110 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



Ilcceivea the extractor on the 10th all right. Freight 

 and custom custom charges were SS,?], so it -wouUl 

 cost me about $1'2. Canadian money. Jt is very light 

 and a'.l I cm say I'or it. is it wants a handle lor carry- 

 ing it oc the arm. I like it very much, and il' it stands 

 wear 1 will lie well satislied. 



J. Ueaman Cai viUe, Can. Apr. '21' 76. 

 We once had an idea of adding every im- 

 provement tliat wavS suggested, but soon lound 

 the machiue would bristle out with them 

 worse than a porcupine. Your tinsmith can 

 put on a handle for you to put your arm 

 through, friend R. if you wish, in a very few 

 minutes. For our own use we prefer them 

 just as we send ihem out, nothing more, and 

 nothing less. 



You were not only careless in neglecting to num- 

 ber your hives, but in not having a place lor your old 

 clothes and knowing just where they were. My wife 

 hnoivs where every thing in the house is, and hence 

 don't have to liitnt lor anything. This makes me 

 somevvhat careless in regard to such matter*, but my 

 old clothes han>< right wliere / can place my hand up- 

 on ihem. 1 wouid like to know why iivu should 

 tail to "look pleasant" or why yon should iiodge a bt e, 

 or tlo anything but smile deligriilully when your pets 

 sting }oii on tiic nose, temple, hands etc. Vou should 

 go right on, as bee slings are such exceedingly Hitting 

 things you know [?j 



Tue tact is, it you had acted sensibly and put on 

 your bee vail and gauntlet gloves, jou could have set 

 Uiose bees out without a scowl on your face. The vail 

 is a little inconvenient but we must retrain from the 

 luxury of eating honey, or expectorating while wear- 

 ing it. J. Doyle, Elmore, Ills. 



Gently, friend D., we shall have to confess to 

 being one of those stubborn individuals, who 

 are so averse to taking the trouble to cnange 

 our clothing, that it may be a year, before w^e 

 are so consiLlerate as to ask for "old clothes"' — 

 •such as can't be spoiled — and therefore, altho' 

 we pride ourselves on having a 'place for ev- 

 ery thing' in our home, it took a little time to 

 decide whether they had gone into the rag car- 

 pet or not. We know very well we should 

 smile pleasantl)', amid troubles, and hope we 

 are growing a little better daily ; but there 

 looms up before us a great mountain of rubbish 

 that sliouldhave nopl/tce iu a well formed ch;vr- 

 acter. If we knew we were going to tumble 

 liives from a shelf as high as one's head, we 

 don't know but we should put on a veil, but as- 

 suredly not gloves. Is there one among our 

 readers who has used gloves a whole year, and 

 advi.scs them? 



XIO'IV 'ro MAKE AN EXTISACTOK. 



p;r| HE first thing to be considered is the in- 

 thjli side work, and w'e think j^ou will get a 

 cle:ir idea of what is wanted by imagining 

 a square bird cage without top or bottom, and 

 with wire-cloth only on two sides. We make 

 this frame or cage of strips of folded tin, and it 

 is to be made just large enougii for your frame 

 to hang in it as it does in the hive — unless 

 your frames are more than 14 inches in width 

 under the top bar, in which case we would 

 turn the top bar in a vertical position — and it 

 will be all the lighter and just as good; we 

 will allow the combs to hang ^^ in. below the 

 wire-cloth. The distance btit~weeu the two 

 sheets of wire-cloth, should be 10 inches for 

 all kinds of frames, -iud the width of our cage 

 the other way to allow of '^ inch play in set- 

 ting the comb.-i in place. For the sides that 



hold the wire-cloth, we take pieces of tin 1 in. 

 wide, and fold them o times, making quite stifi' 

 metal rods, and we stt one of these with its 

 edge against the wire-cloth every 2'^ inches. 

 A strip of the same is also made to cross the 

 whole of them in the middle, and this latter is 

 braced by still another, crossing it, having the 

 ends securely soldered to the outside edges of 

 the wire-cloth. This precaution is to prevent 

 the wire-cloth 'rora bulging, with very heavy 

 combs of thick honey. 



The upright corner pieces are simpl}' strips 2 

 inches wide, folded thus: 



The right angle at A, holding the rods that 

 support the wire-cloth. Our cage is now com- 

 plete when we put it together with 4 strips 1 

 1-2 wide, and 11 inches lOBg. These are stiflen- 

 ed by folding a seam on both edges like B, anil 

 then folding }.l inch at each end like A. All 

 the corners and joints should be well soldered 

 by an experienced smith, and then we are read- 

 y for the shaft, which is simply a double tin 

 tube. It is made with such a machine as is 

 used in turning the edge of eave spouting. To 

 attach tills shalt to our frame we make three 

 pairs of arms thai resemble a letter x, a hole 

 being made through the center to hold the 

 shaft. One of them is soideied to the shaft just 

 a little above where the bottom steel pivot is 

 soldered in ; the other as near the upper pivot 

 as may be, and the third, toward the lowTr end 

 of the shalt, so as to brace a:>aiust the bottom 

 pair. They are all bent at an angle after being 

 soldered to the shaft, and their outer ends are 

 attached to our cage, by being soldered to the 

 horizontal bars across the top and bottom of 

 the sides that have no wire-loth. The point 

 of attachment is about two inches from each 

 corner, to allow the comb to drop in without 

 touching them. As these x pieces re(iuire stitl"- 

 ness ana strength they are made of strips about 

 an inch iu width folded thus: a break being- 



left in C, where the shaft goes through. With 

 the tall frames that rest on one end, we put a 

 piece of wire-cloth across the bottoms to hold 

 the Irame ; this may also be used for extracting 

 bits of comb. 

 We really know of no better way than to ad- 



I vise you to purchase the gearing of us; if you 



j are going to manufacture largely, you can use 



! ours for a pattern and have some cast. To at- 

 tach the gearing to the can, you need a stiff met- 



1 al hoop on top, and as we have ours made ex- 

 pressly for the purpose, perhaps you had better 



; get them of us. The pivots in the ends of the 



; shaft, are of the finest steel now known, viz.. 



\ Stub's steel, and as the bottom runs on apiece 

 of saw plate, they will be likely to last a life 



I time. The can is to be made either 17 or 20 ir. 



; in diameter, to suit the ditt'jrent sized frames 

 mentioned in our price list. The bottom we 

 make sloping to a point, and from this point a 

 sloping channel leads to the gate, which we al- 



j so make for extractors. If you are going to 

 make them to sell, it will save you much time 

 and exi)ense to get one of our latest !br a pat- 

 tern. 



