Ii2 



GLEANtNGS IN liEE OuLTUllE. 



AN. 



lay two lour-inch pipes about a foot apart. This 

 would require only one trench to lie dug-, and g'ive 

 warmer air than if larger tile were used. I wonder 

 if we can get answers- to these questions: What 

 sized tile is best, in genera!, to use? When laid, sa3' 

 four feet deep, how long- a pipe of six-inch tile will 

 admit air of same temperature as 150 feet of four- 

 inch tile? My sub-ventilating i)ipe is of four inch 

 tile, laid three to four feet deep. 



C. C. Milieu, 1T!I— 340. 

 Marengo, 111., Dec. 28, 1885. 



After I had written my reply to Nettie 

 Cranston, page 70, we received the above 

 communication from you. You observe 

 that I took the same ground ; namely, that 

 we are liable to err in supposing that bees 

 invariabh/ die after losing their sting. Since 

 your opinion confirms Avhat I have read 

 somewhere, I feel better satisfied that a bee 

 may live a number of days after the loss it 

 has" sustained ; but I do not see why caging 

 on the Good candy necessarily hastens the 

 death of an injured bee when the latter, ac- 

 cording to the repoits so far, survive not more 

 than 20 hours, and a perfectly sound bee, 

 with similar treatment, lives on an average 

 a week or ten days. 



If any one by actual observation knows of 

 a case in which a bee deprived of its sting 

 lived and gatliered honey, let us have it. I 

 have seen instances that led me to suppose 

 that such might be true, but I never could 

 fully convince myself. 



Thanks for your suggestion in regard to 

 the color of the pollen; but a juvenile has 

 already anticipated your idea, as you will 

 see, page 872, last year. You notice the lit- 

 tle girl has given the color of pollen from 

 quite a variety of flowers. When the weath- 

 er opens up 1 intend to get the juveniles to 

 make a collection of pollen, nicely arranged 

 on a card, much in the way that bugs and 

 geological specimens are gotten up. The 

 sources of the pollen are, of course, to be 

 plainly written below the specimen. With 

 a collection of this kind an inexperienced 

 hand could easily tell what the bees were 

 working on, providing the specimens were 

 accurately named. Eknest. 



I feel sure, friend M., I have seen patches 

 of bareheaded bees a good deal larger than a 

 silver dollar ; but it is so many y^ars since I 

 have given the matter very much attention, 

 I may be somewhat mistaken. I know we 

 marked the combs, and the bees batched out 

 perfectly formed, and all right so far as we 

 could observe. As to whether they were cap- 

 ped a spell and then afterward uncapped,! 

 can not answer ; but I suppose they had been , 

 for I never noticed those uncovered until 

 they were almost ready to hatch, fully 

 formed, and partially turned dark. My im- 

 pression is, the bees opened them for some 

 reason best known to themselves. The open- 

 ings are nicely arranged with a little edge 

 turned up, something like cells just under 

 the process of construction.— In regard to 

 marking bees that have lost their sting, I 

 would suggest putting a drop of Avhite paint 

 on their backs. This will enable us to hunt 

 them out, even though they have the regu- 

 lar run of the hive.— In regard to sub-earth 

 ventilating-pipes, you say yours is a four- 

 inch tile laid three or four feet deep ; but I 



can not find in either of 5;our articles how 

 long the pipe is. Please give us the length . 

 and then Ave shall have something to start 

 on. 



STANLEY'S IMPBOVED HONEY - EX- 

 TRACTOR. 



A HONEY-KXTRACTOK TO KEVERSE THE COMBS BY 



TURNING THE CRANK IN THE OPPOSITE 



DIRECTION. 



fVll readers will recollect that we have 

 described this machine before ; but in 

 the absence of a good engraving we 

 could not give a very clear explana- 

 ation. Our own en^ravei-s have, how- 

 ever, tried their hand on it. and give us the 

 good picture shown below. 



STANLEY'S AUTOMATIC HONEY-EXTRACTOR. 



You will notice that the baskets to hold 

 the combs are hung by a sort of hinge at the 

 top, with a kind of double hinge at the bot- 

 tom. Tliis double hinge is after the plan a 

 great many gate -hinges are made; viz., a 

 double bearing, so the frame is thrown off to 

 one side as it is pushed back either way, let- 

 ting the force of gravity operate to bring.it 

 into position again. Well, around the shaft, 

 toward tlie bottom, you will notice a little 

 ring. Four chains are attached to this ring, 

 with their other ends fastened to the swing- 

 ing comb-baskets. Take hold of the crank 

 and give a quick impulse, and the baskets, 

 by "mutual consent,'' swing off their cen- 

 ters. As you continue to turn, centrifugal 

 force would swing them against the side of 

 the extractor were it not for the four chains 

 just described. The little ring jumps up to 

 about the middle of the shaft, and the four 

 chains are drawn taut. 



When you have extracted the honey from 

 one side of the four combs, stop long enough 

 for the baskets to commence swinging to- 

 ward the center, then start up the other 

 way, and they by common consent turn 

 t'other side oiit. ^ The machine works very 



