980 



glea:nings lis bee culture. 



Dec. 



aniline dye, not because it makes it any better, but 

 so that I can toll at a glauco whether the wood has 

 been prepared or not. After the water lias dissolv- 

 ed the saltpeter, I till it with pieces of rotten wood, 

 something- like the size of a hickory-nut; let it soak 

 perhaps two days, then take out and dry, and it is 

 ready for use. If I am using Bingham's " Doctor " 

 smoker, I put into the sniokei- enough shavings to 

 flU it half an inch or an inch deep, then touch a 

 match to a piece of saltpeter wood, drop it into the 

 smoker, and fill the smoker nearly or quite full of 

 shavings, pressing them down pretty hard. The 

 saltpeter wood will be in no danger of going out 

 while this is being done, even if the bellows is not 

 worked. Instead of putting wet carpenter shavings 

 on top, as Mr. Heddou directs, 1 find it usually more 

 convenient to pick up a little bunch of green grass, 

 and I find this answers the purpose. I have, how- 

 ever, had made a circular piece of tin, tilled with 

 ■'a-inch holes, and having a diameter about Vi inch 

 less than the diameter of the smoker. A piece of 

 wire, fastened into the central part, serves as a 

 handle, and this piece of tin being always on hand 

 serves in place of wet shavings or grass. An im- 

 provement, perhaps, would be to fasten the circular 

 piece of tin in the nozzle of the smoker. 



I have made an entire sueces; of using planer 

 shavings in a Clark smoker. To light it I take a 

 piece of saltpeter wood, light it, and put it in the 

 smoker, either after putting in a few shavings, or 

 after the smoker has been crammed full of shav- 

 ings. Then I blow till it is well going. I find that 

 it works just as well in the Clark as in the Bingham. 



I like the Bingham better than the Clark, because 

 it requires no cleaning of the tube, and is good, 

 whether old or new. I like the Clark, if the tube 

 would not fill up, better than the Bingham, because 

 it costs less, and because it sends a stronger blast. 

 A new Clark is about perfection. 



LEGISL.\T10N FOK BEE-liEEPEUS. 



A committee was appointed at the North-Ameri- 

 can Convention at Indianapolis, to inquire into the 

 desirability and feasibility of obtaining such legis- 

 lation a^ would secure bee keepers a right to cer- 

 tain territory, without lear of intrusion from other 

 parties. The convention by no means indorsed such 

 legislation, for 1 think few of them had given the 

 matter enough previous thought to be familiar with 

 it, but they merely thought worth while to inquire in- 

 to the matter. If bee-keepers will give their views 

 through the bee papers it will heljp the committee 

 to make a more intelligent report at the next meet- 

 ing. Please give us your reasons for and also 

 against either the desirability or the feasibility of 

 such legislation. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111., Dec. 1, 1886. 



P. S.— Since writing the above, Gleanings for 

 Dec. 1 has come to hand, and I will say to the good 

 friends Z. T. Hawk and A. F. Stauffer, that I will 

 try to reply soon to their courteous remarks and 

 queries. I will just say to friend Hawk, at the risk 

 of lowering his estimation of my intelligence, that I 

 am not joking, but in dead earnest; and although 

 not certain, I think I am right. At any rate it will 

 do no harm for us to talk it over in a good-natured 

 way, and I will try hard to keep down my temper. 



M. 



Friend M., I think there is no question 

 but that heat will prove a p?rfpct cure for 

 most forms of diarrhea, providing it be ad- 



ministered just right. You know all of our 

 old troubles of spring dwindling gave way 

 to the intlnence of warm sunshiny weath- 

 er, especially when it came accompanied 

 with honey from the soft maples or from 

 fruit-bloom. — I am glad to hear your good 

 Avoids for the Clark smoker. At the Mich- 

 igan Convention we had some good-natur- 

 ed jokes in regard to our respective smo- 

 kers, and some of them seemed a little sur- 

 prised when 1 told them I never claimed 

 that the Clark smok&r was the hc^l smoker 

 in every respect. In fact, I always feel a 

 little modesty in claiming that any thing 

 made by myself is better than anybody 

 else can make. Even if it were a fact, I 

 don't believe I should want to say it. If 

 tlie Clark sends a stronger blast than the 

 Bingham, even when new, I think that is 

 a pretty good recommend for it. We are 

 working hard on the problem of making 

 one so the blast-tube will not till up. — You 

 may be right in regard to the matter of 

 legislation, but I fear there will be a heap 

 of objections before we can bring it to 

 pass. 1 for one should be very glad indeed 

 if I could purchase the privilege of keep- 

 ing all the bees that are kept, inside of a 

 certain district, without being obliged to 

 purchase the entire real estate of that dis- 

 trict. If it can be done, it will certainly 

 be a great thing for bee-men, and, in real 

 truth, it will not harm the occupants of 

 said district, or inconvenience them to an 

 amount great enough to be estimated. Per- 

 haps we might buy the privilege of the 

 land-owners, in some localities. (4o ahead, 

 friend M. We shall be glad to hear what 

 you can suggest in the matter. 



KRETCHMER'S INVERTIBLE FRAME 

 AND HIVE. 



AN INGENIOUS AKRANGEMENT. 



fHBSE frames are separated from each other 

 and from the case, and have all the lateral 

 adjustments of the Langstroth frame. By 

 referring to the illustration below it will be 

 seen that only the right-hand end of the top- 

 bar projects beyond the end-piece of the frame, 

 resting on a rabbet. A, which is less than ^i inch; 

 while the left-hand end of the bottom-bar, C, pro- 

 jects likewise into a similar rabbet of the hive, rest- 

 ing on astrip of metal, D, inserted into a saw-kerf 

 cut in the end of the hive. 



KRETCHMER'S METHOD OP MAKING AN INVERTIBLE 

 HIVE AND rNVERTIBLE FRAME. 



To remove the frame from the hive, we have on- 

 Iv to lift the right-hand end a little in advance of 



