THE BEE-KEEERS' REVIEW. 



339 



NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS IN EXTRACTORS. 



Mr. Heddon was somewhat surprised 

 when I walked in one evening while on 

 my way home from the fairs. We had 

 not met before in five years. I went on 

 the next morning, but we managed to get 

 in considerable bee-talk while I was there. 

 He has a four-basket, Cowan, reversible 

 extractor, and likes it the best of any ex- 

 tractor he has ever had. He is, however, 

 going to make some changes in it. He 

 will extend the shaft below the can and 

 attach a brake by means of which he can 

 stop it almost instantly. The crank 

 shaft will be so arranged that it can be 

 slipped back and thus thrown out of gear. 

 The machine will be run up to a high 

 speed, the gearing slipped back, and the 

 comb baskets left to revolve like a top 

 while more combs are being uncapped. 

 When half enough combs for another 

 batch are uncapped, the extractor will 

 be stopped by means of the brake, 

 the combs reversed and again set in 

 motion. By the time the rest of the 

 combs are uncapped, those in the ex- 

 tractor will be empty and ready for re- 

 moval. Mr. Heddon says he would give 

 very little for an automatic, reversible 

 feature; as so little time is used in revers- 

 ing the baskets when they are all connec- 

 ted. It must not be forgotten, however, 

 that some time is consumed in stopping 

 the machine, even with an effective brake, 

 and some time also used in getting the 

 machine started again. Mr. Heddon says 

 that if he could only get the honey ripen- 

 ed without its being capped, he could ex- 

 tract it without even taking the combs 

 from the hives. He would slip pieces 

 of tin down between the combs, the 

 same as separators are used between 

 sections, set the hives on a large ex- 

 tractor arranged a la merry -go-roimd, 

 and hitch on a windmill. This year, how- 

 ever, he says that the bees filled one cell 

 and then sealed it over. He has sold his 

 house and lot at Glenwood and will bring 

 home the bees, making about 400 colo- 

 nies in one yard. 



Department of 



riticism 



R. I,. TAYLOR. 



Blame where you must, be candid where you can. 

 And be each critic the Good-natured Man. 



GOLDSMITH. 



WHEN DEPRIVED OF THEIR QUEEN, BEES 

 SELECT TOO OLD LARV^ IN REPLAC- 

 ING THEIR LOSS. 

 Dr. Miller, in Gleanings, 725, returns 

 to the question of whether bees when de- 

 prived of their queen, always select larvae 

 of the proper age for producing queens 

 of the best quality, and makes a very 

 specious, and, on first blush, apparently 

 conclusive, argument to show that they 

 do. As the editor doubts, and says his 

 experience rather leads him to lean to- 

 wards my opinion, the doctor again re- 

 plies; and, pointing with pride to his arg- 

 ument, says "I think I never knew a 

 strong- colony made queenless to have a 

 young queen emerge sooner than 10 days 

 or later than 12 days. If you will read 

 with care page 725, column 2, paragraph 

 3, I think you will .see that in such case 

 the bees must have chosen a larva of 

 proper age." The editor replies, "per- 

 haps your reasoning is correct. " The 

 matter is of the highest importance; and 

 the doctor's opinion ought not to stand, 

 unless his reasoning is sound. To make 

 the matter clear, I quote his argument. 



"Now suppose a queen emerges ten 

 days after the colon}- is unqueened. How 

 old was that queen, or, rather, larva, when 

 the bees began to treat it as a thing of 

 royalty ? Ten days taken from its entire 

 inter-cell life of 15 days leaves 5 days as 

 its age from the laying of the egg, or two 

 days of age as a larva. Allowing that the 

 bees did not discover their queenlessness 

 immediately, there is still leeway enough 

 to secure the selection of the larva before 

 it was older than three days. When the 

 young queen emerges II to 12 days after 



