THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



71 



inents promised; and believe I now have 

 the best honey-extractor in the world. 

 The slip gear, which lets the revolving 

 frame whirl by its momentum without 

 dragging the crank and horizontal shaft, 

 works to perfection — beyond my most 

 sanguine hopes. It is as practical as a 

 shovel or pitchfork. The foot-brake un- 

 der the machine, on the extended shaft, 

 resting in the floor, is also a piece of per- 

 fection in its practical workings. I think 

 it was over ten years ago that I wrote 

 alxjut these improvements; yet I'm not 

 aware that they have ever been put into 

 operation until I did it last fall; and now 

 I am sitting uj) nights hating myself that 

 I didn't adopt them sooner. A fooL-brake 

 is well nigh indispensible upon honey ex- 

 tractors of large diameter. The stopping 

 of the motion is more trying to the mus- 

 cular system than is the starting or run- 

 ning of the machine; especially is this 

 true in summer-extracting. After I add- 

 ed the attachments in question, I extract- 

 ed about 4000 pounds of heavy-body 

 amber honey; mostly sealed. My addi- 

 tions to my machine almost saved me one 

 extra hand. Should any of your readers 

 desire a mechanical description of tlie 

 improvements above mentioned, I will 

 give you the same upon solicitation. It 

 is free to all, and I think of great value. 

 Having carefully read C. Davenport's 

 article on page 11, current volume, I will 

 say that he expresses many of my con- 

 victions; but that in which we differ is of 

 most value to your readers. I desire to 

 go on record in opposition to the use of 

 thick top bars in substitution of honey 

 boards. They will not do away with 

 brace combs to an extent demanded by a 

 practical, rapid-mani])ulating bee-keeper; 

 while the break-joint honey-board will; 

 besides, it can be made queen-excluding 

 when that function is desired; and the 

 cost and manipulation of the honey-board 

 is many times paid for by the advantages 

 it offers the bee-keeper. I gave this mat- 

 ter repeated, extensive and careful experi- 

 ment, 25 years ago; and I know my ground 

 is well taken. 



I, too, once determined to use reversi- 

 ble covers; which, of course, must be flat 

 on both sides; but cold facts drove me 

 back to the plam, >s, whole, pine board, 

 cleated on one side. Zinc covering is too 

 costly for covers. 



Being the pioneer in divisible brood- 

 chambers, both with frames, bars and 

 plain box, Mr. Davenport's last column 

 on page 13 comes to me like the echo of 

 an ancient boom. He states many truths 

 in that column. 



I was also aware of the facts stated by 

 Mr. Beckwith, regarding the rendering 

 of wax, as given on pages 7 and 8, but as 

 I am now in possession of a large size 

 Ferris wax extractor, which takes the 

 wax clean, and leaves the operator clean, 

 all the knotty problems of rendering wax 

 are past. 



My 225 colonies are wintering nicely 

 during this fifteenth open winter, with 

 "nary" a bad one mixed in. 



DowAGiAC, Mich. Jan. 26, 1899. 



ITALIAN VERSUS GERMAN EKES. 



Why the Latter are Superior for Comb Honey 

 Producers in the North. 



C. D.WENPORT. 



iX a previous article I said that hives 

 were an important factor in our pursuit; 

 bees are not less .so; and, as some one else 

 has said, nectar yielding flowers are equal- 

 ly important. The fact is, a great many 

 things are important or necessary to our 

 success; as our pursuit is a complicated 

 one, with many details, varying with the 

 difference in .seasons and localities. A 

 thorough understanding of all is not so 

 easily acquired as is supposed by many 

 who have read a few text books, and suc- 

 cessfully managed a small apiary for a 

 a few years. A man who has success- 

 fully managed a small apiary might 

 make a complete failure with a number 

 of yards, or even one large one. That 



