1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



ment of his cellar, and In another apartment Is a 

 furnace which insures perfect ventilation. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. 

 Bogersvllle, Genesee Co., Mich., Dec. 20. 1883. 

 I am very glad to find two mutual friends 

 of mine so well pleased with each other, 

 friend II., and I am sure you two will al- 

 ways be fast friends, even if you should not 

 eventually think alike on dollar queens. — 

 The plan you mention for getting wires of 

 the right length for wired frames, is exactly 

 the same we have used for mme than a year 

 past ; and if I have not mentioned it in 

 Gleanings, I ought to have done so. As 

 the wires are apt to cut into the sharp ends 

 of the thin board, we tip both ends with tin. 



PLAN FOR A HONEY-HOUSE. 



COMBINING, ALSO, AN IDEA FOR A RAILWAY APIARY. 



fHIS house Is built In two sections, 12x13 feet, 

 with a hall between. 8x13 feet. This makes 

 — ■ the house 12x33 feet, outside. The house as 

 sketched is a two-story one (the upper story may be 

 left ofif); but as a two-story house can be built with- 

 out any additional expens'^ as to foundation, rafter?, 

 sheeting, shingles, and roof nails, it will be seen that 

 It will pay for all extra expense, for it afifords twice 

 the room, and occupies no more ground. 



PLAN FOR A HONEY-HOUSE. 



A, A, apiary; R, R, railway track; H, H, ball 

 through building; P, P. tin ventilating-pipes open- 

 ing into lower rooms near the floor, and entering 

 brick flue at F, P. A fumigating closet should be 

 aiTanged at one side of the room, with a pipe run- 

 ning in the flue above. This pipe will require a 

 valve, which may be opened and closed at pleasure. 

 This closet, like the others, should correspond in 

 width with the length of frame you use. Make wood- 

 en grates bv taking three strips, same length as top- 

 bar, and nail across sections. These grates can be 

 slipped on the cleats on sides of closet for section- 

 box honey. 



The hall tothis house runsfrom outside to outside, 

 through the center of which runs a railway track 

 30 inches wide, mado of 1x4 hard-wood scantling. 



This track terminates with the apiary on the back 

 side, and at road gate on front side; over this track 

 is transported the honey to and from the house. 



A door opens at the center of each section into 

 this hall; the one leading from the room in which 

 the extracting is done should be of such width as to 

 afimit of barrels being rolled through. On both 

 sides of this door are to be comb-closets. These 

 may be made of any depth desired from 12 to 30 

 inches, and of such height as can be easily reached 

 from the hall. These closets are to correspond in 

 width with the length of the top-bar of the frame 

 you use. Nail wooden cleats to the sides of the 

 closet on which the combs hang; arrange in tiers 

 one above the other. Close-fitting doors are hung to 

 these closets, both inside and out. The Inside furni- 

 ture to this room should be a stand, of convenient 

 height and length for the extractor to stand upon; 

 racks for barrels, and counters or benches for any 

 other honey packages you may wish to have. At 

 extracting time the honey as brought in is hung in 

 one closet, and the empty combs in the other. The 

 stand upon which the extractor is fastened should 

 be to one side of the center of the room — a low pair 

 of trucks, or, rather, a frame, made by framing 4x4 

 scantling together so as to form a frame 14x24 Inch- 

 es; put castors under each corner of this frame, 

 with a notch in each end-piece for the bairel to rest 

 in, and your trucks are finished. Place a barrel up- 

 on It and run it under the extractor; when full it 

 can be easily removed to any part of the room. 



The other lower section of the house Is fitted up 

 with shelving, suitable for section-box and can hon- 

 ey, from 1 lb. up to 48 lb. crates, with counter and 

 scales ready for your retail trade. The upper story, 

 which is 12x33 feet, makes a good and safe room in 

 which to store your empty combs, and any other fix- 

 ings belonging to the apiary not needed during the 

 cold season. The sides and ceilings of the house 

 should be plastered, or ceiled with dry lumber, so 

 that it is moth and bee proof. This house will be 

 found sufficiently large to accommodate ^the^wants 

 of an apiary of 200 or 300 colonies. R. B. BOBBINS. 



Bloomdale, 0., Dec. 10, 1883. 



IS IT TOO HARD ^VORK FOR WOMENf 



MRS. HARBISON HAS DECIDED OPINIONS IN THE 

 MATTER. 



fHE woman who advocated that " bee-keeping 

 is too hard for women," ought to be ashamed 

 of herself. I've forgotten who she Is, and 

 haven't time to look her up. I'm heartily ashamed 

 of her. Perhaps after all it was a man who wrote 

 that, and signed a woman's name to it. "Too hard!" 

 that is the cry of those who dwell In gilded palaces. 

 "Can't work; I'm not able." Look around you, and 

 see what other women, of no more brawn or muscle 

 than yourself are doing. That farmer's wife, for In- 

 stance, who cooks for harvesters, over a hot stove, 

 with a teething child pulling at her skirts all day, 

 and her breasts all night; the poor widow (Heaven 

 pity her!) toiling by a midnight lamp, in order to 

 have shelter, cheap tea, and a crust for herself and 

 little ones. Is it any harder to keep bees than it is 

 to be laced up in corsets, tilted up on high heels, with 

 crinoline, bangs, and a bustle, and dance all night? 

 Do you think the stinos are any easier.to bear than 

 in bee-keeping? 

 Here I've been ti*ylngfor yearsto get women to 



