I ^H(\ 



(JLEA^'INGS IN 15EE cri.tl'Ui-: 



103 



unless I read them. Bees are very strange insects, 

 and do some strang-c things. In May, June, Or July 

 there are often forty thousand bees in a hive. Just 

 th'm^ot'h- forty tliouscDid: But there are not so many 

 tluring- fall and winter; and in the spring- some col- 

 onies have very few." 



"Yes," says her father, "sometimes colonies 

 liave not a single bee in the spring. They continue 

 to g-row fewer in number, until there are none at 

 all. Tommy, have you learned how many kinds of 

 Viees are in a hivo?" 



" Yes, sir, there are three kinds— the queen, a large 

 long bee; the drones, large bees, but not long like 

 the queen: and the worker, the small busy little 

 fellow that gathers the honey and stings people. 

 The queen has a sting, but does not sting people. 

 When she meets another queen she fights with and 

 stings her. The drones have no stings. V'ou can 

 catch one and handle it as you would aHy. I should 

 like a colony all drones, then T should not be afraid 

 to work with it." 



" lUit, Tommy," replied his lather,"! fear it 

 would be a very unprofitable colony. A man. who 

 commenced farming, wishing to i-aise turkeys, 

 boug-ht a pair from a farmer. It being late in the 

 spring, the farmer asked more for hens than g-ob- 

 blers; and the buyer, seeing that the gobblers were 

 much larger than the hens, took a pair of gobblers, 

 but failed to find any turkey-eggs that summer. 

 The drones are the males among bees. They are 

 found in the hives only during the honey season. 

 At the close of the honey season the worker-bees 

 kill them. ' 



Jane said, " 1 have learned that the most impor- 

 tant bee in the hive is the queen, or the mother, as 

 she might be called. She lays all the eggs. She 

 lays eggs very rapidl.v, laying three or four a min- 

 ute, sometimes three or four thousand a day. But 

 she never lays very many eggs unless the bees are 

 bringing in plenty of honey. In the cold winter 

 months she lays hardly any. Every beehas its work 

 to do. Some build the combs, others fly in the fields, 

 searching for honey or pollen, others are nurses, and 

 care for the young, while some stand as guards 

 around the entrance." 



'• But," says Mr. Meek, "did you learn from the 

 books how to winter bccsV" 



" Yes," said both children, " we read about it;" 

 "but," said Jane, "I hardly know what is best. 

 Some people carry their bees into nice warm cel- 

 lars, where they are kept snug and warm ail winter; 

 still, some who do so lose their bees. Others leave 

 their hives out unprotected all winter, standing 

 .just where they did during the summer; and, what 

 seems very strange, sometimes their bees winter 

 better than in cellars. This, in the papers, is called 

 wintering- unprotected, upon their summer stands. 

 Some winter by leaving their hives upon their sum- 

 mer stands, and packing straw and hay around them 

 to protect them from the cold; others write fre- 

 quently about wintering in chaff hives; but I do not 

 know what kind of a hive a chaff hive is." 



Her father said, " I now remember that once when 

 away from home I saw several very large-looking 

 hives; and on inquiry I learned that they were chaff 

 hives. I inquired how they were made, and was 

 told that they consisted of two distinct hives, with 

 a space between, which was filled with chaff', pack- 

 ed in closely, thus keeping the inside hive from the 

 frosty'air, and keeping- it warm." 



Here Tommy expressed his opinion that their bees 



would winter best in their hice warm cellar, adding 

 that he had been reading- that those in the cellar 

 wintered on much less honey than those exposed to 

 the cold. His father also favored wintering them 

 in the cellar, but advised letting- them remain on 

 their stands until winter had set in, and until it 

 seemed evident that the pleasant autumn weather 

 was ended. He said it did bees good to have flights 

 during winter, and that was why those left on their 

 summer stands sometimes wintered better than 

 those in the cellar. In winter they have flights 

 occasionally, while the lack of those flights causes 

 those in the cellar to become diseased. 



Jane said, " I am glad our bees will be in the cel- 

 lar during the cold stormy weather. I do not think 

 I could sleep, cold winter nights, when the wind is 

 driving- the snow, and the thermometer is at zero, 

 if our bees were out in the cold. Our horse has a 

 warm stable, so has our cow. The chickens have a 

 warm comfortable coop, and even our pig rejoices 

 in good quarters. Why, then, should we leave oui- 

 bees out in the cold?" 



"But," says her father, "you forget, Jane, that 

 all bees are in a house. Their hives are their houses." 



" But, pa," said .lane, " 1 think an old nail-keg is 

 not much of a house." 



Ti> tic cdiitimicd Maivli i, ISSd. 



THE SOLAR W^AX-EXTRACTOR. 



MORE SUGGESTIONS REGAHDING IT. 



}I)0 not know whether or not I can add any 

 thing iiseful to the question regarding- the 

 solar wa.\-extractor, which seems now to be 

 prominent, but I will give my experience in 

 this direction, and some suggestions. 



I made a solar wa.x - extractor the past season 

 from the plan furnished by Mr. Poppleton, witli 

 some modifications. My box is 28X43 inches, out- 

 side measure, and Vi in. deep, with straight instead 

 of zig/ag- bottom. The tray is made of wood, with a 

 rim extending m inches above its surface, except 

 at the spout where the wa.x runs off'. This is 

 sheathed with tin, and is made just wide enough (o 

 slip inside the box. It carries its width for 20 in., 

 when it slopes for about 14 in., a space of ti in. be- 

 ing left for the wax to How oft'. 



It is covered with double glass, composed of 4 

 sheets 20X26 in. The tray is hing-ed near the back 

 end by a couple of short pieces of stout wire run 

 through the sides of the box into its edges. This 

 admits of the front end of the tray being raised to 

 lift the pail, which holds the wax, in aud out. 



This tray is large enough to hold the cappings ol' 

 a day's extracting. Having- drained during- the 

 night, they are put into the extractor the first thing 

 in the morning; and if the sun is ordinarily strong 

 they are melted before night. The wax is left in 

 the pail till the next morning, when it will be found 

 in a solid cake, fioating on the honey which has run 

 off with it from the cappings. 



I purpose making some changes in my extractor, 

 which I think will improve its workings. The sides 

 of the box cast a shadow on the wax for several 

 hours in the morning and afternoon, unless it is 

 shifted about to face the sun as it advances. To do 

 this the more readily, I intend to fl.x it on a frame 

 made to revolve on a pivot. I find, moreover, that 

 my extractor develops heat enough to scorch the 

 I honey which goes off with the wax, so that it is 



