650 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1. 



the bees will go off, and the comb is not dam- 

 aged. I apply the same principle to the shal- 

 low extracting-super. A little smoke when 

 the cover is lifted drives a good portion of the 

 bees below. Now remove the super and place 

 it in the apparatus shown in the cut, and 

 jounce the ends on the ground, and the re- 

 maining bees rattle out upon the little sheet 

 provided to catch them. In order to prevent 

 the -jouncing operation from breaking combs, 

 the lower ends of the end pieces are cushion- 

 ed with numerous folds of gimny sacking. 

 This relieves a too sudden jar, and at the same 

 time gives shock enough to send the bees 

 out. 



I have used this device upon supers in 

 which were new combs filled with honey 



gunny sacking to a few rough poles and 

 young growth of trees, and then we have a 

 house, although at the close of the season it 

 looks the worse for wear. One of the things 

 that will hereafter be found in this apiary will 

 be a new and unique portable honey-house, 

 an illustration of which will appear later. 



The three good friends who were with me 

 did not discuss to a great extent the hive I 

 am using. Evidently there were fixed opin- 

 ions in the little group ; and to illustrate a 

 point, Mr. Cowan related an incident that 

 happened to the hive a few years ago when he 

 was a guest of the inventor. 



Mr. Heddon was about to show how easily 

 he could shake all of the bees from the brood- 

 chamber at once, when, with the first shake, 



rambi^er'S honey-house. 



without breaking them. Several supers are 

 operated upon, and immediately taken to the 

 extracting-house. It takes a little more time 

 to uncap and extract, but the time lost here is 

 gained in the yard, and I prefer to spend the 

 most of the time in the shade. 



I have never tried the jouncer on the Hoff- 

 man hive. The only objection to its success- 

 ful working would be the heavier weight to 

 jounce, and the more danger of breaking the 

 deeper combs. 



I did not show this apparatus to my friends, 

 for it was such a crude thing that I was 

 ashamed of it. I promise that, when they 

 visit me again, a perfected one will be on ex- 

 hibition. 



The honey-house on my ranch could not be 

 hidden ; but of this I was not ashamed, for 

 there are scores of them in this State. This 

 style is made by applying a few widths of 



bees, brood-combs, and all went to the 

 ground. 



While the accident happened through a 

 faulty support of the frames, Mr. Cowan's 

 rendering of it showed a certain amount of 

 British stiff-neckedness in relation to the 

 hive, and Mr. Hatch laughed as though he 

 had the same st>le of neck too. Mr. Mendle- 

 son's neck seemed to be more pliable. He is 

 using the Danzenbaker hive, and is open to 

 the adoption of improvements. Getting the 

 bent of these fellows, I did not show them my 

 jouncer. Their necks would have been dead 

 set against that also. 



In spite of rigid necks we had a pleasant 

 outing; and after examining the tunnels, and 

 drinking the pure water that comes there- 

 from, we visited Mr. Levering's apiar}' and 

 then returned to the city. 



A few days after our delightful drive in the 



