1S',)7 



GLKANINGS IN HICK CUI/rURK. 



In the mean time, let the friends eontinue 

 to send in s;iin])les of fonl brix)d secnrely 

 \vra]i]ieil in jiaraffine or j^eased paper, anil 

 paeked in a tin box. A wooden box secnrely 

 nailed, and water-tight, will answer in lien of 

 ? tin box if that can not be obtained. 



A SMOKKR-HOOK — .\ COl'l'LE OK COGGSH.\IJ/,S 

 IDEAS. 



Whkx I was at W. L. Coggshall's he show- 

 ed me the convenience of having a hook plac- 

 eil on the back of a smoker in such a way that 

 the smoker could be caught on tothe edge of 

 the hive while the operator is at work over it. 

 jMr. C. explained that it was a waste of time 

 to have to stoop down to the ground to pick 

 up a smoker that, in nine cases out of ten, 

 would be tiimbled over on its side, and burning 

 at a ver}- low ebb. He would have a smoker 

 within a few inches of the hand, " right side 

 up with care," and the draft fully on. The 

 hook is a piece of strap iron, bent in the form 

 shown, and fastened to the top of the smoker- 

 bellows. The cut below shows the idea : 



Another val- 

 tuible feature of 

 the hook is that 

 it may be hitch- 

 ed on to the 

 " apiarv-cart." 

 Mr. Coggshall 

 has a sort of 

 hand-cart that 



^will hold four 

 extracting - su- 

 pers full of 

 combs. This is 

 within arm's 

 reach. Then 

 havingthe smo- 

 ker shoved 

 along from one 

 hive to anoth- 

 er ; and while 

 the operator* 

 is at work it stands attached to the top edge of 

 the hive or of the cart, up in the air, it can be 

 seen anywhere in the apiary. 



]\Iany and many a time f have lost track of 

 my smoker ; and in order to find it I have had 

 to peer around all the hives, and finally suc- 

 ceeded in locating it on its side in an obscure 

 place, half gone out. I do not know l)ut we 

 shall have to supply our smokers with hooks 

 next year. They would be put inside thfc fire- 

 cup, and the bee-keeper can attach them or 

 not as he chooses. Those who already have 

 old smokers can make hooks and put them on 

 this winter. 



Incidentally it will be noted that the smoker 

 bellows-boards above illustrated are grooved 

 around the sides and top edge. The purpose of 

 this groove, as I have before explained, is to 

 enable the operator to get a belter grip on the 

 smoker. When the fingers are wet with per- 

 spiration or honey, sometimes the smoker will 

 slip out of the hand. But this groove entirely 

 prevents it. It will be remembered that :\Ir. 

 Coggshall sometime ago recommended cleats; 

 but it seemed to be better and far neater to 



have grooves ; and these we have put on all 

 our late-made smokers. 



.\ lUvI-:-HUNT .\T MKinsX. 

 Dm you ever go out ou a genuine bee-hunt 

 — the good old-fashioned kind that our fathers 

 and grandfathers used to tell us about? About 

 a year ago, hearing that a bee-tree had been 

 discovered a mile or more east of Medina, I 

 determined that I would have some of the fun 

 I had heard so much about. Two or three of 

 our shop boys were invited to go along. No, 

 come to think about it they invited ?//<?. Im- 

 plements ? Yes, we had lots of them — axes, 

 a large crosscut saw, veils, dippers to dip up 

 the gallons (?) of honey; smokers, honey- 

 knives, and every thing else galore, besides'a 

 horse and wagon. The horse was warranted 

 to be sting-proof, and not to run awa^-. 



We had previously obtained the consent of 

 the owner of the tree to cut it, and the after- 

 noon was "just lovely." Two of the boys 

 went crosslols on foot, taking along a gun, 

 while the rest of us rode. For fear that I 

 might miss an opportunity of getting a fox 

 squirrel I took along my double-barreled ham- 

 merless ; and that I might be able to preserve 

 in permanent form some of the exciting inci- 

 dents of the bee-hunt, I took the camera that 

 makes man}- of the pictures for Gleanings. 

 Arrived at the bee-tree, the boys pointed out 

 where the bees were located. I squinted and 

 looked, and looked and squinted, but could 

 not satisfy myself that there were any bees in 

 that tree. As my shotgun was conveniently 

 near I thought of a little scheme. I would 

 fire at the place where the bees were supposed 

 to come out. Perhaps that would stir them 

 up, and it did ; but — " Whewation. boys ! see 

 that big fox squirrel ! " I shouted. I was 

 seized with the " buck-fever," and never once 

 thought of letting him have the other barrel 

 till too late. The squirrel seemed to me to 

 jump from the very hole where the bees were. 

 I had expected bees, but not game. Well, as 

 he disappeared in another tree we pursued 

 after him. My shot had called the other man, 

 and we together went squirrel-hunting, leav- 

 ing the bees to make things interesting for the 

 other fellows. After we had himted a while 

 we came to the conclusion that Mr. Fox had 

 found another convenient hole. We gave up 

 the search, and came back to the bee-tree. 



Two of the men — one of them Mr. Dannley, 

 who makes the foundation-rolls, and the other 

 one Mr. Hammer, who has been working on 

 the Weed deep-cell dies — were at work sawing 

 the bee-tree down. I laid the gun aside, took 

 up the camera, and took a " time exposure." 



Perhaps some of yoi: do not know how our 

 Ohio woods look in the month of vSeptember. 

 Elsewhere in this journal j-ou will see the bee- 

 tree, and just at the foot of it the two men 

 with the crosscut saw. The place where the 

 bees were located was just above the crotch of 

 a limb broken oflF very near the top of the pic- 

 ture, on the left-hand side of the tree. 



We all took turns with the saw and with the 

 ax. Some of us were not very expert with the 

 last-named iinplement. I noticed that, while 

 I chopped, the rest of the crowd departed to a 



