1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



187 



[For tho American Bee Journal.] 



Keplies and Remarks. 



Mr. H. B. Coney asks questions. With the 

 honey extractor I modify my views somewhat. 

 In the November number, page 104, Mr. T. 

 Smith gives a good plan for a northern climate. 

 I am now going to tix my hives, with the same 

 frames I now use, on the Alley plan, with side 

 boxes and outer case. I can then use the ex- 

 tractor without disturbing boxes ; and it is or 

 appears to be a positive fact that bees will store 

 in side boxes or frames as well, and some say 

 better than they will in top boxes. That is, 

 providing the hive is in the proper form. I 

 think it would be a very easy matter to explain 

 why bees do not breed eai'ly and satisfactorily in 

 the Thomas hive. Make your frames not over 

 eleven inches wide, and more of them, and it 

 will work satisfactorily. My hive is twelve 

 inches deep, twelve inches from front to rear, and 

 eighteen inches wide. Make them no wider 

 from front to rear but rather narrower, if any- 

 thing, and add to the depth to make up the 

 capacity and to give room for side surplus. 



I have just returned from the National Con- 

 vention, where T saw the most outlandish hives 

 that can be thought of; and still I have seen 

 nothing better than what I now use. (This is 

 simply my opinion.) This form, or something 

 near the same form, as Mr. Smith says, is capable 

 of being used more ways with the same size 

 frame, for all the different styles, than any hive 

 I ever saw, with the exception of Mr. Adair's 

 section hive, and still it is a cheap hive. The 

 difference between frames running from front to 

 rear, and from side to side, you would very soon 

 discover, providing you should make the ex- 

 periment. With my hive, for example, as it is 

 now arranged, it is not difficult to get the queen 

 to breed in any part of tho hive. But arrange 

 the entrance as in the Alley hive, so that the 

 frames run from side to side, and you will find 

 it almost impossible to get the queen to breed in 

 the rear combs ; and the bees do not even like to 

 build comb in the rear— and in the Alley hive 

 the rear combs are the last ones to be built. 

 Swarms are almost invariably weaker in numbers 

 in such hives in the fall than they are in hives 

 with the natural arrangement of the comb. 

 There is not so marked a difference in the Alley 

 hive with the side boxes open, as ihere is in a 

 tight box, or a hive with boxes on top. I am 

 certainly pleased to learn that one man has found 

 Mr. Alley a gentleman to deal with. It seems 

 Mr. Dadant has got a wrong impression about 

 my modifying my views on artificial queens. I, 

 for one, do not see in what resj^ect they are 

 modified. I never intended to convey the idea 

 that all artificial queens are woi thless ; but a 

 large proportion of them are, as they are usually 

 raised. Elisha Gallup. 



OrcJiard, Iowa, Dec. 80, 1870. 



The bees throughout the world, as known col- 

 lectively to the richest cabinets, number about 

 two thousand species. 



[For the American Bee Journal,] 



Another Smoker. 



Mr. Editor :— Noticing a communication on 

 page 109 of the November number of the Bee 

 Journal, from Mr. J. M. Price, in which he de- 

 scribes his new smoker, believing it to be the 

 best, I am induced to present to the readers of 

 the Journal a description of the one 1 use. 

 Whether it is better than his or not, will be for 

 those to decide who try it. I make it in this 

 way. Get a good piece of hickory wood, dry or 

 seasoned would probably be the best ; next take 

 an inch or an inch and a quarter auger, and bore 

 a hole, with the grain, in your piece of wood, 

 about two inches in length, more or less, which- 

 ever suits you best. I bore about two inches. 

 Now turn it to some convenient shape, for in- 

 stance like a pipe ; turn the edges at the top to 

 about one-eighth of an inch thick. Now bore a 

 small hole through in the lower edge of this 

 cavity, and get a pipe-stem about eight or ten 

 inches long, to fit this. Then fill with rags, 

 tobacco, or whatever suits best, and light well 

 with fire. Put a rag over the top, and blow. 

 You will be surprised to see the smoke stream 

 from the stem, and the bees get out of its road. 

 When not in use the rag should be taken off, so 

 that it may get air. The cavity being large will 

 hold fire better than when small. Some of the 

 readers should try this smoker, and report 

 through the Journal. 



A. J. Fisher. 



East Lioerpool, Ohio. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Yet Another Smoker. 



I have long been anxious to get the best possi- 

 ble smoker, and have tried nearly everything 

 in that line that has been brought to my notice 

 in the Bee Journal and otherwise. I have also 

 experimented some in my own way, and for the 

 last two or three years have always come back 

 to the use of the same smoker, made as follows : 

 Take a piece of rotten wood rounded to about 

 one inch in diameter, of any convenient length ; 

 roll it in some eight or ten folds of cotton rags. 

 If tobacco is wanted, roll it in with the rags. 

 Tie with separate strings of cotton twine, one 

 and a quarter (1|) incllies apart. Wood and 

 rags thus combined, burn better than either 

 alone ; but if the wood is too much decayed it 

 will burn too fast, and vice versa. If sufficiently 

 porous to burn, and yet sufficiently firm, this 

 makes an efficient and cleanly smoker, not apt 

 to go out. Prepare a supply of smokers before- 

 hand. To cut the strings quickly and of equal 

 length, wind the twine around a piece of board 

 of the proper width, and cut all through at once 

 with a knife. 



Henry Crist. 



Lake, Stark Co., Ohio, Dec. 29, 1870. 



The sting of a bee carries conviction with it. 

 It makes a man a bee-leaver at once. 



