1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



173 



"In that case," he replied, "I would lean 

 the pole against the tree, shin down, and then 

 move the bees." 



The thing certainly did work very nicely, 

 even out in the rain. There was not any 

 swarm, of course, upon a high limb to try it 

 on; but I could see one in my mind's eye that 

 little chap of a Niver, 5 feet 4, taking a swarm 

 down and dumping it into one of Morton's 

 big hives. 



After Niver had gone through the perform- 

 ance to my satisfaction I asked him to " kindly 

 stand out in the rain a little longer " while I 

 photographed the top part of the apparatus 

 showing a view of the basket ; and the result 

 is shown in Fig. 2. 



" That thing is certainly very ingenious," I 

 said. 



"Yes," said Niver. With this he came in- 

 side and began to dissect the same. I made 

 some rough sketches, brought them home to 

 our artist, who elaborated them into a drawing 

 as shown in cut just below. 



The machine con- 

 sists of an outer hol- 

 low pole and an inner 

 one, both square. The 

 outer pole is virtually 

 a long box about 2 in. 

 square on the outside, 

 and 12 feet long. A 

 cross-section is shown 

 at 2 in the cut. Inside 

 of this hollow square 

 pole another square 

 pole of about the same 

 length, and just large 

 enough to slide up and 

 down easily, is made. 

 A longitudinal groove, 

 about Y% inch wide and 

 deep, running its en- 

 tire length, is cut on 

 one side, as shown at 

 D, D. This groove is 

 to receive the rope C, 

 C. At each end of the 

 outer pole are let in 

 two ordinary sash-pul- 

 leys, as at F, and an 

 ordinary clothesline is 

 then passed through 

 thepulleys. The 

 grooved inner pole is 

 then slid into the outer 

 one, so that the rope 

 lies in the groove. The 

 two ends of the rope 

 are then fastened at 

 one end, and ' ' this is 

 where the fun comes 

 in," says Niver ; " for 

 it is quite a trick to 

 get the two ends of 

 the rope fastened, and 

 yet have the rope taut 

 after the job is done." 

 The thing to be accom- 

 plished is this : The 

 two ends of the rope are made to abut togeth- 

 er in the groove four or five inches from the 



bottom end. They are then stapled down se- 

 curely. The rope may be fastened as at G, in 

 the drawing; but Mr. Morton had the two 

 ends of the rope abutting together in the 

 groove. 



Now, be sure and not make the mistake of 

 fastening the rope at each end of the grooved 

 pole, for that will never do, because that will 

 render it impossible to draw the inner pole out 

 of the larger one, as you will see by a mo- 

 ment's reflection; and if you will reflect a lit- 

 tle more you will see that it is not an easy 

 matter to fasten the ropes at one end so they 

 will be taut. Although there are two or three 

 ways, Morton's method was to cut off the 

 strip that holds the lower sash-pulley, at a 

 point about five or six inches from the end. 

 This piece, with the pulley, can be pulled out 

 of position temporarily. It is now possible to 

 bring the .two ends of the rope together, be- 

 cause we now have a little slack. After they 

 are fastened end to end, the piece with the 

 pulley is sprung back into place and fastened 

 with screws.* If every thing has been done 

 right this will take up the slack of the rope, 

 and make it taut. 



If there should be enough demand for a 

 contrivance of this kind we would have it list- 

 ed in our catalog, and I am sure there would 

 be a good demand if bee-keepers only knew 

 its value; but for the present I have given full 

 particulars how to make it, so that those of a 

 mechanical turn of mind can, in these long 

 winter days, have one or more of these poles 

 in readiness for next season. 



IS SWARMING CONTAGIOUS? 



Eighteen Swarms all in One Bunch; A Remarka- 

 ble Experience. 



BY F. E. BROWN. 



Will bees swarming attract those that are in 

 their hives, or, in other words, will the swarm 

 while in the air cause others to leave their 

 hives ? I am inclined to think that they do, 

 under some circumstances. I will try to de- 

 scribe an experience that I had in that line on 

 one occasion. It was when I was located in 

 the Coast Range, and the apiary was situated 

 in a canyon where the mountains came all 

 around except one side, forming a little horse- 

 shoe cove. The mountain was steep and high, 

 so the bees had to fly around over the apiary 

 when swarming. 



On this occasion I had 200 swarms, and 

 they were all in a bunch with a few trees scat- 

 tered through the apiary. It was the 5th day 

 of April when an assistant and myself came to 

 the bees. I was surprised to hear a swarm 

 out. They settled on a small cedar-tree some 

 10 ft. high, and quite slender. While we were 

 preparing a hive for them there was a shout 

 of another swarm. Soon it settled on top of 

 the other. We then shook them off into two 

 separate hives; but there was another swarrn 

 coming from another hive; and before they 

 settled, the other two came out from the 



* Use screws so that the piece may be removed for 

 the future, to take up slack when necessary. 



