1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



695 



IMPROVED SWAEMING-LADDEES. 



DR. MILLER I.MPROA'ES STRIMPL'.S DEVICE. 



Whoever has had even a litth^ experience in 

 trying to set a ladder against a tree, in among 

 the limbs, will appreciate the upper terminus 

 of Strimpl's swarming-ladder, as given on page 

 6:M. The lower extremity is also good — the 

 sharp points to stick in the ground. I am in- 

 clined, however, to think tliat the middle part 

 must be modified in order to stand the test of 

 strength. 



A very little reflection will show that it will 

 be difficult to fasten the steps or rungs of the 

 ladder securely enough. There is only a small 

 surface on wiiich to nail the rungs: and when 

 the foot steps on them, it has a strong leverage 

 to tear oflF the rungs. If holes are bored through 

 the upright, so that no nails are needed, the 

 leverage will still be there to split the upright, 

 so that in any case there must be as luuch, and 

 I am inclined to think a little more, weight of 

 lumber than in the ordinary ladder, to secure 

 the same strength. 



But the desirable feature, the upper part end- 

 ing in a single point, can be retained by a little 

 modification of the common ladder. The picture 

 will show what I mean. 



2.' ^ 3. 



SWARMIXG-LADDER.S. 



Fig. 1 is merely a common ladder having one 

 side longer than the other, the short side coming 

 close up to the long side, and a few of the up- 

 per rungs allowed to project. 



A common ladder may readily be changed to 

 answer the purpose by having a middle piece 

 fastened to the uppei- riings. as shown in the 

 cut. Fig. 2. This middle piece projects above 

 the two sides of the ladder as much as may be 

 desirable. It may be necessary to use strap 

 iron in fastening this middle piece to the upper 

 and lower rounds to which it is attached. 



It often happens that a swarm alights on a 

 place where it is not easy to seta ladder con- 

 veniently against the tree, whether the ladder 

 terminates in one or two points. Especially is 

 this likely to be the case with bushy fruit-trees. 

 The swarm is away out at the end of an over- 

 hanging limb, and it is hard to get the ladder 

 anywhere near it. In this case a fruit-ladder 

 described in Popxdar Gurdenhnj comes in. 

 The principle is very old. Fig. 3. It is made of 

 common inch boards, about .5 inches wide, a 

 rest-piece coming between the two side-pieces 

 at the top, and a bolt passing through the three 



boards, holding them close together. This 

 third piece is of the same width as the two sides 

 for a little way at the upper end, and for the 

 rest of the way about an inch narrowei', so that 

 the piece can be folded up. allowing the ladder 

 to be set up against a tree the same as an ordi- 

 nary ladder. 



With ]\Ianum's device and a good hook, there 

 ought to be very little need for ladders. 



Marengo, 111, C. C. Miller. 



[As soon as I saw the diagram of Strimpl's 

 ladder I recognized at once that he had given 

 us something good. But now you have gone 

 and made it a good deal better. I believe it 

 would pay in every well-regulated apiary to 

 have ladders like Nos. 1 and 3 — that is. provid- 

 ing there are tall trees around. In our home 

 apiary there is nothing but low grapevines; and 

 with a fountain pump and a Manum swarmer 

 it is seldom that a swarm gets out of oui- reach 

 from the ground. 1 E. R. 



LUTHER W. GRAY. 



some reasons why we should be careful 



ABOUT accepting ADVERTISEMENTS. 



Not a few of the friends have been offended 

 because we have insisted on having full infor- 

 mation in regard to the financial standing and 

 general habits of a person before accepting ad- 

 vertisements: and we have, in conseqtience, 

 received some pretty severe letters. I have 

 thought best to give you an illustration by 

 narrating a case in point, that srjme of our 

 readers will no doubt be greatly interested in. 

 On the 1st of May, 1890, the following adver- 

 tisement appeared in our pages: 



Tested Italian queens now ready, at $1.00 each; 

 untested, 75 cts; ready bj' return mail. 



Luther W. Gray, Orlando, Fla. 



I may explain that we had had some previous 

 acquaintance with friend Gray, and had ac- 

 cepted several advertisements. As no com- 

 plaint appeared, we had no hesitation in ac- 

 cepting the above, especially as he says, in a 

 postscript to us, '• Give two lines of space to the 

 underscored words, and make prominent "Now 

 Ready,' and "^l.OO." "' If there really were 

 queens ready then, there should be no reason 

 why they did not go by return mail. Very 

 likely, friend Gray did have tested queens ready 

 on hand. We hope these went by return mail; 

 but before long, complaints began to come in. 

 We wrote to him repeatedly, and we give space 

 here for one of his replies: 



Your letter of May 13tli was received. I will make 

 matters straig-ht as soon as possible. On account 

 of ill health I am staying a while in the mountains. 

 Luther W. Gray. 



Chattanooga, Teiin.. May 23, 189J. 



Now. I felt a good deal vexed with the above, 

 for it seemed to me a rather cool piece of im- 

 pudence. If it were myself. I believe my health 

 would be improved more in sending money 

 back, when I could not fill orders, than in using 

 it to stay in the mountains. May be. however, 

 I am too severe on people who are out of health. 

 But before my health fails T hope God will give 

 me grace to place my aff'airs in such shape that 

 1 can get sick with a clear conscience. Well, 

 friend Gray has not sent the queens nor return- 

 ed the money yet. and I have published him 

 because many of his customers urgently demand 

 it. When we could get no further letun's from 

 him. I obtained the address of his father. 

 Then I suggested to his father that he might 

 be able to help him to return the money, as he 

 was unable to furnish the queens: or if he 



