880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



I tried ag'ain the way you describe, but 

 with no better success than before. What 

 makes it still worse is that mj' frames, be- 

 ing- deeper than the standard, I have to put 

 in five or six wires. But even with four 

 wires it does not work well. 



After studying- a little as to what was the 

 matter, the idea struck me that you proba- 

 bly use wire from large coils, and a^e there- 

 fore not troubled by its kinking. We bee- 

 keepers use altogether too small spools; 

 and unless we manage to keep the wire 

 stretched all the time there is no end to its 

 twisting, kicking, Hying oflf, and kinking. 



I had a considerable amount of swarm- 

 ing to contend with this year. One of the 

 swarms lodged at the end of some limbs 

 where I could not get at them. I did not 

 want to cut the limb and let it down. I 

 happened to have a tin bucket with some 

 honey in it. I tied the bucket to the end of 

 a long pole, or, rather, two poles tied to- 

 gether, end to end, and managed to raise 

 the bucket to the swarm. A little brushing 

 or moving of the bucket sidewise soon got 

 the bees in; and what did not fall in went 

 in voluntarily to take part of the feast. 

 The rest ueed not be described. 



Some one recommended smoking a colony 

 which is in the act of swarming, to stop the 

 proceedings. That's all right, so far as it 

 goes; but water is much better. If the one 

 who watches is quick enough with his 

 bucket of water, and any kind of brush, he 

 will have no trouble in preventing the bees 

 from taking wing and stopping the queen 

 from flying, as well as the others, and, in 

 most of the tases, be able to catch her if he 

 wants to. 



Knoxville, Tenn. 



[The breech-loading feature of the Vesu- 

 vius has been dropped. This same smoker 

 now loads from the top, but on a different 

 principle from anj^ heretofore employed. 

 The fire-chamber telescopes into another 

 chamber of the same length, but of a slight- 

 I3' larger diameter, so that the smoker can 

 take long or short fuel, and, what is more, 

 will not leak smoke except at the snout. 



The Crane valve can be made to work 

 satisfactorily with those who are careful 

 enough to keep the working parts clear. 

 The plan j'ou propose would be feasible ex- 

 cept that it would have a tendencj' to leak 

 air. If this is the case, we might just as 

 well use the Corneil-blast arrangement, 

 which will not clog with creosote, and 

 which, under like circumstances, would 

 give about the same blast. 



We have been experimenting with a mo- 

 tor-driven extractor, using a 1 '4 -horse- 

 power air-cooled gasoline-engine, the same 

 as is used in ordinary motor cycles. We 

 can make it work; but the serious question 

 in mj' mind is whether the average person 

 unfamiliar with gasoline-engines of this 

 type could make it go when he wanted it 

 to. We can make the extractor hum at al- 

 most any speed desired, by moving back 

 and forth the spark-lever which also oper- 



ates the band-brake, controlling the reel of 

 the extractor. 



Before we dare to offer the outfit to the 

 public, we deem it best to do a little more 

 experimenting; but at the present time I 

 am of the opinion that a bicycle-engine will 

 not be as satisfactory as a larger one using 

 water for cooling. The working parts are 

 less intricate, and less liable to get out of 

 order. A water-cooled outfit of, say, one- 

 horse power, with an eight-frame reversible 

 extractor, would cost about $100. The ex- 

 pense of coupling the two together, in such 

 a way as to provide suitable speed, would 

 be from SIO to $15 more. 



Your plan of putting a sheet of tin be- 

 tween the two pockets, as proposed, would 

 not work, if you will stop to think a min- 

 ute. The tin will catch the honey thrown 

 from the outer pocket; but when j'ou reverse 

 the two pockets, bringing this surface the 

 other side to, it will throw the honey back 

 from the tin into the next comb. 



Yes, we use wire from large coils, and 

 are never troubled by kinking. 



Your scheme of getting a swarm from the 

 top of a tree, without climbing after it, is 

 good. Sometimes the swarm is so high 

 that three or four poles fastened together 

 will not reach it. Then nothing but climb- 

 ing or using a shotgun will do the work. — 

 Ed.] 



SMOKING BEES, ETC. 



Use and Abuse of Smoke; the Difference in Col- 

 onies; Drones as Heat^producers. 



BY J. M. GIBBS. 



My feelings are hurt every time I think 

 about the way some bee-keepers smoke their 

 bees, as well as the way some old bee-keep- 

 ers advise smoking them in order to conquer 

 them. I have observed that bees do not 

 succumb to smoke "just for fun," but be- 

 cause it hurts them. I have no idea how 

 intensely they suffer from it; but I know 

 that the suffering is great that will drive 

 them from their homes and " little ones " to 

 take their chances in the open air, and this 

 they may be made to do if enough smoke is 

 blown on them. I find that a very little 

 smoke (applied frequently) will conquer 

 any colony, and that a large per cent of 

 Italians ma}' be handled without any smoke 

 whatever, and that more vindictive ones 

 may be managed with but a single ' ' whiff ' ' 

 over the tops of the frames. For the sake 

 of the dear bees I want to describe my 

 method of smoking them. 



M3' frames are covered with "duck," or 

 oiled cloth, and are mostly air-tight, so 

 that, when the hive-cover is lifted off, not a 

 bee can be seen under it. No holes are al- 

 lowed in these sheets to admit air or to allow 

 the bees to sally out through and begin the 

 fight before you are readj'. I stand at the 

 left-hand corner of the hive (looking from 

 the rear), and remove the cover with my 

 left hand. I then take hold of the cloth or 



