214 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



vived was mostly sugar-fed colonies. 

 They were clean, sweet, dry and 

 healthy, while colonies with natnral 

 stores by their side were dead and 

 fairly rotten with dysentery. I have 

 yet to have a colony with sugar stores 

 die of dysentery. 

 How shall we " spring " our bees ? 

 " Spring management of bees," was 

 the -next question. W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son : If they are wintered in perfect 

 health, Lhey will " spring " themselves. 

 President Van Patten : That is it. 

 Put down Ills answer, Mr. Secretary, 

 we do not need any more discussions 

 on this question. 



Question : " When to remove bees 

 from winter quarters V" W. Z. Hutch- 

 inson : I would not remove them un- 

 til willows and soft maples were in 

 bloom. Last spring I removed the 

 bees the middle of April. They seemed 

 to prosper, and soon had brood in 3 

 or 4 combs. The fore part of May the 

 thermometer showed the mercury at 

 32°, and this temperature lasted a day 

 or two. The bees formed themselves 

 into a compact cluster in the centre of 

 the hive, and large quantities of brood 

 perislied. Not only this, but the ex- 

 treme cold for the season seemed to 

 be, to the old bees, like "the last straw 

 that broke the camel's back," large 

 quantities of them dropping down 

 dead ; and small colonies soon dwind- 

 led away to nothing. Now, wovild it 

 not have been better if these colonies 

 had not been removed until after the 

 cold weatlier had passed ? When at 

 the convention at Lapeer, Byron 

 Walker mentioned leaving a colony 

 shut up accidentally until the season 

 was well advanced, but it seemed to 

 be none the worse for its confinement, 

 and gave as good results as those that 

 had enjoyed their liberty from the 

 first. 



On "Shade for Hives." W. Z. 

 Hutchinson said : I use a shade board 

 2x3 feet, made by nailing the butts of 

 shingles to a strip of inch board 4 

 inches wide and 2 feet long. One 

 edge of the board is placed even with 

 the north side of the hive ; the board 

 thus projects east, south and west 

 from the hive, and shades it in the 

 middle of the day, but not at night 

 and morning. The board is kept in 

 place by a stone. 



Mrs. Coffeen : Why not place the 

 hives under apple trees ? 



W. Z. Hutctiinson : K there were 

 only a few colonies, and the limbs 

 were not so low as to strike over head, 

 it might answer ; but with a large 

 apiary, the hiyes would be too much 



M. D. York: I like to have the 

 hives so arranged that I can work at 

 the rear. 



Comb foundation received consider- 

 able discussion, but nothing new was 

 elicited. 



Adjourned to meet in Vassar the 

 second Wednesday in January, 1885. 



Rogersville, Mich. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Automatic Honey Extractor. 



G. W. STANLEY & BllO. 



I would like to describe my honey 

 extractor, which not only takes the 

 honey from four combs at once, but 

 also reverses or changes sides with 

 the combs, after oue side has been ex- 

 tracted entirely, by reversing the 

 motion of the crank. The comb bas- 

 kets, or pockets to hold the combs, are 

 made of wire cloth, large enough to 

 contain the size of the comb used, 

 with sufiicient space inside so that the 

 combs may be conveniently placed in 

 the comb baskets, without injury to 

 the comb. 



As the machine stands at rest, the 

 comb Ijaskets hanging from the out- 

 side of the reel, point directly toward 

 the centre. The top of the reel is 

 made by an iron cross, attached to a 

 hoop that will just revolve inside the 

 can. Midway between where the 



^" The Union Kentucky Bee- 

 Keepers' Association will hold its 

 spring meeting at Eminence, Ky., on 

 April 24, 1884. 



G. W. Demaree, Sec. 



arms of the cross are attached to the 

 hoop, are fastened four small metal 

 hooks, to support the four comb bas- 

 kets. The bottom of the reel is made 

 with a cross, like the top, with the 

 exception of having a cross-piece at 

 the end of each arm. Two holes are 

 drilled through these cross-pieces near 

 the ends, 3 inches apart, and through 

 these holes are passed the two rods of 

 an arch, which rises 3 inches above 

 the cross-piece ; the arch is fastened in 

 the cross-piece by a nut above and be- 

 low the cross-piece. A vertical rod 

 passes through the two crosses at the 

 centre. The pinion to connect with 

 the cog gear wheel at the top is placed 

 near the top of the rod with the end 

 of the rod running through the pinion 

 and into a bearing in the casting that 

 forms one of the bearings for the 

 crank shaft. The bottom of the ver- 

 tical rod rests on a cross bearing at 

 the bottom of ttie Can. The lower 

 cross is fastened to the vertical shaft, 

 by means of a set screw ; after which 

 the upper cross is turned, so that the 

 hooks come directly above the centre 

 of the arches at the bottom of the 

 reel ; the top cross is now secured to 

 the vertical shaft by another set screw. 



To make everything secure, and also 

 to form the sides of the reel for the 

 comb baskets to swing against, we 

 provide as follows: Take a strong 

 galvanized rod and fasten one end to 

 the hook at the top of the corner of 

 No. 1. and the other end to the bottom 

 of corner No. 2 ; now take another rod 

 and run from the top of corner No. 2 

 to the bottom of corner No. 1 ; fasten 

 securely at the ends, and at the centre 

 where the two rods cross. When all 

 sides are provided for in this way, the 

 reel is complete. 



The comb baskets are made to slip 

 on to the hook at the top, and at the 

 bottom they have a double crotch that 

 fits the arch at the lower corner. 



As the extractor stands at rest, the 

 comb baskets all point toward the 

 centre, and the crotches rest squarely 

 against the rods of the arch at the 

 bottom corner. 



As tlie reel begins to turn, the comb 

 baskets are all thrown off the vertical 

 centre, and all pass around in one di- 

 rection, resting on one rod of the arch, 

 and take their place against the sides 

 of the reel. 



As the comb baskets pass around to 

 the sides of the reel, the edge that 

 hung next to the centre will be carried 

 upward about one inch ; hence, as 

 soon as the motion stops, the weight 

 of the combs and baskets carried them 

 back again, pointing toward the cen- 

 tre. By reversing the motion the 

 comb baskets are carried around in 

 the opposite direction, and the honey 

 is thrown from the other side of the 

 combs. By applying the " brake " to 

 the pulley near the upper end of the 

 i«d, the motion is again stopped, and 

 the combs again swing back, pouiting 

 toward the centre, and the combs are 

 removed. 



In order to make the action of the 

 comb baskets more rapid, we attach 

 one end of a small coil spring to the 

 bottom of the comb basket, and the 

 other end to ttie rod of the arch on 

 the same side. This holds the bottoms 

 of the comb baskets in place, and aids 

 in bringing them back to the centre 

 more quickly, so that they will be 

 ready to remove as soon as the motion 

 stops. The extractor will work well 

 without the springs, but time will be 

 saved by using them. 

 Wyoming, N. Y. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Jefferson County, Neb., Convention. 



The Jefferson County Bee- Keepers' 

 Association met at Endicott, Neb., 

 on Saturday, ]SIarch 15. 



The President being absent, Mr. 

 Hincle was chosen President pro teni, 

 after which the constitution and by- 

 laws were read and new members were 

 enrolled. 



The first business was listening to a 

 report from members on the present 

 condition of bees, and the methods of 

 wintering. 



Mr. Atkinson uses Langstroth hives 

 and wintered in the cellar. He re- 

 ported all in fine condition. 



Mr. Wing wintered on summer 

 stands ; confined his bees to 5 frames ; 

 used the Langstroth hives, division- 



