1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



431 



leg^s. Give the screwdriver a twist. This 

 will start one leg of the staple. Slip the 

 screwdriver along to the other side, and 

 give it a twist in the opposite direction. 

 This will start the other leg. Slide the 

 screwdriver back and forth a couple of times, 

 giving it a twist each time when the staple 

 will be removed. 



The crate-staple we use is lyi inches wide, 

 having legs or points -'4 inch long. They 

 can be obtained of any of your supply deal- 

 ers, I think, at 15 cents per lb., or you can 

 get them at the hardware store perhaps. A 

 pound will be enough for a whole outyard 

 of about 100 colonies. These staples, be- 

 sides the convenience they afford in moving 

 bees, are useful in mending splits or bad 

 checks in hives. Indeed, we consider them 

 almost indispensable in any bee-yard. 



GENERAL MANAGER FRANCE AND WHAT HE 

 IS DOING. 



General Manager N. E. France is do- 

 ing some hard work. He has before him now 

 eight cases of bees under consideration. Two 

 of these are for damages; two for poisoning 

 by spraying fruit-trees, and two of honey 

 adulteration. He now has, or did have on 

 May 5th, 1202 names, nearly all of which 

 are paid up. He has distributed 1500 cop- 

 ies of Bees and Horticulture, and has or- 

 dered 1000 more. Mr. France, if we may 

 judge by the work he is doing, will earn 

 his salary and more too. The Association 

 is to be congratulated on having such an 

 excellent man for the position. While he is 

 not saying very much he is keeping still 

 and sawing wood. The membership should 

 stand by him, and help him in ever}'^ way 

 possible. Our recent unpleasantness does 

 not seem to interfere very much with the 

 flourishing condition of the Association. 

 This is as it should be. 



Mr. France has always been known as 

 a hard worker and a successful business 

 man. He is carr3'ing these characteristics 

 right into the Association work, and of 

 course that presages success. 



»y/» .^v^^* rN%» 



TRADE NOTES 



BY E. R. R OOT. 



THE NEW DANZENBAKER BOTTOM-BOARD 



improved. 

 Very recently we have made a slight 

 change in the Danzenbaker bottom-boards 

 which entirely overcomes the only objection 

 that was ever raised against them. It will 

 be remembered that this hive-bottom has a 

 floor that is pivoted at the back so that it 

 can be raised or lowered in front, closing 

 the entrance up entirely or opening it to its 

 full width. The floor-boards as we first 

 made them had the grain of the wood run- 

 ning lengthwise. So made, they would 

 shrink or swell, making them bind in the 



bottom-board frame, in some localities, es- 

 pecially if no allowance were made for the 

 swelling of the boards. We now make the 

 floors with the boards running crosswise, 

 and bind them together with galvanized V- 

 shaped channel irons. The ends of the 

 channels lit into corresponding saw-kerfs 

 cut in the ends of the boards. One long 

 iron on each side holds the boards together, 

 and makes a nice smooth anti-friction edge 

 to slide up and down against the side rails 

 of the bottom-board frame. Thus construct- 

 ed, shrinking and swelling can not in the 

 least affect the movement up and down of 

 the tilting floor-board for the purpose of in- 

 creasing or decreasing the depth of the en- 

 trance, because boards do not swell length- 

 wise. The three boards are tongued and 

 grooved together, so that the cracks will al- 

 ways be bee-tight. 



In the lower left-hand corner will be seen 

 how the floor-board is let into a groove cut 

 in the back cleat of the frame. This groove 

 makes a fulcrum or hinge for the board. 

 On the right of the illustration will be seen 

 a staple driven on the under side of the 

 floor-board. When this is drawn forward 

 slightly, the staple will rest on the end rail, 

 reducing the depth of the entrance just in 

 proportion as the staple sticks above (or be- 

 low, rather) the floor- board. By raising 

 the floor-board, and drawing it forward 

 slightly, the entrance can be contracted 

 down to about X inch deep. When warm 

 weather comes on, and the honey-flow is 

 gone, a slight pressure against the floor- 

 board will cause it to enter into the groove 

 at the rear, and allow the staple at the 

 same time to slip past the rail, giving full 

 Js-inch depth to the entrance. 



how to use or handle a bee-smoker; 

 the right and wrong way. 



Within the last five or six years most of 

 the modern hot-blast smokers have been 

 made in such a way that, while in use, the 

 barrel will stand perpendicularly, leaving 

 the coals of fire or hot embers to lie on the 

 grate while the fumes free from sparks or 

 embers are blown out through a curved or 

 deflecting snout. The position of the bel- 

 lows likewise during the interim mentioned 

 has been reversed, putting the large end at 

 the top instead of at the bottom, as hereto- 

 fore. 



I have been surprised many and many a 

 time to see how awkwardly bee-keepers 

 handle the modern smoker. To my notion 



