50 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15. 



ficacious for this ; and while it may be said 

 that, if a hot blast is held some distance away, 

 the effect is the same as a cold one, there are 

 many times when it is not practical to do this, 

 especially in a strong wind ; and in other 

 cases if it is held far enough away to give the 

 effect of a cold blast the strength of the blast 

 is not strong enough to drive the smoke as far 

 as it may be desired it should penetrate ; and 

 I believe the continued and especially the in- 

 judicious use of a hot-blast smoker in a yard 

 has a more injurious effect on bees, not only 

 in disturbing them wors?, with the consequent 

 effect of less honey being gathered, but they 

 appear to me to become crosser, more excita- 

 ble, and more difficult to subdue and handle ; 

 and while there is no doubt of this in my 

 case, my manner of handling bees makes this 

 more apparent and real with me than with 

 those who follow the orthodox method of 

 blowing smoke in at the entrance of a hive, 

 then waiting awhile before operations are com- 

 menced. 



If what I have said so far has been carefully 

 read it will be understood why, when I ex- 

 plain that, as a rule, when I desire to handle 

 a colony, the cover is removed and operations 

 commenced at once without any preliminary 

 smoking and waiting. 



Another thing in favor of cold-blast smo- 

 kers or breech-loading ones is that they are 

 easier to fill and light ; for instance, the di- 

 rections that accompany a well-known make 

 of muzzle-loading smoker say that, when it 

 is desired to start a fire in one, we are to get 

 a few coals of fire out of a stove and drop 

 these in first ; then the fuel on top of them. 

 This is an effective way to start a fire ; but at 

 my ranch, in warm weather, when a smoker 

 is most in demand, there is very seldom a fire 

 in a stove ; for I have not one kind of queen ; 

 and instead of cooking my own meals I prefer 

 to pay for the privilege of taking them at a 

 neighbor's. But if the case were different, 

 sni I had as many of these queens as the new- 

 ly elected member of Congress from Utah is 

 said to have, and a like number of stoves go- 

 ing, I often wish to use a smoker for so short 

 a time that I can light a breechloader and 

 have the work finished or well under way be- 

 fore a fire could be started in a muzzle-loader, 

 provided the directions accompanying it were 

 practiced, and it is to be presumed that the 

 makers of an implement understand the best 

 method to be followed in using it. 



The fuel for a smoker that I prefer, and one 

 that is easily obtained here, is flax straw. 

 This, if free from foreign matter, such as 

 weeds and the like, and thoroughly dry, is 

 easily lighted with a match, gives a good vol- 

 ume of smoke, and will seldom go out until it 

 is all consumed ; and in a smoker of the right 

 s : ze, properly made, one filling will last from 

 an hour to an hour and a half, depending on 

 the amount of smoke required in the work be- 

 ing done. While there are cold blast smokers 

 in the market, there are none that are proper- 

 ly made. While the principle on which the 

 Clark is made is effective, the barrel is too 

 small. It should have a fuel capacity at least 

 equal to any of the leading makes of muzzle- 



loaders, and the fire-chamber should taper but 

 slightly, if at all; and, most important of all, 

 while it should remain a breech-loader it 

 should have a detachable nozzle so that, by 

 removing it, the holes in the portion in front, 

 as well as the air-tube, could be easily cleaned 

 of soot and the like. As now made it is a dif- 

 ficult matter to clean them, and these parts 

 frequently need cleaning. 



I believe that if a smoker were made on 

 these lines it would, when its merits become 

 known, supersede the sale of any now made, 

 especially when the relative effects of hot and 

 cold smoke are carefully noted by bee-keep- 

 ers. 



While my opinion is that the manufacturers 

 of our goods will not encounter such a rush 

 for supplies during the coming season as they 

 did the past one, I believe the firm Gleanings 

 represents will notice a gradually increased 

 demand for their shipping-cases owing to late 

 improvements in their construction. Hereto- 

 fore I have used but few of their make, for I 

 did not consider those made for standard-size 

 sections wide enough, for I want a case made 

 so that, after the last row of sections is in, 

 there will be room for a follower, with a small 

 space between it and the back side of the 

 case. This space is packed with folded paper, 

 and it is much easier to pack honey in such a 

 case so the sections are held firmly together, 

 which insures greater safety in shipping or in 

 carrying them around ; and the dealer who 

 retails from the case finds such a one more 

 convenient, for, after removing the follower, 

 there is room to remove and replace a section 

 from a full case easily. The past season I or- 

 dered 50 of the Root Co. 's make, and found 

 them not only as wide as I desired, but also 

 supplied with followers ; and another decided 

 improvement I found in their construction was 

 that the upper strip that holds the glass in 

 front, as well as the back side of the case, 

 came up just even with the end pieces, which 

 allows the cover to project out, or cover the 

 whole of the case instead of fitting down be- 

 tween the back and front side, which it did as 

 they were formerly made ; and when made in 

 this way, no matter how accurate the work- 

 manship was, there was some chance for dust 

 to enter the case, even when the sections were 

 covered with paper ; for the back side of a 

 case, when it is packed, naturally spreads or 

 springs back enough to leave a small crack 

 between it and the cover unless the latter 

 reaches over all. As these cases are now 

 made, I for one can see no chance for improve- 

 ment unless to have the paper a little heavier 

 and cut a trifle larger, especially the pieces to 

 put over the top of the sections ; but this is a 

 small matter : for, except for appearances 

 when opening a case, it is immaterial, with 

 the case and cover as now made, whether the 

 sections are covered with any paper at all. 



Southern Minn. 



[It may be you are right ; but my own ex- 

 perimenting, and much of it on a large scale, 

 has led me to opposite conclusions. After ex- 

 perimenting, and trying all sorts of construc- 

 tion, and having "made and thrown away doz- 



