GLEAKlNGS iN BEE CULTUIJE. 



Feb. 



B, B, are the blinds, or deflections. C, C, are 

 the sails; and it will be seen that, the better to 

 "catch" the wind, these sails are not straight, but 

 curved. E is the shaft. Now let us suppose that 

 the bottom, or floor, of the mill is removed, and that 

 somebody is standing underneath the mill, looking 

 up at it, what he sees looks about likelFig. 3. 





Fie I 



F/c2 



PLAN OF HOMK-MADE WIND-MILL. 



P, F, are the lower ends of the blinds, to the in- 

 ner edges of which are attached, by means of sta- 

 ples, light iron rods, the inner ends of which are 

 bent doivn so as to form right-angled hooks that 

 drop into holes made near the circumference of the 

 wheel Q. As the blinds turn upon pivots at their 

 ends, as do the slats in a window - blind, it will 

 be readily seen that, by turning the wheel G, the 

 blinds can be opened or closed at pleasure. Neigh- 

 bor P. has a long rope, the ends of which are fasten- 

 ed to opposite sides of the wheel G; the rope then 

 passes over pulleys and hangs down like a lonsr rope 

 swing. Pulling one side of the "swing " opens the 

 blinds, while pulling upon the other side closes 

 them. This rope can be seen at H, H, Fig. 1. Just 

 above the wheel G, and the iron rods that connect it 

 with the blinds, can be seen the spokes I, I, I, I, and 

 rim J, J, of a wheel. At the top of the mill is an- 

 other wheel exactly like this one, and it is between 

 the rims of these two wheels that are placed, in an 

 upright position, and nailed fast, the sails that re- 

 ceive the force of the wind. The rim of the wheel 

 shown in the above illustration is represented as 

 " transparent," which enables us to see the lower 

 ends of the sails. 



The lower ends of the blinds should not fit closely 

 to the floor of the mill, but should be raised an inch 

 or two, otherwise a sudden fall of temperature during 

 a storm of rain or sleet will freeze them fast, mak- 

 ing it impossible to open or close them. When a 

 mill like this is used to drive machinery, and It is 

 found necessary to do so, heavy ball-governors can 

 be used, connecting them by means of levers with 

 the Wheel G. This kind of mill can be built by an 

 ordinary mechanic; and there is but little liability 

 of Its being wrecked in a gale. The enormous head 

 pressure, which causes a great amount of friction in 

 all mills of the rosette pattern, is entirely avoided. 

 It can be placed in the cupola of a barn, upon a 

 shop, or Upon a tower, as best suits the owner. The 



sails receive the direct force of the wind, and that, 

 too, at the periphery of the wheel, thus obtaining 

 the greatest possible leverage, while most of the 

 weight of the material lies at the rim, consequently 

 imparting great momentum to the machine while 

 in motion. 



Neighbor P. himself built his mill, and the tow- 

 er upon which it stands. The material for their 

 construction cost $15.00; that for the mill alone cost 

 $6.00. His mill is 6 feet high and 6 feet in diameter, 

 and, with a wind having a velocity of 30 miles an 

 hour, is about U horse-power. It is estimated that a 

 mill 12 feet high and 14 feet in diameter would give 

 15 horse-power. 



I am well aware that wind power is not the right 

 power with which to run a factory,— it is too expen- 

 sive waiting for the wind,— but bee-keepers who 

 make hives for their own use only, and perhaps for 

 a few of their bee-keeping neighbors, and who prob- 

 ably do their sawing by foot power, to such, I think, 

 a good wind-mill would be a boon. They could have 

 every thing in readiness, and when there came a 

 windy day they could go into the shop and saw all 

 day long. Then, besides, wind-mills can be made to 

 furnish power for pumping water, sawing wood, 

 cutting or grinding feed, turning grindstone, churn- 

 ing, etc. W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich., Jan. 4, 1883. 



I am sorry to throw cold water on your 

 home-made wind-mill, friend H., but this is 

 a subject I have been pretty familiar with, 

 in my earlier years. The mill you describe 

 is very simple, and easily made ; and if it 

 gfives the power needed, all well and good. 

 But there is one very great objection to all 

 vertical wind-wheels such as the one you 

 describe. I once invented one, and submit- 

 ted it to the editors of the Scientifir, Ameri- 

 can. The objection they gave was, that the 

 wind could act on only a few of the sails at 

 one time, while, with the horizontal wheels in 

 common use, the wind is exerting a power 

 on every individual sail, or bucket, all the 

 time. Therefore, to get the same amount of 

 power with a vertical wheel, we must make 

 a very much larger machine ; and, ordinari- 

 ly, it has been decided to be more expensive 

 in the end. Wind will certainly do a large 

 amount of work, and that, too, without en- 

 gineer or fuel ; and we did at one lime run 

 all our bee-hive machinery with a 17-foot 

 wind-mill, and for a time we ran with it the 

 printing-press that printed Gleanings, as 

 well. When one does the work himself, I 

 like a wind-millf; but with hired help, that 

 must stand still if the wind doesn't blow, it 

 doesn't answer so well. 



CANDY FOR QUEEN-CAGES, AGAIN. 



FRIEND HALL TELLS US HOW HE DOES IT. 



PEE some of the queen-breeders mention the 

 waxing of the cage where the candy for the 

 queen is to be put. Friend Root, we are the 

 first to use this kind of a cage, so far as we have any 

 knowledge. In the latter part of the summer of 

 1881 we first began to use wax where we put the wa- 

 ter, and the past season we waxed every cage where 

 the candy was put in the cage, and we shipped over 

 400 queens in 1883. You no doubt have examined 

 our cage. We use,.llght.;poplar wood for them, 3 



