1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



12.-)1 



AN AUTOMATIC COVER FOR COMB-CARRYING 

 BOXES ON WHEELBARROWS. 



I herewith sulnuit a drawing showing my 

 automatic covel' attached to a Daisy wheel- 

 barrow for the purpose of covering carrying- 

 boxes when extracting. It is so constructed 

 as to enal)le the operator to use both hands 

 in handling the combs, without the least de- 

 lay, by placing his foot on the treadle which 

 plays "between the handle of the wheelbar- 

 row or on either side as desired. In transit 

 it is hooked up to either handle of the wheel- 

 barrow. When the foot is placed on the 

 treadle, the cover of the box is raised by 

 means of the small cord passing over the 

 pulleys to the lever C. A coiled-wire spring 

 on the hinge-shaft returns the cover quickly 

 to its place. 



On the under side of the cover is a strip of 

 felt that extends around and serves to keep 

 the scent of honey from outside bees, as well 

 as to take off tlie jar caused by the cover 

 coming in contact with the edge of the car- 

 rying-box. In the center is a 1^-inch hole 

 over which are two small wire-screen fun- 



' !Kn; 





nel-shaped tubes, one J inch larger than the 

 (jther. with small holes at the top, and over 

 these is placed a wire-screen cage 4X6 in., 

 for the purpose of holding all the bees that 

 might get into the carrying-boxes during 

 working hours, after which time the cage 

 may l)e opened and the rol^ber bees allowed 

 to return to their hives. I have made a 

 numljer of tests with this device, and lind 

 that it saves about half the time that it re- 

 quired in using a canvas or sack. 



By a conservative estimate with a full crew 

 that takes the honey from seventy to eighty 

 colonies in a day, this automatic lifting- 

 device, when attai'hed to the wheelbarrow, 

 will save from two to five hours a day, say- 



ing nothing about the annoyance of robber 

 bees on windy days when the common cov- 

 ers now in use are often blown off, and time 

 lost in putting them on again; further, it can 

 be detached or attached in a very few min- 

 utes to the Daisy, thereby giving the use of 

 the barrow for any other kind of work. 



William Lossing. 

 Phoenix, Ariz., March 16, 1906. 



[Our readers will, perhaps, remember that 

 the editor visited Mr. Lossing, and showed 

 one of his apiaries, some five or six years 

 ago. He is one of the extensive honey-pro- 

 ducers of Arizona, and therefore a man who 

 speaks from experience. The device he de- 

 scribes I am sure is a good one, especially 

 as it leaves both hands free to put combs in 

 the box, where they can be shut in free from 

 robbers. — Ed.] 



ORANGE-BLOSSOM HONEY. 



As you recently asked for information 

 about orange-bloom I will report our experi- 

 ence for this year. As usual there was an 

 abundance of bloom for about a month; but 

 the weather was too cool except five days of 

 very warm weather, April 18 to 22, about 90 

 degrees instead of 70 as usual. 



The result of this hot spell gave me the 

 best I'ecortl I have ever made from orange- 

 bloom; viz., April 18, 14 lbs.; 19, 11 ll)s.; 20, 

 16 lbs.; 21, 12 lbs.; 22, 8 lbs.; total, 61 lbs. in 

 five days. On April 20 I could shake honey 

 (or very thick nectar) from the blossoms. I 

 notice on page 200 A. I. 

 Koot tells of a location 

 having 200 acres of or- 

 ange-trees within three 

 miles. Tell him one of 

 my apiaries which fur- 

 nisheti the above record 

 has more than ten times 

 200 acres of bearing or- 

 ange-trees within three 

 miles. Frank McNay. 

 Redlands, Cal. 



[It seems from the 

 above that orange- bloom, 

 like most other honey- 

 plants, must have every 

 thing just right to favor 

 an abundant How of nec- 

 tar. I gather from it, 

 also, that there are a great many seasons 

 when bees get little or nothing frorn orange- 

 trees; and it is only oc(vasionally that there 

 is an abundant fiow. I am sorry the writer 

 did not tell us how many colonies he had in 

 his apiary at this time; and did this one 

 colony mentioned do more than any of the 

 rest?— A. I. R.] 



UNFINISHED SECTIONS; HOW TO GFT THEM 

 CLEANED OUT. 



I see on page 1180 Rev. W. L. Palfornon 

 goes to a lot of trouble to have his unfinish- 

 ed sections cleaned out. Put on an empty 

 super, turn in one corner of the quilt, set in 

 the unfinished sections, put on the cover, 



