 Journal, touching upon several subjects, among 

 the rest a description of your wire house-, in 

 which you emi)ty your frame honey, and have 

 your queens fertilized. To the apiarian, these 

 two items are of much interest at tlie present 

 time ; at least, the latter is one iu which many 

 of us are exceedingly anxious to learn hoio to 

 have our queens fertilized by selected drones. 

 I am in hopes others may be as successful as you 

 ajjpear to have been. 



By the time this will reach your eye, a more 

 extensive experience in this part of our business 

 will enable you to give us the results of your 

 labors, and I for one, will be much obliged if you 

 will inform us how many queens you have had 

 desirably fertilized in your house, and the num- 

 ber of failures. If you are the lucky chap that 

 has found out The Plan, won't there be re- 

 joicing among us ? Well, I guess there will ; 

 and Novice's new hat Avill soar up, even if he 

 has to run into the back yard from his wife, to 

 give it a hoist. But I think my queens and 

 drones would spend most of their time in fruit- 

 lessly bumping their heads against the wire 

 cloth. Yours, 



L. James. 



Atlanta, Ills., July 14, 1871. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee Stings. 



Mr. Editor :— In reading the "Bee Jour- 

 nal," I find in nearly every issue a remedy for 

 bee stings, but do not remember of seeing spirits 

 of turpt'utine recommended. 



I find it the most efiicient remedy I can use. 

 One drop will be found sufficient to deaden the 

 pain of an ordinary sting, and stop the swelling, 

 if api)lied at once. 



If stung around the neck or mouth so much 

 that the poison reaches tlie stomach, a few 

 drops taken in oil will give immediate relief. 



Tlie hands are most exposed (as all bee- 

 keepers should own a good bee hat) ; conse- 

 quently, a nerve or vein is often stung. In such 

 a case, extract the sting at once, apply the tur- 

 pentine to the wound, bathe the wrist, the elbow, 

 and the under part of the arm with the same, 

 and in a few moments you will feel no inconve- 

 nience. 



I have used it for over ten years, and always 

 found it reliable. 



Old Fogy. 



Lake City, July 10, 1871. 



Though colony after colony of honey bees 

 have dwelt, in uninterrupted succession, in the 

 same apiary, their instinct is not improved, nor 

 their reflective powers enlarged. — Mrs. Grif- 

 fith. 



