1886 



GLEANIJVGS J:N BEE CULTURE. 



li^ 



tbroug:h the center, about 20 feet wide, tor a wagon- 

 road. Just about the center of the yard, and by 

 the side of Main Street, we locate our extracting- 

 house, which is a temporary affair. We set 4 posts 

 in the corners, just 10 feet apart outside measure, 

 and 8 feet high above the ground. Around the 

 bottom we nail boards 13 inches wide. Around the 

 top we nail on another round of 12-inch boards, so 

 now we have a 6-foot space with no siding- on it. 

 For siding- we take two breadths of cheese-cloth, -10 

 feet long-, and sew them tog-ether side by side, mak- 

 ing a piece 6 feet wide and 40 feet long-. This will 

 just reach around our house. About one foot 

 apart, all along- the edge of this cloth, we sew on 

 strips of leather, about one inch wide and 6 or 8 inch- 

 es long- (we cut them from old bootlegs), ieaving- the 

 leather clear of the cloth about 2 inches. To put on 

 the siding-, we commence at one corner, nail through 

 the leather strips to the corner post one end of the 

 siding-; now nail all along- the top edge of the cloth 

 through the leathers, to the bottom of the top 

 round of boards; go clear around the house, except 

 the last 3 feet; there we have a wire-screen door, 

 with spring- to shut it; oi', in the absence of the 

 wire screen to cover the door, we nail our siding- to 

 the top of the door. As it is 40 feet long-, and the 

 house 10 feet square, it will just reach. Now fasten 

 the bottom edge to the bottom board the same way, 

 and we have a siding- bee-tight, if we licep the door 

 shut. 



For the roof we have a cloth cover 10 feet square, 

 w-ith leathers sewed on the edges the same as the 

 siding-, which is nailed to the top round of boards, 

 and held up in the middle by two pieces of 3X4 

 scantling-, just long enough to reach across the top 

 from one board to the other. The frame\york of 

 the house is made just alike in each yard, and, of 

 course, stays there; but the siding and top cover 

 we take with us and put it up everj' day. Wo can 

 put on the top and siding- in five minutes, and take 

 it off quicker. We arc going to improve the roofing- 

 ofour exti-acting-house. Sometimes a shower will 

 come up suddenly, when we are at work, and our 

 thin cloth roof, put on Hat, doesn't shed water. We 

 are going- to make a top cover of duck, and put it 

 over a ridge-pole, elevate the ridge two feet above 

 the eaves, draw the cloth tight, and, as there will 

 be no bearings from the ridge to the eaves, it will 

 shed water. Now we have our house, and are ready 

 for work. 



We have an extractor for each of our apiaries, 

 and keep them there during the honey season. We 

 have kegs that hold HiO lbs. of honey each. We 

 take as many of them with us as we expect to fill. 

 Be sure to take enough, as it is easier to take back 

 an empty keg than it is to bother with an overplus 

 of honey. Wo use one keg- for a strainer-keg, hav- 

 ing a good-sized faucet near the bottom, to draw 

 out the honey. We tie a s<iuare yard of cheese- 

 cloth over the open end of the keg, and let it sag 

 into the keg enough to hold a large iiail of honey. 

 In the corner of the house, handy to the extractor, 

 we dig a round hole, one foot deep, large enough to 

 set in one of our honey-kegs to be filled; close by 

 the side of the hole we set another honey-keg; on 

 that we set our strainer-keg, with faucet over the 

 keg, in the hole, which has a tunnel in it, and in the 

 tunnel a wjre-gcreen strainer to catch any strtiy 

 bees that may be liable to get into the honey in 

 passing from the strainer keg to the store keg be- 

 ^ow. When one keg is flUed we roll it out and put 



under another. We set our extractor about the 

 middle of the house, fronting- the door. As the 

 combs come in from the field or hives, they are 

 placed just by the. right-hand side of the door. 

 Now, half way from the door to the extractor we 

 place a honey-keg on end, and on that we place our 

 cap-catcher. We use a wooden keeler, holding- 

 about a large i)ailf ul. Two hands work in the house 

 —one experienced hand, and a boy. The boy stands 

 by the nncapping-stand, takes up a comb from 

 where they are set when they come in from the 

 liives, uncaps it, and sets it down, leaning it against 

 his stand, on the left side, between him and the ex- 

 tractor. That is his work— uncapping combs, and he 

 doesn't have any time for fooling. The man at the 

 extractor picks up the combs at his right hand, ex- 

 tracts them, and sets them down by the left side of 

 the door, empty, ready to go back to the hives. 

 The combs have made just a half-circle since they 

 came into the house, and are now just by the side 

 of the door, where the outside boys can reach in 

 and get them, without going- in and getting in the 

 way. We have a large tin pail made for the pur- 

 pose, that sits under the extractor, in which to 

 draw the honey and pour into the strainer-keg, 

 which stands in the corner, at the left of the man 

 who runs the extractor; and it is his part to ex- 

 tract and till the kegs, and look after his boy and 

 keep things in order in the house. 



Now, as we worked ten hands last jcar and the 

 year liefore, there are eight at work among the 

 bees. Take one of the most experienced hands, and 

 give him two boys to help him; then make up an- 

 other trio of boys the same way. Three hands 

 make a good set to work together. After making- 

 up the two sets there are two bands left, and that 

 is usually myself and the greenest boy in the lot. 

 Now, one set of hands takes with them a smoker, 

 and each a brush to sweep bees from the combs, 

 and what we call a swarmiug-bo.x. It has a bottom 

 and three sides, leaving one side open. Set that 

 down by the side of the hive to be worked; give the 

 bees a little smoke; turn back the cover and pry 

 up the honey-board, take out the movable front 

 and front cushion. Now our frames are stauding 

 on the bottom, Hatwise to us. Just take a glance to 

 see if the queen is in sight; if not, take out the 

 first frame, and set it into the swarraing-box, with 

 the back side of the comb toward the opcin side of 

 the bo.x. We want to find the queen, and wc have 

 parted two comlis, so there arc.two places to look. 

 Let the foreman who takes out the combs look in 

 the hive, and his assistant look in the swarming- 

 box. If she is not seen, then take out another 

 comb, and look until all are out; and then if the 

 queen has not been seen, look over the few bees 

 that remain in the hive. Sometimes she will be 

 found there. If she is foiind we put her in a cage 

 until we are done with the hive, and then let her 

 out into her own hive. It is very seldom that wc 

 miss finding- the (]ueen when we are taking the 

 combs out of ttir; hive. If we should fail to find her 

 we look carefully when we swee]i thc^combs, when 

 she will usually be found. If we fail to find, her at 

 all, we don't take any of the bees to make up new 

 colonies. 



Well, when avc have the combs oijt of the hive we 

 sweep the bees all off, into the hive, and send the 

 combs to the o.xtraeting-house by the small boy. 

 The first hivo wo open we leave without combs un- 

 til Ave get through, and then fill it up with the 



