1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



487 



FRIEND HUNT'S ADAMS' HORSE-PO^V- 

 ER. 



(SEE MENTIOX OF IT ON PAGE 405.1 



f RECEIVED your postal, asking- for a description 

 of my Adams' horse-power. Now, had you ask- 

 — ' cd me for a description of the new minister, or 

 of my wife's last new bonnet, I think I could give it 

 you ; but that horse-power is a " sticker." Any per- 

 son wishing to make one had better get a cut of it. 

 It would help more than any thing I can write. 

 However, I will give the few changes I have made in 

 it— I think for the better. 



Instead of a rope, I use a chain made of 'i-inch 

 iron. I also place my pulleys, that give the chain a 

 half-turn, side by side instead of one above the oth- 

 er, as I could not make them work that way. The 

 rim is worked out 6 inches wide; that is, the upper 

 and lower pieces; the center -piece is i'i in. wide, 

 which you see leaves a groove for chain !'/» in. deep. 

 The upper and lower pieces are, or should be, l\i in. 

 thick, and centei -piece \. The rim should be bolt- 



it may stand out doors all the time, your 

 saws and machinery being securely housed, 

 of course. 



SUCCESS NOT ALWAYS IN THE NUITIBER 

 OF COLONIES, ETC. 



^lOME articles in Gleanings from my frieud 

 ^> Mellen, of Amboy {an the Inlet), are noticeable 

 ' on account of the manner they portray the 

 inherent modesty of the man. If friend Mellen 

 should tell the readers of Gleanings just what he 

 has done with bees in the last twenty years, un- 

 doubtedly nine out of every ten would class him 

 with the author of " Blessed Bees." Keeping, as he 

 does, only a few colonies, 25 or 30, he entirely throws 

 some of us would-be large producers into the shade. 

 With my 100 colonies this year, and 150 last, I would 

 dislike to show receipts with him, for I am confident 

 he could show more dollars Ironi 23 or 23 colonies 

 than I with uiy 100 or 150. Perhaps, friend Root, you 

 could persuade him to give us a partial review of 



THE ADAMS HORSE-POWEK APPLIED TO BEE-HIVE MAKING. 



ed and naiied very securely. On the end of the guys 

 that support the rim, put about a foot of chain, so as 

 to raise or lower to suit. Make the wheel not less 

 than 15 ft. in diameter; and even this size is hard on 

 a horse where you have much to do. The post for 

 center is a piece of 4 x 4 scantling, with stubs from 

 an old a.xle in each end. The lower one works in an 

 old box of a wheel. It is not much of a .iob to make 

 one; but should any of my bee-keeping friends at- 

 tempt it and get puzzled, let them drop me a postal 

 and I will help them all I can. If this is not a sufH- 

 cient description of it, let me know, antl I will try 

 again. M. H. Hunt. 



Bell Branch, Mich., Aug. 27, 1881. 



With the above we give the original cut 

 which first turned friend Hunt's attention 

 that way. You will observe that the especial 

 feature of it is, that the horse travels inside 

 the wheel, while the belt, or chain rather, 

 goes in a groove in its circumference. To get 

 the horse out, the rim is lifted a little, un- 

 hooked, and he steps out just like letting 

 down a pair of bars. But little power is 

 wasted in friction, because the horse pulls 

 right on the chain, as it were, that runs 

 your buzz-saw. If the wheel is kept painted. 



his career with bees for a number of years back. 



Living only a few mibs from him, I have studied 

 the man some, and his manner of handlmg his bees 

 more; and I have come to the conclusion, that his 

 success can be told in one sentence — keeping his 

 bees strong, and doing every thing that needs to be 

 done, at the right time. 



And now, friend Root, one word about queens, 

 and I will let up. I, with perhaps a thousand others 

 of your readers, have been in the habit of buying 

 quite a number of queens every year from quite a 

 number of different breeders, and have come to the 

 conclusion there is as much difference in different 

 strains of Italians as there is between Italians and 

 blacks. I have one queen now that, if I bad her 

 where I could raise queens from her, and keep thera 

 pure, I think any bee-keeper would be satisfied with 

 them, combining as they do so many good qualities 

 with so few bad ones. 



While I have this good queen and some of her 

 progeny, I have other queens from other breeders 

 that I do not consider any better than blacks; in- 

 deed, not as good as some strains of blacks. 



I have a proposition to make, and then I am done: 

 That all the prominent queen-breeders that lay 

 claim to having superior strains of Italians, each 



