924 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec 15. 



what a pleasure there is in doing a thing well, 

 and seeing good results from it ! How natu- 

 ral it is to follow such a success up with fur- 

 ther efforts ! This is all right and proper 

 within bounds, and with a proper object ; but 

 if it is done with the object of being able to 

 glory over the defeat of others, it would be 

 better for our spiritual welfare if it had never 

 been undertaken. 



Those using only starters in sections, espe- 

 cially if the honey-flow is only moderate, will 

 have sections not so well filled and joined to 

 the wood, and the bees will be slower in doing 

 it. Next, it never looks well to have two 

 kinds of cells in one section ; and where a 

 starter only is used, the bees are very likely to 

 finish the section with drone comb. 



Many will experience a difficulty in putting 

 foundation into sections accurately. There 

 may be better ways of doing it, but I know of 

 no better way of doing it than with a hot-plate 

 machine. In the one-piece section there is a 

 difficulty in connection with putting in well- 

 filled sheets of foundation. When the hot 

 plate is shoved in, and below the top-bar of 

 the section, the foundation then pressed up 

 against the plate, a little of the sheet must be 

 melted. The foundation is then brought up 

 against the lower surface of the top-bar of the 

 section. In this process with the sheet against 

 the bottom of and. in the center of the bottom- 

 bar of the section, when the hot plate has 

 been withdrawn and the foundation has been 

 pressed against the top-bar of the section, it 

 must be removed from the bottom-bar of the 

 section a distance at least equal to the thick- 

 ness of the plate and whatever was melted 

 away from the wax sheet. This is too much 

 to get the best results. 



The difficulty can be overcome by placing 

 the board inside the section upon which the 

 foundation rests at an angle, so as to carry the 

 foundation next to the bottom-bar ; beyond 

 that bottom -bar the angling position alone 

 gives added room ; and when suspended from 

 the top the sheet readily assumes a perpendic- 

 ular position ; and as it does so it nears the 

 bottom-bar and closes the space. With a four- 

 piece section the better way is to fasten the 

 foundation into place before the section is put 

 together. When all is in working order by 

 this method, about 45 sheets of foundation 

 can be attached to the top-bar of the section in 

 a minute. 



Brantford, Canada. 



ABOUT THE SMOKER. 



Ink Dropping from the Nozzle, Caused by What? 

 Hinging the Nozzle of the Crane Smoker. 



BY F. GREINER. 



The controversy in regard to inky fluid 

 dropping from the nozzle of the smoker makes 

 me think of a certain question one of our 

 teachers asked us boys once at school. From 

 our window we could often see the cars pass- 

 ing by, and on one occasion the teacher said 

 to us, " Which one of you can tell me what it 



is that comes from the smokestack of the en- 

 gine ? " 



" Smoke, of course," said one. 



The teacher shook his head. Another boy, 

 after a while, said, " Steam ; " but the teacher 

 again shook his head. It was a puzzle to us. 

 At last one of the bright ones called out, 

 "Smoke and steam both," at which answer 

 the teacher smiled and assented. 



It is steam and smoke coming from the 

 smoker's nozzle, and the two together seem to 

 form a union, in part condensing in the smo- 

 ker, filling the nozzle partly with that objec- 

 tionable accumulation, and, when it comes to 

 the worst, even dropping " ink," a very unde- 

 sirable substance when coming in contact with 

 our clothing, our hands, or the hive-fixtures. 

 It is the amount of surplus moisture that 

 causes the latter unpleasant feature. The ordi- 

 nary amount of moisture does little harm, and 

 is absorbed and evaporated. This surplus 

 moisture does not, however, all come from the 

 fuel one may use, I think. It comes also from 

 the atmosphere, which is always more or less 

 charged with it, and I believe the greater part 

 of all the moisture causing the trouble in the 

 smoker is due to this moisture as it is blown 

 by the bellows into and through the fire-box. 

 When I first commenced bee-keeping I had no 

 bellows smoker, and so I constructed a little 

 blowpipe from a tin pepper-box, etc. It prov- 

 ed to be a handy tool indeed in some respects. 

 Both hands were always free to use in manip- 

 ulating, and at the same time smoke could be 

 administered when necessary. I am quite par- 

 tial to this little smoker, and I would use it to 

 some extent to this day if it did not have this 

 very annoying feature of dropping this inky 

 liquid in a much intensified measure, owing to 

 the fact that the air, as blown into the fire 

 from the lungs, is much more abundantly 

 charged with moisture than the air we breathe 

 or the air the bellows uses. 



At the time, I experimented a great deal 

 with my little smoker, to overcome, if possi- 

 ble, that bad feature ; but the condensing 

 would take place at the extreme (and hence 

 naturally the cooler) end of the tube which 

 carried the smoke, etc. ; and all my efforts to 

 catch the disagreeable fluid in a separate little 

 cup proved futile. 



Since I have adopted the bellows smoker I 

 have had no trouble whatever with "ink" 

 when good fuel was used. Pine sawdust or 

 planer-shavings I regard as the poorest mate- 

 rial, filling up the smoker quickly with accu- 

 mulations, and causing ink to drop. Gener- 

 ally speaking I am not very exacting as to 

 what material I do use as fuel, but make use 

 of the things that are handiest ; for instance, 

 planer-shavings, sawdust, and the like ; rotten 

 or half-rotten wood ; chips and old quilts and 

 phosphate-sacks ; but I do not consider it es- 

 sential to keep fuel for several years to have it 

 as dry as Mr. Taylor prefers. Rotten maple 

 or elm wood or partly rotten wood may be 

 dried sufficiently inside of two or three weeks 

 by exposing to wind and sunshine if taken in- 

 doors every night and during rainy weather. 

 So treated it is soon fit to answer as fuel for 

 the smoker, and there will be no ink dropping. 



