1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



717 



inventor is sitting near the machine, and that 

 is his pensive attitude when devising new 

 machines. 



In the next photo I try to show you another 

 real improvement, but I fear the attitude and 

 the surroundings of the person may cause a 

 smile. The first person who saw the photo 

 said, " Why, that looks like a ghost." 



"Alas, "said I, "it is a ghost; see how 



against a bush or a limb of a tree, and every 

 bee-keeper knows how handily a twig will 

 catch into a veil and rend it. Then a silk veil 

 is worth from 50 to 75 cents, and is of such 

 value that it ought to last longer. The veil I 

 present in this peculiar illustration has an old 

 material for the back, and a new material for 

 the front — at least I have never heard of its 

 being used for this purpose. It is very thin, 



gaunt he is ; and that is only a type of a very transparent celluloid — as transparent as 

 Southern California bee-keeper after these two glass; very light, and quite flexible; and a 

 dry seasons." large piece of it that will enable the wearer to 



The next observer said, "I 

 declare, that fellow looks like 

 an Arab." 



I had to agree with that ob- 

 server too, for the fellow looks 

 as though in feelings he were 

 an Arab. Let's see. The Bible 

 says, "Everybody's hand is 

 against him." 



Then an observer sagely 

 says, "That is Giant Despair 

 sitting at the entrance of his 

 cave. ' ' 



"My friend," said I, " you 

 are mistaken. Giant Despair 

 lives there, but he has gone 

 into the t- . ; '.h one victim, 

 and thi.- oee-keeper is 



now wait Lis turn." 



But, dropping allegory, and 

 turning to facts, I would say 

 that the peculiar place shown 

 is about filty paces from the 

 apiary, and that hole is a tun- 

 nel which has been blasted 

 some three hundred feet into 



the solid rocks of the mountain, 



and the object of digging these 



tunnels is for the development 



of water for irrigation purposes. 



As the bucket signifies, that is 



where I get water ; but the pipe 



leading down is from another 



tunnel further up the canyon 



and 400 feet in, and another 



tunnel further down over 400 



feet in. There is over $2000 in- 

 vested here in tunnels, pipes, 



and reservoirs, and all for a 



little water ; but this water is 



as valuable as a gold-mine. A 



little stream that would al- 

 most all go through a goose 



quill is worh a hundred dol 



lars a year. 



But I fear I am digressing, 



and withholding the informa- 

 tion about that new and notable improvement. 



Well, if you must know, it is all about that 



bee-veil, and the new feature is in the face of 



it. The reason why I was led to the study of 



bee- veils was that the ordinary fine silk net 



that is used in ordinary bee-veils is so fragile 



that it breaks open in spots and allows the 



bees to enter. I have purchased such netting 



at stores that was, I was going to say, rotten, 



and I guess that is about as good a term as any 



to express the quality. A bee keeper in al- 

 most any country is liable to get his head 



RAMBLER'S CELLULOID BEE-VEIL. 



see in every direction costs about 8 cents. The 

 celluloid is attached to common white mos- 

 quito-netting. The total cost of material for 

 the veil is about 12 cents ; and when the bach- 

 elor bee-keeper has plenty of leisure the mak- 

 ing of it becomes a pleasure. 



When I first donned the thing I thought I 

 should not like it ; but now after a few weeks' 

 use I am more and more in love with it. There 

 is but little reflection from the bright surface 

 into the eyes, and the reflection bothers only 

 when the sun is not shining. The mosquito- 



