1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



367 



pass off in a little while by itself. If a heavy 

 dose of liquor were acliiiiiiistered. it would 

 doubtless receive the {-redit, where the patient 

 would have done just as well without it ; and 

 who knows but that an appetite for the in- 

 toxicant may not result in carrying him to a 

 drunkard's graver* 



It is not very long since that a friend of 

 mhie told me he had tried so many times to 

 break away from this habit, that he did not 

 believe he "had the heart to try again, and 

 that the first taste he ever got of it A\as when 

 it was advised by the doctors when he was in 

 the army. He is now in his grave, the victim 

 of intemperance. Would he not better have 

 died in the army for the lack of it? Of course, 

 we are by no means sure lie would have died 

 without it. At one time during the Rebel- 

 lion, whisky was administered to soldiers be- 

 cause they "got stung badly. In a little while 

 the number of boys who apphed for whisky 

 because they got stung(?) began to look sus- 

 picious, and it was found they got stung on 

 purpose. What proportion of deaths would 

 result from bee-stings, compared with those 

 that result from whisky ? This is a pretty 

 '■•grave'"' question, andt confess 1 should like 

 some other remedy. 



CLAKK'S COLD -BLAST SMOKER. 



Alil. ABOUT HOAV TO MAKE THK.M. 



HE trade that has now started on these 

 smokers is simply wonderful. Wlien 

 1 made mention that we sold ten. 

 thousand dining the summer of ISSo I 

 thought it was a iM';'ttyl)ig thing; l)ut, 

 dear friends, we have sold twice ten thousand 

 already in 1881. Orders for lUU are (pute 

 common. In running over the letters for 

 the mailing-clerks, freciuently half a dozen. 

 one after the other, will be for smokers, and 

 they are called by all sorts of names, some- 

 body having seen one at liis neiglibor's and 

 wanting one like it. Yesterday one of the 

 clerks came to me and wanted tl) know what 

 a man meant l)y sending foi' a '• l):^e-tamer." 

 '■Why.'" said I, " that is i»lain English; he 

 wants a smoker. ■■ Now. altliough smokers 

 are not as bulky goods as sections, and there- 

 fore there may not be so much of a i-eascm 

 why they should be fuiiiished at dilt'erent 

 points that supply-dealers should make theii 

 own; still a great'many who furnish siqiiilies 

 may make their own smokers at (piite a little 

 saving of expense, besides ship})ing e\i)enses, 

 for tliey are rather bulky g(,o(ls to sliip, al- 

 though" ni)t very heavy. For tlie henetit of 

 such, or any who may like to make smokers, 

 rainy days and dull seasons of tlio year, we 

 give the following particul.u-s in regard to 

 their manufacture : 



The first thing to make is tlie bellows. 

 Two pieces of l)()ard, as sliown in the cut l)e- 

 low, are used for this. 



These boards are about 6i long and 41 wide. 

 The thickness is about I, or as thick as can be 

 planed nicely when two are got out of an 

 inch board. "The lumber usually preferred is 

 basswood, because it is light, and not apt to 

 split. Where smokers are to l)e made by the 

 quantity I would cut the inch boards into 

 lengths" of ti or 8 feet, split them up 4 or .5 in. 

 wide, as tlie case may l)e, split lliem edge- 

 wise, and plane the pieces on both sides. We 

 put them in bundles i)recisely as we do the 

 stuff for four-piece section l)Oxes, using the 

 same iron clamps. When clamped, bolts are to 

 be cut off (as in making sections) with a saw 

 large enough to go through. If no such saw 

 is at hand, tliey may be cut in from each side. 

 After the l)olts are cut, a corner is to be tak- 

 en off, as shown in the cut above. 



When the corners of the liolts are off, the 

 whole bolt is to be nicelv sandpapered, and 

 the edges of the board phiiied. so that each 

 board is hnished nicely when taken out of the 

 clamp. Just half of the boards are to have a 

 slanting .1-inch liole liored in them, to put in 

 the blast-tube, and the other half are to have 

 U-inch lioles tor the valves, to admit air. By 

 far the cheai)est way to bore the latter is 

 while the l)oards are all clamped together. 

 Have a long l)it that will bore clean and 

 smooth, and'decide, bv measuring, when it is 

 through just half tlie boards. In this way it 

 takes'but little time to get the boards ready 

 for a thousand smokers, for they are never 

 liandled singlv at all. 



For tlie leather, vou want some smooth, 

 soft sheep-skin, and "the piece needed for the 

 bellows is I'lif inches long by 3i wide, in the 

 middle, and tjradualh- tapers to only i inch 

 in width at eacli end. You will also want 

 some strips i inch wide, and as long as these 

 pieces, for a binding, when the leather is 

 tacked to the boards. The whole of the leath- 

 er for a smoker should not cost to exceed 10 

 cents, for we c;ui get a whole piece large 

 enough to make eight or ten smokers for only 

 7.5 cts. Besides the tacks, the leather should 

 be fastened to the wood with glue, to get an 

 air-tiii-ht joint. The valves are simply pieces 

 of soft leather tackeil over the little square 

 boards that cover tlie hole. In making bel- 

 lows there will be fragments of leather left 

 that will do for nothing else than the valve. 



SPPaX<} FOR OPEXIXG THE liKLLOAVS. 



This is made of coppered iron wire No. 11. 

 The wire is made into straight rods by ma- 

 chinery, and each rod sliould be 26i long. 

 Thev are bent in a lathe as shown in cut. 



liOARDS FOR 3IAK1NG SMOKEU-BELLOWS. 



THE SPR1N( 



IS PUT ON THE 



UELLOWS. 



Each arm of the sibling is fastened to the 

 bellows bv a little wire staple. In the tigure 

 the sin-ing is sliown held by part of a wrought- 

 iron butt. We liiid these staples to do just 

 as? well. AVe have never known this kind of 



