GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



the cashaw flow has stopped. J. S. Morales, 

 the enterprising secretary of the Jamaica Api- 

 ciiltural Society of Spanish Town, not only 

 handles Root's goods, but rides a bicycle to 

 his out-apiary, and is much in request by a 

 number of beginners in various parts of the 

 island. Friend Morales finds a wheel invalu- 

 able in his business, as does the writer ; for 

 with the magnificent roads everywhere 

 through the i.sland "it's just fun " to wheel 

 through the lovely and varied tropical scenery. 



I again invdte A. L R. to visit this island 

 next winter. He will find many things that 

 wall interest him as much as any thing he has 

 seen on any of his travels — immense fields of 

 bananas grown under irrigation ; great water- 

 falls, wonderful medicinal springs, large 

 sugar-plantations, truck-growing under irriga- 

 tion, great caves, etc., as well as a wealth of 

 tropical vegetation that will be a revelation to 

 him. He can bring his wheel, and ride every- 

 where, and he will find that he has many 

 friends here as everywhere. 



Linstead, Jamaica, Aug. 80. 



[Thanks. Will try to send him down one 

 of these winters when it is cold and bleak 

 here, and lovely with you. — Ed.] 



SMOKER FUEL. 

 Some New and Valuable Kinks in Handling Bees. 



BV N. E. BOOMHOWER. 



About every apiarist has his own whims and 

 ideas; and among them are some who would 

 rather use a thing of their own originating 

 than to use one they knew was better, but 

 decline simply because some one else got it 

 up, and say it is " no good." 



I will give a few points that perhaps will do 

 some one some good if he will try it. One of 

 them is, fuel for the smoker. We use old 

 phosphate-sacks that have been laid out in 

 the rain, and washed out, or burlap of the 

 same nature, which can be had in almost any 

 quantities at the junk-shops for one-fourth 

 cent a pound. This fuel has been used by a 

 good many, but perhaps not in the same 

 shape we use it. We take a phosphate-sack 

 and roll it up lengthwise as tight as we can 

 handily with the hands; then we take common 

 cotton twdne and tie around the rolls about 

 five inches apart, or about the right length to 

 fit in the smoker ; then chop up the rolls 

 between the strings with an ax, and so have a 

 very handy piece of fuel that will just fit into 

 the smoker. One bundle will last two or 

 three hours, and make a much nicer smoke 

 than any wood I ever used. 



We take sacks and fill them with the bun- 

 dles, and send one to each apiary, and that 

 will last through the season. The advantage 

 of this fiiel is that there are no sparks; and 

 those who have chaff hives will know that 

 this is one good point. Only a short time ago 

 I burned up four chaff hives on account of 

 using wood for fuel. Your smoker is always 

 cool, easily lighted, and I have known a 

 smoker to stay lighted three hours without 



being touched. In lighting the smoker, take 

 the biirnt fuel that was used the last time ; 

 and by touching it with a lighted match it 

 will burn like charcoal, thereby saving the 

 time of cutting shavings. The cost is about 

 five cents per hundred colonies per season, 

 and about fifteen minutes' work to prepare it. 



W. L. Coggshall, I think, was the first to 

 use fuel in this shape, and you could get him 

 to use no other. 



Another useful point is in putting a hook 

 on the smoker — one stamped out of band iron, 

 about "s inch wide and 8 inches long, with 

 one end made sharp, and bent like a fish-hook, 

 so it can be screwed on about the center part 

 of the back of the bellows, and about two 

 inches from the top, where it does not inter- 

 fere with the hand. This will be found verj- 

 handy, as, instead of groping around and 

 bending over, or reaching to find a level place 

 where- the smoker will stand, you can hang it 

 on the edge of the hive, and be out of your 

 way, and save a good deal of time and annoy- 

 ance. 



Anotlier point we just caught on this season 

 is in driving the bees down in the supers, 

 either in extracting or comb-honey supers, 

 where bee-escapes are not used. This is done 

 by taking hold of one corner of the oilcloth 

 and pulling it loose, just so the opposite cor- 

 ner hangs; and, by blowing smoke from the 

 smoker by the side of the cloth, and flapping 

 the oilcloth up and down quite rapidly, you 

 will be surprised to see how quickly the little 

 fellows will leave and go downstairs. It seems 

 to draw just the amotmt of smoke required, 

 and it scatters it evenly over the frames, and 

 forces it down in between the combs farther 

 than a smoker will do it, and not so much, 

 and does not get the bees excited. With a 

 little practice a person can nearly clean the 

 supers of bees ; and where you extract you 

 hardly need to brush the combs. 



West Groton, N. Y.;; 



[Mr. N. E. Boomhower is a son of Frank 

 Boomhower, of Gallup\'ille, N. Y. As I saw 

 Mr. N. E., or Novice, as he is familiarly call- 

 ed, working in one of Mr. Coggshall's apiaries, 

 I can testify to the correctness of every point 

 he makes. It is indeed true that this old 

 gunny-sack smoker-fuel is cheap and lasting, 

 and it gives a good volume of smoke without 

 sparks. I think Mr. C. told me he bought for 

 this purpose old phosphate-sacks. The smell 

 of the phosphate would do no harm, but, on 

 the contrary, would have a more favorable ef- 

 fect on the bees. I do not suppose it would 

 pay ordinarily to buy new burlap for the pur- 

 pose of making smoker fuel, and yet it might. 



The idea of flapping smoke into extracting- 

 supers for the purpose of expelling bees by 

 means of the enamel cloth or quilt is a valu- 

 able one. The principle seems to be in caus- 

 ing a partial vacumn in the super. A contin- 

 uous stream of smoke is poured over the 

 frames. The flapping of the enamel cloth, as 

 explained, causes a suction, driving the smoke 

 further into the super than it can be done 

 with the smoker itself, strange to say. You 

 have probably noticed this, that, while in bed, 



