296 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



I might explain tliat tiie gasoline-engines 

 are controlled in speed by what is known as 

 the " spark- lead," a device to cause an ex- 

 plosion of the gasoline mixture in the en- 

 gine at varying points of efficiency. An- 

 other means of control is to vary the 

 strength of the mixture by throttling the 

 amount of air that is admitted with the va- 

 por. But in very small engines like this, 

 air control is not practicable, and regulation 

 must necessarily be secured entirely by the 

 spark-lead before mentioned. Well, this 

 spark-lead Huber has completely under the 

 control of the foot of the operator. Attach- 

 ed to the brake-lever is an idler pulley that 

 increases or decreases the tension of the 

 belt. The pressure on the spark-lead lever 

 causes the engine to go faster, and the min- 

 ute the pressure is released the engine slows 

 down. A pull on the brake-lever stops the 

 extractor and releases the tension of the 

 driving-belt so that the engine continues to 

 run very slowly, leaving the comb-pockets 

 at rest. They are loaded up with combs, 

 eight in all, as shown in the illustration. A 

 pressure on the spark-lead lever causes the 

 engine to speed up; the other lever increases 

 the tension of the belt, causing the reel to 

 revolve at a high rate of speed. 



Let me tell you that the speed of a power 

 extractor is away beyond what one can se- 

 cure by ordinary hand turning, with even a 

 four-frame machine. The fact is, if the 

 combs will stand it the centrifugal force 

 may be run up to a point where the combs 

 are extracted much drier than they possibly 

 could be by hand turning. This is how Mr. 

 J. F. Mclntyre effects an important saving 

 in honey, for bees are inclined to gorge and 

 waste honey when the combs are returned 

 too wet with honey. 



Perhaps some gasoline-engine man will 

 say that an air-cooled engine like this would 

 not remain cool when stationary and in a 

 room. Huber has overcome this perfectly 

 by directing the exhaust on its own cylinder- 

 head as shown, causing a rapid circulation 

 of air around the cooling flanges of the 

 engine. So perfectly does this simple de- 

 vice do its work that he Jias operated the 

 outfit for hours at a time without overheat- 

 ing. 



As to the cost of operation, it takes when 

 under full service about one pint of gasoline 

 an hour. 



Mr. H. J. Mercer, one of the most ex- 

 tensive extracted-honey producers in Cali- 

 fornia, saw the outfit when at our place, 

 and pronounced it perfect so far as he 

 could see. 



In large apiaries, where considerable ex- 

 tracted honey is produced, and especially 

 where labor is expensive, these little power 

 outfits ought to pay for themselves in one 

 season, and ought to be good for ten and 

 possibly twenty years of service, depending 

 on whether the user followed the directions 

 sent with the outfit, for no machine will run 

 very long without an occasional adjustment 

 and without oil at the right time and right 

 place. 



HOW OLD ARE WORKER BEES WHEN THEY 

 FIRST GO OUT IN SEARCH OF FOOD? 



Can Young Bees do all the Work of Feeding 

 Larvae ? 



BY F. GREINER. 



It has been repeatedly proven that work- 

 er bees become field workers, under normal 

 conditions, when about 18 days old. But 

 when man interferes and disarranges mat- 

 ters in the hive, bees may and do go out 

 when five days old. No feeding need be 

 done to start them, either. You may re- 

 member one of my experiments, made a 

 number of years ago, when I made up a 

 small colony from brood-combs full of ma- 

 tured and nearly matured bees, with not 

 one hatched bee in the hive— this, of course, 

 during the honey-flow. From this colony 

 bees came out of their hive on the fifth day 

 in the afternoon. They had a flight, a play- 

 spell, and then went to work at once bring- 

 ing in pollen and honey like any other col- 

 ony. They continued to do so. One of the 

 combs contained just a little young un- 

 sealed brood and a few eggs, perhaps not 

 more than fi Tty cells in all. These were giv- 

 en on purp )se. The fact that this brood 

 was not nei:,lected, at least did not perish, I 

 take as conclusive proof that young bees 

 just hatched are not so very helpless "crit- 

 ters " after all. When such larvae are neg- 

 lected for but a short time they show the 

 effect very quickly, as every bee-man well 

 knows. I have not observed closely enough 

 to know for how long time a larva might 

 stand such neglect. It might be well for us 

 to look into this matter before we advise the 

 making-up of new colonies from the brood- 

 combs of shaken hives without some bees. 

 It will seem to me it would be placing an 

 herculean task upon the shoulders of the 

 young bees as they are hatching, when we 

 expect them to administer to the wants of 

 that large number of hungry larvee con- 

 tained in an average set of brood-combs. 

 They can not possibly be equal to the 

 emergency, although I have not made the 

 experiment. I never had the courage to 

 make it, and never expect to. It is too 

 risky. 



The combs of brood which I used for my 

 experiment contained brood which was more 

 than three days of hatching— some were 

 emerging at the time. To obtain this brood, 

 several queens had been taxed. Nice clean 

 combs had been inserted in different hives at 

 one and the same time, had been kept there 

 for three days, when they were removed 

 and placed in an upper story on some good 

 populous colony with queen-excluding sheet 

 of metal beneath. There was no question 

 as to the age of the brood, and it all hatched. 

 Ordinary brood-combs, picked up at random, 

 even if all brood was sealed, would contain 

 a good deal of it only just sealed, and a day 

 or so after being sealed. I fear such brood 

 would suffer if not covered with bees enough 

 to maintain the temperature. It would be 



