322 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



July 



ANOTHER AID FOR HONEY-EXTRACT- 

 ING. 



IN Dadaiit's excellent little pamphlet on 

 harvestinji;, handling, and marketing ex- 

 — ' tracted honey, he gives an engraving 

 and description of an uncapping can, which 

 ■\ve think must be a very handy implement. 

 Eriend D. has kindly loaned us the cut, and 

 Ave present the machine to our readers. 



dadaxt's c ax roil uxcappixg the combs, 



AVIIILE EXTRACTIXO. 



The engraving makes every thing so plain, 

 a description is hardly needed. The strips 

 across the top are to rest the combs on while 

 the operator shaves the caps from the cells ; 

 and as the caps are caught on the wire cloth 

 half way down, every bit of the honey has 

 ample time to drop to the bottom. This 

 honey that comes from the cappings you 

 will lind the thickest and nicest of your 

 whole crop. To keep the wire cloth from 

 sagging under so great a weight, we use the 

 same inverted cone that is used for holding 

 the bottom pivot of the extractor, Avhen an 

 extra amount of room is needed below the 

 revolving frame. The machine is really 

 composed mainly of two short extractor 

 cans, and we can "furnish them of two sizes ; 

 viz., ]7 and 20 inches. The prices Avill be 

 So.OO and .^6.00 each respectively. Friend D. 

 states that the large size Avill hold the cap- 

 pings of three days' extracting. After they 

 are drained, a jet of steam on them makes it 

 into our neAv steam wax-extractor complete. 

 "Did you ever y" 



• — ^^« 



CliARK'S COLiV-BIiAST SHIOKER. 



OLIJ THINGS SOMETIMES BETTER THAN NEW ONES. 



BID it ever occur to you that I am some- 

 ' times a tritle awkward and headstrong 

 withal? Well, it has often occurred 

 so to me, and especially about this Clark's 

 smoker. If you Avill turn back to the JSlarch 

 Gleanings of 1879, you will find an engra- 

 ving of the original Clark smoker, and the 

 following sentence in friend Clark's letter 

 by way of explanation:— 



It works beautifully; the draft of air across the top of the fuel 

 causes it to bum clear :incl t^lnwly. ami leaves very little cruci- 

 sote. I tiutl that rnirs hum. but perhaiis oue-tourth as fast as 

 where the air is lorceil up throufch the bi'ttnui. Its conveuicnce 

 as a •• brcech-Uiailcr " is ar. item in its favor, also that it re- 

 tains its position while jn use. The Simplicitj' always seemed 

 t(i nie a little awkward, ( m accotutt of being obliged to turn it 

 bottom up so often, while in use. 



You will see from this that he never in- 

 tended the smoker to stand on end like the 

 others, but to be placed as in the cut bsloAv 

 AA'hen not in use. The draft then is through 

 the nozzle, and the smoke comes out through 

 the crevices where the door to put in fuel is 

 made. Well, it took me nearly two years to 

 get this into my head, and to understand 

 that my improved Clark smoker Avas not as 

 good as the unimproA^ed original. During 

 the last tAvo months I have been experiment- 

 ing, and testing smokers of all kinds, right 

 among the bees, to such an extent that some 

 of the boys say I have smokers on the brain ; 

 and my A\'ife says I smell of smoke so that 

 she can hardly sit Avithin a yard of me. (It's 

 only rotten- Avood smoke, dear friends.) 



OUR FIFTY-CENT SMOKER. 



Just take it in your hand, nozzle doAvn- 

 Avard, and push the door open Avith a piece 

 of fuel. Fill up the cone with any kind of 

 wood you can get hold of,— hard- wood 

 blocks, or Avet and soggy sticks, only so you 

 put a little dry AA^ood and shavings on top, to 

 start the fire. "W^hen full, close the door 

 nearly shut, and scratch a match on the 

 piece of sandpaper right near the door. 

 NoAV. Avhile you lay the match right across 

 the shavings, Avork the bellows, and the 

 blaze Avill go right down and light them. 

 BlOAV them into a good blaze, and open your 

 hives and go on. If you Avant to see Avhat 

 the smoker Avill do. work the bellows Avhile 

 you hold it with the vah'es upAvard, and in a 

 very little time you aa^II find the fire-pot red 

 hot, and the volume of smoke enough to 

 drive a whole family out of doors, let alone 

 a single hive of bees. Although both fire- 

 pot and bellows are larger than any thing I 

 have ever seen in the market, Ave sell the 

 whole for only .^Oc and 40c Avhere you take a 

 crate of five. If a four-quart tin pail sells 

 for a dime, Avhy should not a one-quart smo- 

 ker sell for half a dollar? Are the modern 

 low prices to things never to apply to bee 

 implements at all? We do not fill the above 

 smokers with rotten vA^ood, because they 

 burn any kind, and therefore the postage is 

 only 20c, instead of 2-5. 



p. S.— I really don't know any way to make these smokers 

 ' ' go out. ' ' unless you ' • duck theni under water, ' ' and then 

 yoti would have to get some di-y shavings to start it again. H. 

 J lut one In his buggy, and it got red hot, and burned up his nxb- 

 bercoat. Jlay be it was because " I'atsy " went so fast. Oh, 

 vesl 1 have made another great invention. It is a iKck basket 

 full of rotten elm wood. AVe sell the peck of wood for 10c, 

 " tling in " the basket, and "four double-handfuls " of fine 

 dry shavings besides. 



