1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEt: CULTtlltE. 



26*7 



and small chunks of the fuel would occa- 

 sionally drop througli and shoot out of the 

 nozzle. Last summer we ttnind it a de- 

 cided advantage to have the size of the per- 

 forations decreased, and use more of them. 

 The size of the holes as we used to make 

 them was S ; it is now scant i inch. 



Another change consists in enlarging 

 slightly the capacity of the bellows, by in- 

 creasing its length at its small end. By re- 

 ferring to the engraving you will see that 

 the spiral of the spring reaches out just as 

 far as the fire-box, so if you are careless 

 enough to drop your smoker-nozzle down- 

 ward the spring will receive all the concus- 

 sion. For a like reason this will also be 

 (piite an advantage in shipping by mail and 

 express. 



Another change consists in so construct- 

 ing the valve that it will work loosely. We 

 used to make them so that they fitted tight 

 to the U-inch auger-hole on the inside of 

 the bellows. As the air to supply the bel- 

 lows could pass through the blast-tube (car- 

 rying along more or less smoke) about as 

 readily as it could through the valve, the 

 consequence was that the inside of the bel- 

 lows became covered witli soot, especially 

 the surfaces of contact, in the valve. As 

 long as the smoke was sucked into the bel- 

 lows because of the close working of the 

 valve, just so long would the latter become 

 clogged and wheezy. To solve the diflftcul- 

 ty, it occurred to iis that the valve should 

 work so easily that the air could pass into 

 tiie bellows easier through the proper open- 

 ing than by the blast-tube. In the engrav- 

 ing you will .see that the leather of the valve 

 is hinged so loosely that it can drop back 

 half an inch from tlie wood. We are sure it 

 is an improvement to have the valve made 

 thus, and I will tell you why. We have an 

 old smoker in our house apiary, which has 

 been in use every season for six or seven 

 years, and it has outlasted all others. The 

 boys were quite partial to this smoker, even 

 if it was an old thing, because "• it didn't fill 

 up quite so quick.'' It was made exactly 

 the same as the other smokers, only the 

 valve, by some clumsy handling, was bro- 

 ken loose, so as to be " floppy." as they said. 

 Every time the bellows would work, the 

 valve would drop back from the board half 

 an inch, or perhaps three-quarters. It 

 worked so easily, in fact, that little if any 

 smoke sucked back through the blast-tube, 

 and, as a consequence, it took a good while 

 for the latter to become clogged, and there- 

 fore this smoker usually had the cleanest 

 blast-tube. 



In addition to enlarging the blast-tube, 

 we have enlarged the nozzle of the fire-box 

 itself. We have made a complete set of new 

 dies, also a set of machinery for turning out 

 the smoker as above. We do not, however, 

 make any extra charge, and the smoker will 

 be sold at the same price as before. Just 

 one thing more on this subject : I am not 

 going to say that a smoker, made as above, 

 will remedy all the defects of the former 

 smoker beyond any <iuestion or doubt ; but 

 from what experience I have had already, I 

 confidentlly expect it will to a very large 

 extent. 



OPEN-SIDE SECTIONS AT THE SAME PRICIE. 



We have just built some new automatic 

 machinery for turning out sections with 

 openings all round, or perhaps, rather, we 

 have reconstructed our automatic machine 

 for the purpose set forth. We are now en- 

 abled to turn out sections open all around, or 

 open at top and bottom only, or closed top, 

 as they call them, all at a uniform price per 

 thousand as it is in our catalogue. We have 

 therefore removed one of the objections to 

 open-side sections ; namely, that they cost 

 more. Whatever the merits of these sections 

 are, we are not prepared to say just now, 

 from experience ; but as there has been con- 

 siderable talk about them of late, we thought 

 best to put them out at the same price, so 

 bee-keepers can try them if they choose. 

 We have made a slight alteration in the size 

 of the openings for the bees, so that they 

 can be used in the T super with common tin 

 separators. 



Oliver Foster says it is desirable to have 

 both side and end compression on open-side 

 sections ; the object of which is to close the 

 interstices, or at least to reduce them to a 

 minimum space. We can elfect the side 

 compression in the T super by leaving one 

 row of sections, and in its place putting an 

 inch board, or follower, the same to be 

 crowded against the sections by means of 

 wedge^^, as illustrated and described on page 

 219, for last year. With T tins, however, 

 end compression by contact can not be ac- 

 complished, because the upright of the T 

 will space the ends of the sections at least 

 V« of an inch apart. 



PERFOKATED M'OODEN SEPAKATOK.'^, SPE- 

 CIALTY' ADAPTED FOR THE OPEN- 

 SIDE SECTIONS. 



Sections open all around, in order to work 

 to the best advantage ought to have separa- 

 tors perforated with transverse slots, these 

 slots to come directly opposite the side 

 opening in the sections. One objection to 

 using tin separators with transverse slots is, 

 that it makes them too expensive ; we have 

 therefore taken our common w^ood separa- 

 tors and perforated them with transverse 

 slots, something as shown in the rude cut 

 below, except that the slots are round at the 

 end. instead of being square. 



I I I 



SEPAUATOK, TO P.E USED WITH OPEN-SIDE 

 SECTIONS. 



As our dies for making these separators 

 were just completed, we have not had op- 

 portunity for having an exact engraving 

 made ; but the above shows the idea. These 

 separators are very unique ; and when you 

 first see them, you will wonder how we are 

 able to make them. We find we can furnish 

 them at the very low price of 75 cts. per 100, 

 or f (i.OO per 1000. If you desire the same 

 of IC tin, we shall have to charge you 

 $2.00 per 100, or $18.00 per 1000. We think, 

 however, the wooden separators with trans- 

 verse slots as described, will be preferable. 



