274 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAI.. 



total of 2,900 combs — all straight and nice. 



I have been through the rub in secur- 

 ing straight combs, and know how to ap- 

 preciate them. The best way to secure 

 straight combs is to have all frames filled 

 in full colonies with good queens, and an 

 empty frame between two straight work- 

 er combs, near the entrance of the hive. 



In transfering it is not expected that 

 any one will put comb into one-half of the 

 frames in new hives, therefore I would ad- 

 vise all to alternate the frames, containing 

 comb with those having no comb, being 

 careful not to spread brood too far apart, 

 so that it will not be protected by the 

 bees. 



Our sage honey is much harder to throw 

 out with the extractor than the white 

 clover honey, or any otlier kind of honey 

 fortliat matter. It is very thick and stiff. 

 But I have succeeded in throwing out 1170 

 Sbs in one day without an assistant. I 

 fancy that there has not been many better 

 day's work with the extractor than that. 

 Probably you would like a discription of 



MY EXTRACTOB. 



It is a can made of a single sheet of gal- 

 vanized iron, 2x6 feet, and makes a 

 can 22 inches in diameter and 22 

 inches deep, with a bottom of the same 

 material. Tlie gauze frame is made by 

 taking a square rod of J^ inch iron, 26 in. 

 long, and drilling a ^ inch hole through 

 both ways 5 inches from the top and the 

 same 16 inches (or t he length of your 

 frame) below these holes as well as the 

 same at equal distance between the upper 

 and lower holes. Then take six rods of 

 iron ^ inch and 21 inches long, cut 

 thread on both ends of every rod 13^2 inch 

 l(Mig and have taps for same. Put the 

 rods through the holes in the center rod, 

 and fasten them just in the middle Now 

 take four % inch round rods 16 inches 

 long (or the length of the frame) fasten at 

 both ends and in the middle, drill },^ inch 

 holes through, so that you can slip over 

 the ends of the rods, you put through the 

 centre rod. 



Put on the tops first, then put on the 

 last rods. This makes a frame work 

 around which you can stretch your wire 

 gauze. Have the meshes in the gauze at 

 least ^ square, cut the gauze the proper 

 length to go around your frame when the 

 taps are screwed down and sew the ends 

 together very securely. After the gauze 

 is well fastened, the taps can be turned 

 out towards the ends of the rods, and 

 tigliten the gauze to any required tension ; 

 Tht; tightness of the gauze has a great 

 deal to do with a good extractor. Put in 

 cross bars of iron or wood at the bottom ot 

 the gauze, on whicli to rest tlie frames. 

 The center rod is put into a tap, soldered 

 on the centre of tlie bottom of the can, 

 with a square shoulder to prevent its 

 jumping out. You can use gearing 

 at the top if you like, but I prefer a good 



solid crank about 4 inch long. The cen- 

 ter rod turns through a hole in a bar of 

 wood across the top of the can and holds 

 to its place by the handles of can, each 

 end of the bar run through a handle and 

 secured by pins on outside. A lid is 

 fastened to this bar on each side. Thus 

 you have an extractor, which will empty 

 four combs at once, and is as light and 

 durable as any I ever saw. 



If any one has taken more than 1170 ft>8 

 of honey in one day they have beaten 



Orange, Cal. Amateuk. 



For the American Bee Joornal. 

 Nellie's Experiment. 



We were awaiting the bass-wood 

 harvest. Our bees were of one mind — 

 determined to swarm. We were equally 

 determined that they should not swarm. 

 We had shaded, and sprinkled, and 

 watched, and now and then, when the 

 case grew desperate, we had steeled our 

 hearts and clipped the wings of a queen. 



But one bright Sabbath morning, tak- 

 ing treacherous advantage of our absence 

 at church, our fair Marjorie Daw led 

 forth her colony into unknown recesses of 

 the green wood. Then we clipped the 

 wings of the queens to all our strongest 

 colonies. But colonies grow strong (or 

 seem to) in a single night, sometimes; 

 and so it happened that soon thereafter a 

 large swarm was sent forth by a colony 

 we had accounted small. 



Scorning the convenient cherry trees at 

 hand, they started in a wavering, unde- 

 cided course across the oat-field, toward 

 the woods. Over every stump they seem- 

 ed to pause for consultation ; now and 

 then they fell back, but only to disap- 

 point us by again advancing. As we 

 followed in their wake, Nellie said, 



" They fly so low — we might stop them, 

 I believe. They shall not reach the 

 woods," she added with sudden resolu- 

 tion. 



N')t far distant was a small wild cher- 

 ry tree — so small that Nellie easily bent 

 down and broke off its leafy top. With 

 this she hurried on and around, stopping 

 some little distance in front of the fugi- 

 tives. At first the experiment seemed 

 doubtful, and in the end proved but a par- 

 tial success. A strong detachment of the 

 bees returned to their hive, the remainder 

 clustering upon the branch whicli Nellie 

 triumphantly held above her head. Be- 

 fore returning them to the old stand, we 

 made a careful but fruitless searcli for the 

 queen through each division of the colo- 

 ny- 

 Satisfied, at length, that she had been 

 lost, we returned the swarm and gave the 

 colony a perfect queen-cell in place of the 

 numerous half completed cells which we 

 had ruthlessly destroyed. 



The next afternoon the swarm again 



