1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



487 



better solution. While we are about it, it 

 might be well to raise the question whether 

 or not a dry season does darken extracted 

 honey of some kinds. —Ed.] 



BRAKE FOR AN EXTRACTOR, FOR FIVE CENTS. 



Take a piece of Jinch manila rope, six 

 feet long. Tie one end to the arm of the 

 extractor under the shaft; then wrap it four 

 times around the shaft, winding from you or 

 the same way you would turn in extracting. 

 Bring the loose end down outside the ex- 



tractor, and let it hang. In turning the ma- 

 chine hold the rope loosely with the left 

 hand; when ready to stop, pull gently on 

 the rope and see it stop — no jar, no jerk, no 

 arm-twisting work. This is worth $10.00 to 

 any one with 100 colonies of bees in extract- 

 ing. It can be worked by the foot by put- 

 ting a board to the lower end. 

 Normanna, Tex., Jan. 4. C. A. Butts. 



[We have given the above device a thor- 

 ough test, and will say that the stopping is 

 indeed accomplished without straining the 

 arm, and without jerking or slamming the 

 baskets. But it is quite important that at 

 least half-inch rope be used, for the twist- 

 ing strain is enormous, and any smaller size 

 will be pulled apart like so much thread. 



Of course, the shaft must always be turn- 

 ing in the direction in which the rope is 

 wound, and even then it may be advisable 

 to add a little resin or other gummy sub- 

 stance, to make the necessary amount of 

 friction. Although this brake works nicely, 

 it is somewhat a question in our mind wheth- 

 er it should be used. When the weight is 

 on the treadle, and the rope begins to bind, 

 there is a tendency to pull the shaft down 

 toward the cross-bar. When the reel is 



stopped quickly in this way, the shaft gives 

 almost ]V inch; and, although there will be 

 no danger of bending, yet the wear on the 

 bearings and gears will be increased con- 

 siderably.— Ed.] ' 



CANDIED HONEY AS EMERGENCY RATION FOR 

 SOLDIERS. 



Not long ago I went to the table tired, 

 and did not seem to relish any food; and 

 knowing I needed more energy to finish my 

 day's work I consumed some nice candied 

 honey, which, every bee-keeper knows, sup- 

 plied the necessary energy. And as the 

 honey was filling me with energy and satis- 

 faction,! thought of the emergency ration fur- 

 nished our American soldiers, and wondered 

 if candied honey were not of a higher value 

 than the ration now furnished. The present 

 ration is composed of chocolate and cane 

 sugar; or plain chocolate candy put up in a 

 sealed package and carried in the haversack 

 for any emergency. 



Now, you bee-keepers who have honey to 

 sell can consume some of it and use the en- 

 ergy in deciding whether it will be profitable 

 to interest the government. If not, I know 

 it would be profitable to educate the ever 

 hustling American people as to the value of 

 honey as a food, and that, if bee-keepers 

 would use lots of printers' ink, they would 

 never need to worry as to the sale of honey, 

 or figure from the (then) market quotation 

 whether it is profitable to sell. 



R. L. Pennell. 



Greeley, Col., March 26. 



[Honey is a pre-digested sweet; and if 

 chocolates or cane-sugar preparations are a 

 strong food, as undoubtedly they are, honey 

 should be equally good for the purpose, and 

 yet be much more readily assimilated. We 

 may yet hope that, in the Elysian days, civ- 

 ilization will have advanced far enough to 

 know and recognize the greater digestibility 

 of honey as compared with other sugars.— 

 Ed.] 



a hive-cover that will not blow off. 



I have sent you two drawings illustrating 



what seems to me to be an ideal covpr. You 



will readily see its good qualities. The bev- 



Cross Section 



eled edge underneath permits of its being 

 "wedged on" the hive-body, so to speak, 

 making it firm, and secure from blowing otf 

 in a wind-storm. Harry W. Craven. 

 Evanston, 111., Feb. 21. 



[Your form of cover would be very objec- 

 tionable, in my opinion, in that, in damp 

 weather, it would be wedged on the top of 

 the hive so tightly it would have to be 

 knocked off with a blow. Almost any tel- 



