1898 



GI.EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



511 



longer and do better work. By pressing on 

 the edges of the sandpaper you will find that 

 it gives enough so that, with very little prac- 

 tice, one can clean the " scallops " as easily as 

 any other part of the section. It will cut it 

 out as nicely as can be, and do it quickly too. 



If you have any misgivings as to the rapidity 

 and quality of work this cleaner wdl do, have 

 Mr. A. I. Root take his next bicycling-tour on 

 a wheel of this kind, polishing sections. A 

 stormy day will do as well as any. Then if 

 he does not admit its value, and give it great 

 praise, I'll know it will be because he is kept 

 too busy blovving sawdust from his head, for I 

 find one needs a protecter over the nose. 



You can put your sandpaper on the diameter 

 face of this cleaner if you like. I once thought 

 it would be best, but have changed my mind. 



The bicycle used in making this machine 

 was an old cast-off one, and cost me nothing. 

 The labor I performed myself. It was also 

 c ist-off labor, so I paid nothing for it. The 

 poli.shing lathe-head, belts, ball bearings, and 

 other material used, cost me 83.50. Any one 

 who can pick up an old bicj'cle, and is handy 

 with tools, can make a cheap section-cleaner, 

 and have a good tool for other kinds of work 

 requiring speed rather than great power, such 

 as an emery wheel, small grindstone, drill, 

 lathe, or a small saw. One sheet of sandpaper 

 will clean a case of 24 sections. 



Colfax, Wash., Feb. 13. 



[Your scheme of using a part of an old bi- 

 cycle to secure speed is vei y ingenious. There 

 are hundreds of old " bikes" out of date and 

 out of order that are unfit for road service, and 

 yet would do nicely as a part of a section- 

 cleaning midline. Even if the tires are worn 

 out and won't hold air, it makes no difference. 

 They are to be yanked off, and the hollow rim 

 that held the tire will be just right to hold a 

 belt. 



Twenty years ago I used to operate a bicycle 

 scroll-saw made by W. F. & John Barnes, 

 and still put out by the same firm, I believe. 

 It was the most practical man-power machine 

 of anything I ever tried. Indeed, I rather en- 

 joyed kicking the pedals, for it was easier to 

 keep my legs going on this light power ma- 

 chine than it was to keep them still. 



For a home-made affair I am not sure but 

 this section-cleaner beats any thing heretofore 

 put on the market. — Ed.] 



SECTION -CLEANERS— A SUGGESTED IMPROVE- 

 MENT. 



Fences; Sections 9 and 8 to the Inch; Reasons why 

 the Latter should be Used. 



BY FR. GREINER. 



Frietid Ernest: — A few days ago I had a 

 very pleasant call from friend Harvy Perry, of 

 Bristol. Mr. Perry is one of our most success- 

 ful comb-honey producers. I am not sure 

 that you met him when you visited this sec- 

 tion last fall. He has not been in the business 

 as long as many of us, but he has mastered his 

 trade. He does not fall in love with every new 



fad at first sight, but experiments on a small 

 scale till he finds out by actual test what a 

 thing is worth. I am always glad to meet Mr. 

 Perry, and never fail to learn of him something 

 of value. He has an eye for business ; and if 

 b}' any new method he can increase his honey 

 crop, produce a better article, or lessen the 

 amount of labor, he is not slow to adopt such. 

 We had a genuine bee-talk together ; and as 

 some of the things might interest you, I will 

 write them down. 



Our conversation naturally drifted toward the 

 section cleaning machine. Friend Perry has 

 studied out one on the disk principle, which 

 he is sure will work well ; but, not being situ- 

 ated so he can build one himself, he said to 

 me, " Tell Mr. Ro jt about it when you write 

 him again," and so I will. 



Well, his idea is to have a di.sk fitted out 

 with rasps next to the periphery, and with 

 sandpaper in the center. The rasps are to 

 take off the bulk of the propolis ; then by 

 sliding the section to the center of the disk 

 the sandpaper is to finish the job. As the 

 rasps would in all probability gum up in time, 

 he proposes a wire brush on a revolving cylin- 

 der, to be brought to bear against the rasps 

 by means of a lever at the will of the operator, 

 and thus do the work of cleaning from time 

 to time as it may seem necessar}'. 



I should not wonder if a machine construct- 

 ed on this plan would work nicely. Simply 

 by means of a jack-knife I am able to clean 

 from 400 to 500 sections per day (depending 

 somewhat on the amount of propolis on the 

 sections), take them out of my wide-frame su- 

 pers, grade, and crate in the bargain. I don't 

 understand in what condition neighbor Roat's 

 honey must be (see Gleanings, Apr. 15, page 

 298), if he can not clean more than 100 sec- 

 tions per day. I have raised comb honey near 

 his locality, and did not find any more trou- 

 ble than I do in my own. A section-cleaner 

 may not hasten the work very materially, but 

 will, of course, do the work so much "better 

 that we shall all be anxious to use it, so we are 

 awaiting the development with anxiety, and 

 hope a perfect-working machine will be out 

 by the time we need it. 



Now, what about y"^;/cr.? .^ Well, let us go 

 slow. That is Perry. I myself had intended 

 to fit up 100 supers with fences ; but after 

 talking the matter over at our convention last 

 winter and since, I have concluded that 25 

 supers will be enough for a trial. If you es- 

 tablish that new department, "The Asylum," 

 Mr. Editor, I am afraid a good many of us 

 " will be there." The older bee-keepers, who 

 commenced with the swinging frame and the 

 wide-frame supers, can not well follow all 

 those radical changes of late except by way of 

 experiment. I know quite a number of ex- 

 tensive bee-keepers who still cling to the 

 above-named things — even a cleat on the su- 

 pers and hives. With many of us it was a 

 sort of "happenstance" our starting in with 

 this or that kind of hive, frame, or super ; and 

 now, after being well equipped, we do not 

 feel as though we could afford to change to 

 other styles, although we may deem it desira- 

 ble. If I could sell out, I might adopt the 



