1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



761 



■have become obsolete in our f)resent bee-litera- 

 ture. 



I may say, in partial defense, that I was 

 aware that there are two kinds of cells built in 

 the hive — those constructed under the swarm- 

 ing impulse, and those in case of emergency, 

 like, for instance, a sudden disappearance of a 

 •queen. I also knew that cells built when 

 supersedure seemed to be the object were con- 

 strucU'd like those first mentioned. But, so far 

 as I iim acquainted with bee-llKM-ature, the 

 only distinction that has been made is in the use 

 ■of "swarming-cells" as designating those built 

 ■wher.- natural increase was under way; super- 

 sedure-cells for what the name indicates, and 

 simply '"cells" to indicate those built under 

 other circumstances. 



I am glad to know that my face assumed 

 that "interrogation-point, ' because it is impor- 

 tant that we have differences between the two 

 classes of cells clearly defined; for, as you will 

 see, there is a practical bearing in the matter. 

 For instance, if the novice or veteran is able to 

 recognize supersedure-cells from cells built be- 

 cause of the sudden disappearance of the 

 ■queen, he will at a glance be able to recognize 

 the condition in the hive, since it is evident 

 that bees are able to detect the failing of an 

 ■old queen before the apiarist. He can say to 

 himself. " Here is a case where a queen is fail- 

 ing, although I had not discovered it before. I 

 will just let them go on in their own sweet 

 way; and if it is a fact that swarm or super- 

 sedure cells are better than other cells, I will 

 save out all but one, to be used in other colo- 

 nies." But suppose he does not make this dis- 

 tinction. He sees eggs in the hive, and brood — 

 ■every thing going on apparently regularly. It 

 is toward the close of the season, and he will 

 say something like this: " Cells? how is this? 

 I do not believe the bees know what they want. 

 I will just tear them all down, because every 

 thing seems to be in its normal conditio i." 

 Perhaps the next visit he will dn the same — 

 thus thwarting the bees in accomplishing what 

 is for the best good of the colony. No queens 

 will, of course, be reared that fail. The b»'es go 

 into winter quarters; the old queen dies, and in 

 all probability the colony dies also: whereas if 

 •our apiarist had been sharp enough to recog- 

 nize supersedure-cells, he would have saved a 

 colony of bees. 



I do not know that I like the terms " pre- 

 constructed " and "post-constructed" as well 

 as "swarm-cells," "supersedure-cells," and 

 "emergency-cells;" and while I was drilled in 

 Latin, to the extent of some eighteen terms of 

 schooling. I am rather op[josed to the use of 

 Latin prefixes in the coinage of new words, 

 that could not be understood by the general 

 reading public. 



Dr. Miller and Cheshire do not seem to agree 

 exactly; so I am going to ask him and others 

 to send in tons samples of the two classes of 

 ■cells, if they can be obtained yet: and I will 

 have careful cross-sectional drawings made, 

 showing the differences; and at the same time 

 J will I'eproduce the picture in Cheshire's work, 

 so that we can tell definitely whether Cheshire 

 is wrong, or whether he and Dr. Miller are 

 both right. — Ed.I 



HOW THEY MAKE PINE BOARDS IN NORTH- 

 ERN MICHIGAN. 



KEPORTED BY ONE OF THE YOUNGER MEMBERS 

 OF THE ROOT FAMILY. 



Yesterday my cousin, Mr. Newark, took us 

 through the two largest sawmills in Cadillac, 

 and that means the largest in Michigan; and 



as Michigan is one of the greatest lumber re- 

 gions in tlie world, we have probably seen some 

 of the greatest sawmills in the world. 



We went first to the place where the logs 

 were being taken out of the lake. There was 

 an endless chain, with great hooks on it, run- 

 ning up a sort of toboggan-slide into the mill. 

 A man stood at the foot of this, heading the 

 logs into it with a pole. When a hook of the 

 chain caught a log it went sailing up the tobog- 

 gan-slide and disappeared in the mill. About 

 half way up the slide a water-pipe formed an 

 arch and sent numbers of little streams on the 

 log as it passed under. The water struck the 

 log with such force that it loosened the bark in 

 places, and cleaned it perfectly. 



After watching this awhile we went up into 

 the mill to see what became of the logs. A man 

 stood at the top of the slide with a long pole, 

 and pushed them off' the chain so that they 

 rolled down an incline on either side, where 

 there was already a pile of logs waiting for the 

 saw. On each side of the mill was a car long 

 enough to hold the longest log. This was run 

 by an immense piston-rod in the floor, and went 

 back and forth past a band-saw. A log from 

 the pile rolled on to the car with a jar that 

 shook the mill, and then a great iron arm 

 sprang out of the floor and turned it into place. 

 Just as soon as the log was in place, the car 

 glided past the saw, and in a moment a slice of 

 the bark was off. Then the car rushed back, 

 and the great iron arm, which is called the 

 " nigger," leaped up and turned it over, so that 

 another side was toward the saw. This was 

 repeated until all the bark had been trimmed 

 off, leaving a great smooth white block to be 

 sliced into planks. Then every time the car 

 glided past the saw it left a perfect plank at 

 the end until the whole log was sliced into 

 planks, right before our eyes. Three men on 

 the car worked the levers to gauge the thickness 

 of the plank, and to regulate the speed of the 

 car; but every thing else is done automatically. 

 I don't believe it was much more than five min- 

 utes from the time the log rolled on to the car 

 until it was all sawed into planks. A man stood 

 ready to receive each plank, and start it 

 througli machines which planed it and cut it 

 into the required lengths for use. The smaller 

 and imperfect slices were made into small 

 boards, ami the yet smaller pieces were cut into 

 lath. All sawdust, and pieces too small for 

 other purposes, are used for fuel. We saw a 

 blow-pipe half a mile long, for blowing the 

 sawdust to the furnaces. 



It is a great sight just to walk through the 

 lumber- yards. Our lumber-piles, and all the 

 others in Medina, would make but a drop in 

 the bucket compared with these. They have 

 whole lumber-yards under cover, and, of course, 

 have to take every precaution to prevent fire. 

 Sprinklers are all over the mills, just as we 

 have at home, and they have an immense 



