276 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



SMOKING BEES OUT OF SUPERS. 



W. L. Coggshall told at the Philadel- 

 phia convention how he smoked bees 

 out of supers or upper stories very quick- 

 ly. His upper stories are covered with 

 oil cloth. This oil cloth is raised at one 

 corner, and, as the smoke is puffed in, 

 this oil cloth is given a sort of up and 

 down flopping movement which causes a 

 draft or suction down into the hive that 

 very quickly draws the smoke down 

 among the V)ees and causes them to hus- 

 tle. 



Shade for hives is considered a source 

 of profit by the Wilson Bros., of the Kick- 

 apoo Valley, Wisconsin. For two years 

 they have been making observations on 

 this point, and they think that shade in- 

 creases the surplus about one-fifth. 

 Their idea is that the intense heat upon 

 the walls of a single-walled hive drives 

 the bees from the hive to a certain ex- 

 tent upon hot days. Herbert Clute, of 

 Greenwood, Wisconsin, told me that he 

 secured more honey from colonies in 

 chaff hives than from those in sin- 

 gle-walled hives. I related these views 

 to C. A. Hatch of Richland Center, Wis- 

 consin, and he took opposite views. The 

 Wilsons prefer trees for shade. Box 

 elders grow quickly and make a nice 

 tree. 



REVERSING COMBS QUICKLY. 



A reversible extractor was not used in 

 the rapid work done by Messrs. Coggshall 

 and How-e, as mentioned in another place, 

 but they have a rapid method of rever- 

 sing the combs. There are two combs 

 in each basket, with a sheet of tin be- 

 tween them. The honey from the inner 

 comb is thrown against the tin and runs 

 down just the same as though it had been 

 thrown against the inside of the extract- 

 ing can. To reverse the combs, a comb 

 in the basket farthest away is grasped 

 with the left hand, and one in the near- 

 est basket by the right hand, then they 



are lifted up and quickly exchanged with- 

 out any turning about. The comb from 

 the far basket is put down in the near 

 basket, and vice versa. This obviates any 

 turning around of the combs, and two are 

 moved at the same time. Coggshall pre- 

 fers to have shallow combs go into the 

 basket the same way as they hang in the 

 hive, as they can be leversed with less 

 motion. 



k;iu«^^v» »»u" 



THE CONVENTION AN HONORED GUEST. 



Right royally were we entertained at 

 Philadelphia. Incoming members were 

 met at the train, when it was known 

 what train they were coming on, even if 

 the train was three or fou*- hours late at 

 night. Places were ready and waiting 

 for them. Many were taken to the homes 

 of bee-keepers. Bro. Selser took some 

 eight or ten home with him every night. 

 A good hall was hired and paid for. By 

 the way, this room was centrally located, 

 and, at the same time, it was awaj' from 

 the noise; being in the back part of a 

 building, shut away from the rattle of the 

 street. It was tastily decorated with 

 bunting, plants and flowers. Mr. Hah- 

 man, the Secretary of the local societj', 

 is a florist, and I suspect that this accounts 

 for the fine decorations iji that line. Fine 

 music was also furnished free of charge. 

 Neither time, labor nor expen.se was 

 spared in piling up comforts and pleas- 

 ures for the visiting bee-keepers. Three 

 cheers for the Philadelphia boys? 



•■«M«^H«'»^«^i^ 



BOILING FOUL BROOD GERM.S. 



In this issue of the Review Mr. Taylor 

 calls the attention to the experiments of 

 Prof. Harrison of the Ontario Agricultu- 

 ral College in boiling the germs of foul 

 brood. According to these experiments 

 the germs will grow even after two hours' 

 boiling. In this connection it is interest- 

 ing to note that Harry Howe, who has 

 been taking a course in bacteriology at 

 Cornell University, reported at the Phila- 

 delphia convention that he had prepared 

 cultures of foul brood in almost every 



