1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



835 



main shaft, and is connected witli these two eccen- 

 tric-rods, one of which works inside the otlier, ac- 

 complishing' what is called the untoniatic cut-otJ', 

 and the steam-chest—" 



" Yes, that is very nice," said my friend, abruptly, 

 with a twinlile in liis pleasant eye, as I proceeded 

 with an elaborate exphination; "but," he continu- 

 ed, " time is very precious." 



" Certainlj'," said I; "it is lires wt' were to talk 

 about," and glancing' iit my Watorbury, which I 

 had forgotten to wind, 1 intimated mechanically that 

 time was tiying. 



A moment more, and we were walking down one 

 of the aisles. 



"By the way," said friend M , "I did not succeed 

 in milking that sawdust fuel you spoke of in Glean- 

 ings work in my Clark smoker." 



'' Is that so?" I renuirked, a little surprised. 

 " Wc have no trouble with it whatever. I will light 

 my smoker now, that yon may see just how we 

 manage to make it run half a day." 



By this time we had arrived at the honseapiary 

 door. When inside I showed him the keg contain- 

 ing the sawdust. 



"Ah! I see," said my friend " I'oi/r sawdust is 

 very diflerent from mine." 



" How soV" 1 queried. 



" Your sawdust," he continued, " is more like my 

 shavings, which I use in my smoker. That is, it is 

 stringy— nioi-e of a spongy character, and will not 

 pack so solid as mine." 



While he was speaking I jn-oceeded to fdl and 

 light my smoker. Having dropped in a few pieces 

 of rotten wood, I sent several squirts from the oil- 

 er, and in a twinkling had the wood ablaze. I ex- 

 plained that it was necessary to convert these few 

 chunks of rotten wood into coals. I then dumped 

 in u few handfuls of sa^vdust. "Now," said T, 

 " this smoker ought to run for half a day." I work- 

 ed the bellows, meantime, vigorously, but no 

 smoke. I continued, but no smoke. Dr. Miller 

 first looked amused, and then laughed in his quiet 

 way. On the contrary, I grew a little nervous, and 

 explained that "I had never had it do that way be- 

 fore." The doctor then told a little story illustrat- 

 ing my case, but I'll not tell it here. I found that, 

 in talking, 1 had omitted to work the bellows while 

 dumping in the sawdust. I emptied out the con- 

 tents of the smoker on the ground. I then filled as 

 before, but was more careful to keep the bellows 

 working while I dumped in the sawdust. The re- 

 sult was, I had a good volume of smoke. "Now," 

 said I, "that ought to last four or five hours," 

 which it did, giving a good volume of smoke. 



Dr. Miller then explained that he thought he had 

 something superior to the kerosene and the little 

 oiler. To about a gallon of water he adds a pound 

 of saltpeter. Into this mixture ho throws his rot- 

 ten wood. The wood absorbs the liquid, and on 

 drying it holds the saltpeter in its fibers. This, he 

 explained, pushed into the shavings which he uses, 

 will light and hold fire. 



" How long do you nuike your smoker run with- 

 out refilling, when charged with shavings, and the 

 little piece of prepared wood for holding the flreV" 

 I asked. 



" That depends— about an hour generally," was his 

 response. " But," he continued, " it is no trouble 

 to recharge at the expiration of the time. I keep a 

 suppl3-of shavings in a covered box near the center 

 of my apiarj; and whenever I happen to go by said 



box, and my smoker needs filling, I dump in a few 

 handfuls, and go on about mj^ work." 



DRONE-TR.\PS. 



Just at this time the apiarist came into the apiary 

 to commence work. When he came u\t where we 

 were talking I handed him the smoker I had just 

 filled. 



" By the way," said the doctor, when the apiarist 

 had left us, " I should like to see one of the Alley 

 drone-traps." 



"Oh ! yes, sir," said 1. " Here is one on the shelf, 

 and also one of the Batchelder." 



The doctor then explained that he had apiaries 

 located out from his home, and that it sometimes 

 happened, during the swarming season, that it was 

 three or four days before he and his assistants 

 could get to them. 



"Now," said he, "do you think the Alley trap, 

 from your expei'icnce, would catch a queen when 

 the swarm issued, and keep her alive three or 

 four days ?" 



" I think not, as the trap is now constructed. Four 

 or five hours, possibly a day, would be as long as 

 she would live," 1 replied. 



I then explained that there was a little device for 

 letting the queen go back into the hive, when the 

 bees, discovering her absence, had returned. 



"But that is not what I wafit," said my friend. 

 " The queen for me must be kept alive in the cage 

 for three or four days." After discussing it for 

 awhile, and referring the matter to "A. I.," it 

 seemed at least feasible that the queen might be 

 thus kept after the swarm had issued. 



I then attached one of the Alley traps to a cliatf 

 hive, that the doctor might see how the bees be- 

 haved. As I have, in a former issue, explained, the 

 bees on returning seemed a little confused. While 

 we were watching, a number of said bees passed 

 the trap without any apparent difficulty, and with 

 pollen adhering to their legs too. 



About this stage of proceedings father came out 

 and announced that Barney (the boss printer) said 

 they were "all out of copy," and that I must pro- 

 ceed forthwith to my desk in the corner. I left the 

 doctor to take care of himself, and did not see 

 him again till noon. 



At the noon service friend Miller gave us a few 

 choice selections of his songs, rendering them in 

 his own good way. I will say, for the benefit of a 

 few of our readers who may not know, our machin- 

 ery stops promptly at ll.r)0 A. m., and the hands as- 

 semble in the large office. During the ten minutes 

 we have a brief noon-service, at which time the 

 hands join in singing, after which the editor of. 

 Gleanings reads and talks, ending in a short 

 prayer. For Dr. Miller we had the nmchinery stop 

 five minutes earlier — something we do not do very 

 often. The doctor threw his whole soul into his 

 music, and I think I never heard such an appeal for 

 Christ through the medium of song as our friend 

 gave us in those 15 minutes. 



CELLAIt VERSUS OUTDOOR WINTERINCJ. 



In the afternoon, when friend Miller and I were 

 together again, the subject of wintering came up. 



"I wish," said the doctor, "that yon were going 

 to winter a few colonics in the cellar." 



"But why winter in the cellar, when avc have 

 been obtaining such good results on the summer 

 stands? Besides, it takes more brains to winter in- 

 doors. The nnitter of cellar temperature and ven- 



