1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



813 



and hone3'-knives are at the right hand of 

 the uncapping-box. Take the knife in the 

 right hand; hold the comb in the left. Aft- 

 er uncapping, step to the left and place the 

 comb in the extractor. Take hold of and 

 turn the crank with the left hand. Keep 

 the right hand free to turn the baskets and 

 handle empty combs with, the honey empty- 

 ing out of the gate next to the uncapping- 

 box. Now, in order to do that I had to re- 

 verse the frame that holds the gear; and by 

 doing that it puts the brake-handle on the 

 opposite side of the shaft from the operator. 

 Now, the " fixin' " necessary was not 

 much, but it caused me a twenty-mile drive 

 to get a drill and tap to make the right hole 

 to fit that screw. The next machine you 

 make, put two holes in the hub of that 

 brake so that it can be reversed and used 

 either right handed or left. No, don't sit 

 down yet — one thing more. The next ma- 

 chine you make, put a strap of good firm 

 leather on for a brake instead of that spring 

 steel, for the steel lasts only a short time; 

 and, besides, it cuts the pulley that it rubs 

 on. The leather is better in every respect. 

 You may take your seat now; and if you 

 will be good I may never call you up again. 

 Norwalk, Cal. J. W. George, 



[The publishers of this journal are always 

 glad to receive friendly criticisms from 

 friendly critics, both on the contents of this 

 journal and on the supplies they make for 

 bee-keepers. We are sure Mr. Bingham 

 will not object to those relative to his smok- 

 er, although from a mechanical point of 

 view he may see a better way to remedy the 

 trouble. 



We thank you sincerely for the sugges- 

 tions regarding the Cowan extractor. We 

 had already anticipated some of them, and 

 the 1905 machines will have a different form 

 of brake entirely; but as to making it (the 

 brake) reversible, we had not thought of 

 that, but will take the matter under care- 

 ful consideration. 



I often see where improvements can be 

 made in certain automobiles that I have had 

 the pleasure of running. Sometimes I have 



written to the manufacturers, suggesting, in 

 a friendly way. how in my opinion certain 

 ditliculties might be avoided. As a gener- 

 al rule I do not get a word of response or 

 thanks; and as long as they "know it all," 

 their machine will go on with the same old 

 defects. The result will be that a competi- 

 tor who is more progressive will take the 

 trade away, and he should. I firmly be- 

 lieve that a manufacturer or builder should 

 listen to all complaints or suggestions re- 

 garding the stuff he makes; and if he will 

 not listen, the user or consumer should not 

 be censured if he goes to the "other fellow" 

 to get what he wants. But it very often 

 happens that a suggested change is not an 

 improvement at all; but all persons making 

 such suggestions should receive a courteous 

 answer and explanation why their ideas, 

 if adopted, would be a retrograde step. — 

 Ed.] 



TOO MUCH SWARMING, AND LITTLE HONEY. 



Can you tell me the reason our bees 

 swarm so much? We let each colony swarm 

 once, and then we put on top boxes, and 

 the bees started to work in them, and work- 

 ed in them one day, and then stopped, and 

 have swarmed twice since, and do not seem 

 to work as they ought to. 



Holmes H. Tingley. 



Lowell, N. B., Can. 



[A little honey- flow is quite apt to result 

 in more swarming than a heavy one. Con- 

 ditions some seasons are just right to cause 

 bees to do what they did in the case above. 

 The fact that you have had excessive swarm- 

 ing, and the further fact that the bees did 

 not seem to work as they ought to, would 

 seem to indicate a light honey- flow; but 

 usually after a swarm has been hived it 

 will stay contented and go to work in the 

 supers But in your case it would have 

 been better, perhaps, to have put a frame 

 of unsealed brood in the brood-nest, as this 

 would have a tendency to hold the bees bet- 

 ter. — Ed] 



