528 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



ing has reference. "Shook swarming," as 

 it is generally called, briefly described, is 

 this: Just a few days before a colony is 

 about to cast a swarm, or is seen to show 

 indications of such desire, the old hive, with 

 the super, is moved to one side a few feet, 

 entrance pointmg in the same direction, and 

 a new hive with frames of starters is put on 

 the old stand. Three-fourths of the bees in 

 the old hive are shaken or brushed off the 

 combs in front of the new hive now on the 

 old location. Last of all, the super on the 

 old hive is put on the new one. In two or 

 three weeks more, when the brood is all 

 hatched in the old hive, the combs may be 

 given another shake, giving the swarm the 

 rest of the bees it would have had provided 

 it could have been induced to remain con- 

 tentedly in the old hive. The queen, virgin 

 or laying, in the old hive should be removed 

 before the second shake. 



This method of swarming makes it possi- 

 ble for the apiarist to force the probably 

 inevitable swarming to a time when he can 

 take care of the bees. If the colony was 

 left to itself the swarming probably would 

 take place when he was away or when it 

 would not be convenient. 



SLIP-GEAR HONEY-EXTRACTORS. 



Bicycles having a clutch by which the 

 propelling crank can be instantly and easily 

 thrown out of gear, leaving the cranks at 

 rest while the machine is in motion, have 

 come to be quite common. After riding one 

 of these machines it occurred to me that the 

 same principle might be applied to the pro- 

 pelling crank of an ordinary honey-extract- 

 or. An experimental machine or two were 

 made, and so constructed that the large 

 gear-wheel could be instantly thrown out of 

 mesh with the small pinion on top of the 

 perpendicular shaft. This permitted of get- 

 ting the extractor up to a high rate of 

 speed, loaded with combs, when, by the 

 touch of a button, the horizontal shaft and 

 crank with its large gear-wheel would be 

 instantly thrown out, allowing the reel to 

 revolve noiselessly, and without the grind- 

 ing dragging friction of the unequally bal- 

 anced crank-shaft and gear-wheel. The re- 

 sult was that the baskets would revolve 

 much longer, permitting the acquired mo- 

 mentum to throw out some of the still cling- 

 ing residue of honey, just at the moment 

 when the application of power was released. 



About this time one of our subscribers ac- 

 complished the same result by knocking out 

 a few teeth from the large gear-wheel. I 

 do not recall his name now. At any rate, 

 he wrote us, explaining his ideas. At first 

 thought it seemed impossible that any thing 

 like this could work; but, to our surprise, it 

 did work. But it is easy to see that, in the 

 hands of the average person, the gears 

 might ride on top of each other, resulting in 

 a breakdown. 



About this time, also, we heard that Mr. 

 James Heddon was making use of a slip 

 gear and an improvised brake. The Hed- 



don-Cowan extractor is shown in the Bee- 

 keepers' Review for April 15. The principle 

 of the Heddon slip gear is practically the 

 same as ours, and, as nearly as we can dis- 

 cover from the picture and illustration, far 

 better than the knocked-out-teeth principle. 



The Heddon principle, as well as the one 

 we use ourselves, allows the horizontal shaft 

 with its large gear-wheel to be drawn away 

 from the pinion on the perpendicular shaft 

 just far enough to let the gears out of mesh. 

 We used a metal fork, the same as Mr. 

 Heddon, the same straddling over the shaft 

 between the center bearing and the large 

 gear-wheel hub. In order to get sufficient 

 room for this, this hub was cut off, in our 

 case, about \ inch so as to allow a fork (i 

 inch thick) to slip in between the bearing 

 and the hub of ihe wheel. When the fork 

 was pushed into place the gearing would be 

 in mesh. Pressure on a lever would lift the 

 fork up, when a spiral spring would auto- 

 matically crowd the horizontal shaft end- 

 wise just far enough to throw the gears out 

 of connection. 



The same principle can be applied to ex- 

 tractors already in use, or almost any of the 

 Cowan and Novice construction. All that is 

 necessary is to take off the large gear- 

 wheel on the end of the horizontal shaft; 

 cut or grind off one-fourth of the hub. Get 

 your blacksmith to make a fork that will 

 straddle the shaft in the space between the 

 upright bar and the space now made vacant 

 by reason of the hub having been cut away. 



If there were any demand for slip gearing 

 the Root Co. could, no doubt, make the nec- 

 essary arrangements to put this feature on 

 the market as an option for those desiring it. 



the a. I. ROOT CO. IN THE BEE-BUSINESS. 



Sometimes when I attend conventions 

 bee-keepers ask me how many colonies we 

 have. I tell them, much to their surprise, 

 that I do not know. A three or four frame 

 nucleus I would hardly count as a colony. 

 If I told how many hives we had with bees 

 in, that would still be an unfair comparison 

 when contrasted with the number of colo- 

 nies owned by a honey-producer who runs 

 for honey only. We have several queen- 

 rearing yards and several honey-yards, the 

 total number aggregating eleven in all. 

 Two of these apiaries are in Cuba, two in 

 New Jersey, one in Pennsylvania, one near 

 New York, and five within five or ten miles 

 of Medina; and the total number of colonies, 

 or, rather, hives with bees in, not including 

 baby nuclei, for they do not count, is approx- 

 imately 900. 



On page 535 of this issue we give a view 

 of one of our New Jersey apiaries located at 

 Salem, from which we supply bees and 

 queens for part of our Eastern trade. The 

 high board fence makes an ideal windbreak. 

 Then there is a tool or smoker box right 

 close to the gate, the convenience of which 

 can readily be appreciated. 



We have another yard at Jenkintown, Pa. , 

 and still another at Mattawan, N. J., and 



