ISitt 



(il.KANlNCS IN lUCH ( ULTURE. 



51 



tlio kind of Ki-arinp tlit'v prcfrrrctl: and tlir 

 4i('iMsi(Mi lias IxM'ii iiiiif()iiiil\ lor one like tlic one 

 shown in till- cut, FJ!;. 1. "• Wliatcv cr' yoii do,"' 

 tJi(\v said, "dtin"! make yoni' jjt'ariiiif too weak. 

 Kit on llic side of making it too slionK. if any 

 lliinc. I'vi'ii to tlic apncaiaiK'c of hciiiji clmnsy." 

 Tlic last jjcaf \M' inati'- is sii-oiifj. hut not cliiinsy : 

 and to a|>pii'i'iat»' tlir dltlcrcni't' one lias only to 

 ivy the two kinds. It costs a little iiioic. and 

 fof tho |)i('S(Mit we shall liavr to cliaifi'' a lit tic 

 inorc; and those who wish this tfcai'inK will 

 liavi' lo specify it in tlieir oideis. 



HKVKHSim.K KXTK ACTOKS. 



The one frreat ti'onhle with leveisible. extract- 

 •ors has heen that they are very ex()ensive. and 

 tile can so laffie as to foihid tluir in>\n<i I hfoiisli 

 an ordinary door. and. in ffeneial. laijre and un- 

 wieldy to handle. .Mi'. Waslihuiii. at onr sug- 

 gestion, has linally peifi-cted a reversible two- 

 frame machine that will go inside of a :i()- inch 

 can — that is. one of the small standard 

 sizes of cans. Furthennore. we have disix'ii.sed 

 with the center-shaft and the chain that is 

 •objectionahle in other extractors of the kind. 

 While the extiactor is not automatic, it is next 

 thing to it. The minute xhc machine stops, by 

 twisting a cou|)le of thumb-screws, not shown 

 in the cut. it will reverse the comh-pockets in 

 the fraction of a second, and the machine set 

 a-si)inning. with the other surfaces of the combs 

 exposed to the can. We have tested the machine 

 in actual extracting, and know that it will 

 work. We have also sent one to be tested by 

 some of the large honey-pi'odncei's of York 

 State, and we are at present awaiting sugges- 

 tions and criticisms. This is the same princi- 

 ple that was reeommendi^d and indorsed abont 

 two years ago. by that extensive Calii'ornia bee- 

 keeper. .1. V. Mclntyre. of Fillmore, Cal. 



the llcc-l.ccprrx' Rcvhir, examined it very criti- 

 cally when he was at onr place: aii<l he made 

 the stiitement t hat . i f he w ere to purchase an 

 extractor, this would lii' the one he would select. 



, THK COWAX KAI'ID KKVEHSIHI.K, 

 EXTRACTOn-BASKET. 



We have christened the machine the "■ Cowan 

 Rapid " because it is a copy, with .some of our 

 own improvements, from a machine invented 

 by Thomas Wm. Cowan, editor of the Britlsk 

 Bee jDurnal. The cut shows how the baskets 

 are hinged on the opposite sides of the frame. 

 A couple of convenii-nt fJnirnb-serews; attached 

 to the top hinges, will cause revensing to be 

 ■done in as short a time as if the machin.e were 

 automatic, after a little practice. The ring 

 •encompassing the frame is to stop the baskets 

 as they reverse, and disi)enses with the annoy- 

 ance of hitching and catching of th(! chains. 

 The whole inside of the framework is made 

 very strong: and the fact that Mr. W'ashbnrn 

 has supervisf'd its construction is a guarantee 

 to that effect. This whole extractor com- 

 plete, in a .japanned can. sell-; for little more 

 than the non-reversing machines. 



We may say here, that W. /. Hutchinson, of 



TUNISIAN OR PUNIC BEES WHICH ^ 



.\I!K rilKV O.NE AND Till-; SAMI)".' 



.Vt the .\o\'eiiiher meeting of the lOlltomolog- 

 ical Society. Mi'. W. I''. Ivirhy exliiliited a ser- 

 ies of a dark-coloi'ed form of .\iils reared by 

 Mr. .]. Hewitt from bees said to be imported 

 from Tunis. We have had an opportunity of 

 se(>iiig these liees. and. so far as we can .judge 

 from dried specimens, they are no other than 

 ordinary Tunisian bees, which vv(^ have already 

 described as being similar to t-liosi^ from Algeria 

 and Morocco, and not a new species at all. Mr. 

 ixirby stated that Mr. Ilewit* proposed to call 

 them "runic"" bees, iiiid he stated that they 

 wei'e difl'ereiit from the oi'diuar\' 'I'unisian l)(>es. 

 We fail to see any difference, and there will be 

 some dilficult-y in (persuading entomologists to 

 adoptanmv nam<- for well-known bees. We were 

 also toUl that these bees would not sting, which 

 made us smile, more especially as wo remem- 

 ber'ed what Mr. Kenton had said alxiiit them. 

 Here are his own words wh(ni he wrote from 

 Tunis, March :.'(). KS8."). "They are also active, 

 energetic workers, but. unlike Cyprians and 

 Syrians, they are liable at times to lly at one 

 and sting him when he aiMiroaches the apiary, 

 and yet does not molest iln^ hives. '" 



There is a great deal we could say about Tu- 

 nisian bees; abont the "'Kassartyr" apiary of 

 forty hives; about a French gentleman (whose 

 name, for obvious reasons, we at present with- 

 liold). whose apiary is not quite on the border 

 of the Sahara desert, whoexportsTunisian bees 

 to England, and upon whom (if not in Paris), 

 amongst other bee-keepers we intend to call 

 when wego toTunis forthe purpose of ascertain- 

 ing why Tunisian Itees, w Inch an? of the same 

 race as those of Algeria and .Morocco, and, we 

 may add, (jf the Haleariclslands.sometimesshow 

 yellow, which the bees of the last three places 

 do not. Of course, we have our own theory on 

 this matter, but we wish to verify it on the spot 

 by personal observation. We hojie. also. Ixsfore 

 long, to be able to show specimens of these bees 

 from all the above places at a meeting of the 

 Entomological Society, and also of the Linnean 

 Society. Wo were much amused when Mr. 

 Kirby told us that the importer wished these 

 classified as Apis nhjer. As they are alr(*ady 

 classitied as ^/>/.s inellificd. it is not likely that 

 the name will be changed for Tunisian bees, 

 which are onlv a variety of this species. — British 

 Bcc-Joj<;-/K/f."Uec. 17. 1891. 



BURE-COMBS AND WIDE TOP-BARS. 



FHO.M (INK 



i)K rilK i'l(lNKKi;S 0,N IIIK N< tX- lUIil!- 



( OMH t^i^Ksriox. 



The above topic has betui discussed many 

 times in (Jleanings during the past two or 

 three years; and every time I see an article on 

 the subject I am tempted to rewrite an article I 

 wrot<' a few years ago for (ri.KANiX(is. which 

 was refused |)iil)licati(<n. and returned for the 

 nsason (as 1 suppose) that the idea of wid<? top- 

 bars was not tJieit popular. Now that wide 

 top-bars are popular I hardly think this article 

 will be n^fused. Several years ago some one 

 asked through (Jr.E.vxixGs wliat was the cause 

 of so many burr-combs in his hives: and A. I. 

 Root replied that he conld not tell: thereupon I 



