500 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



bees are possible, for larger bees have been. 

 It is not impossible thai the way to get them 

 is tlirough larger cells — perhaps drone-cells. 

 To be sure, a larger shoe will not breed a 

 larger foot; but it is possible that a bee is 



not the same as a foot. A bigger bee may 

 be no gain; and, again, it may be. At any 

 rate, Mr. Calcutt's efforts are interesting, 

 and one cannot but wish him success. 



C. C. Miller. 



A POWER EXTRACTING = OUTFIT AT LAST 



BY ELMER HUTCHINSON 



It is now more than thirty years since I 

 formed a partnership with my late brother, 

 W. Z. Hutchinson, and began keeiDing bees. 

 At that time we had a Novice two-frame 

 honey-extractor. We also had a large foot- 

 power buzz-saw with which we used to cut 

 out the most of our bee-supplies. Sometimes 

 when resting from the arduous task of run- 

 ning it we used to say, " If we only had a 

 small engine to run it, what a lot of hard 

 work it would save us ! " I do not remem- 

 ber whether gasoline-engines were in use 

 then or not, but I think they were; but they 

 were not a very reliable source of power at 

 that time. Certainly no one had yet thought 

 of using one to turn an extractor. 



At that time the production of extracted 

 honey was not the extensive business that it 

 now is, most of the honey produced then 

 being sold in the comb. There were no ball- 

 bearing reversible extractors and honey- 

 pumps, driven by power ; no steam-heated 

 honey-knives, no Porter bee-eseajDes, no 

 queen-excluding honey-boards, and last, but 

 not least, there was no market for extracted 

 honey in large lots at paying prices. 



When my brother and I started keeping 

 bees in the raspberry regions of Northern 

 Michigan we intended to get an eight-frame 

 extractor and a small engine to run it that 

 we could move from one yard to another; 

 and had not his death 

 occurred we would 

 have bought the outfit 

 the following year. 

 After his death 1 

 bought his interest in 

 the bees and fixtures 

 we had here in the 

 North, and that delay- 

 ed my getting a power 

 outfit for two years. 



Last winter we were 

 clearing off a piece of 

 land. There was quite 

 a lot of beech and ma- 

 ple timber on it that 

 would make good fire- 

 wood, which we cut in 

 log lengths and piled . 



upon skids. 1 lie ques- cciUrul part, shop; ri 



tion then arose as to how to get it cut into 

 stove lengths. A neighbor had an old rattle- 

 trap machine for sawing wood, and an old 

 nearly worn-out gasoline-engine. I studied 

 on the question for some time as to whether 

 to get him to saw it or buy an outfit of my 

 own. I finally decided to hire it cut, moved 

 his machinery over, and went at it. When 

 his engine would run, something generally 

 ailed the sawing-machine, and when we 

 would get that fixed, then the engine wouhl 

 balk. It cost me 50 cts. a cord to get that 

 wood blocked off stove length. 



Well, the idea of owning an engine had 

 become fixed in my mind, and, like Banquo's 

 ghost, it would not down. So I began send- 

 ing for engine catalogs. I believe I wrote 

 to every firm in the United States that 

 makes gasoline-engines, and I put in the 

 rest of the winter studying catalogs and 

 talking with agents who had been sent to 

 try and sell me an engine. I wanted one 

 that would run my extractor and honey- 

 pump, buzz-saw in the shop, pump water, 

 cut wood, or do any kind of work I wanted 

 done. I finally decided on a four horse- 

 power four-cycle engine that could be run 

 on kerosene, thus saving half the cost for 

 fuel. The only difference there is between 

 this engine and a regular gasoline-engme 

 is that tliere is a small tank in front on the 



lis plant. Left wing-, honey and extracting room; 

 It wing-, well-house and engine-room. 



