176 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



July 



year for driving that they will not pay the men until 

 the logs are down. I will tell you our circumstances 

 and you will see how it will help us. We "home- 

 steaded " an "eighty," ten years ago in the woods; 

 we have had hard Limes, sickness and death since. 

 After a village was started I would take a basket of 

 grated horse radish in bottles, or garden stuff, five 

 miles on foot to sell to help us along, that my husband 

 could stay at home and clear land. Three years ago 

 we traded a cow for a horse and I took it on horse- 

 back. One year I sold Sl3;j.C0 worth. I sent t25,00 of 

 it to M. Quinby and got a hive of bees. We have had 

 them about two years. We have no horse now. I 

 took 21 lbs. of honey five miles on Saturday. Such 

 work is killing me but we have great hopes that our 

 Dees will help us to a horse and wagon this summer. 



MBS. S. A. P. 



We would like those who get so discour- 

 aged after a few failures, aud begin to think of 

 "Blasted Hopes," to tal<e a lesson from this 

 woman. In spite of her household duties, her 

 many trials, disappointments and failures, still 

 she is resolute and undaunted, and when no 

 other way seemed open for getting the things 

 she needed, she started off on foot with her 

 honey, even while feeling that her strength 

 would not long enable her to do such work, 

 and after it all, seems cheerful and ready to 

 go ahead with the duties that lie before her. 

 With such women for mothers, is it any won- 

 der that America's son's are outstripping the 

 rest of the world ? Instead of sitting down 

 idly and complaining at a few trifling dis- 

 couragements, shall we not rouse up, and take 

 courage after such an example of patient en- 

 ergy from one of the opposite sex ? 



.^i*^*^*^ 



HOW TO MAKE A1V» USE THE BOOL.1T- 



TLI^ 8ITIOKE2i. 



^jf^ERHAPS our friend whose name this 

 J^^ smoker bears, deserves more credit for 

 — ' the plan by which it is to be used, than 

 for any novelty in its construction, for the 

 idea is very old. It is simply a tube made of 

 very thin light tin, with a plug of hard wood 

 in each end. A smooth clean hole about as 

 large as a lead pencil, is bored through each, 

 and one of them has a knob turned on one end 

 to be held in the teeth. The tin tube should 

 be about 6 inches long, and perhaps l^X in di- 

 ameter. We have seen them so small that 

 they could be carried in the vest pocket, and 

 again, much larger than the one we have ad- 

 vised. Friend Dean uses one nearly a foot 

 long, and perhaps 2V2 inches in diameter. The 

 diagram will make it all plain. 



A, is the plug to be held in the teeth, while 

 B, is put in permanently. A, should fit so 

 closely that it will be in no danger of falling 

 out, or the coals and fuel might make much 

 trouble by falling into the hives and on the 

 bees ; but it should be so loose as to be easily 

 taken out to replenish the fuel when necessary, 

 or to have it keep burning when laid down. 

 This smoker like all others, will go out most 

 inopportunely, unless it is carefully handled, 

 and our first attempts at getting it lighted 

 were such that we almost got disgusted with 

 it even after friend D. had shown us how, re- 

 peatedly. The secret of it seems to be that 

 you must not make up your mind you know 



all about it at first glance, but must conclude 

 you don't know, aud listen aud obey orders to 

 the very letter. 



Go into the woods and get some very dry 

 rotten wood, of such a sort that it can be easi- 

 ly crumbled up in the fingers into pieces 

 about the size of grains of corn, or a little lar- 

 ger. Put in some of the large pieces first, 

 that the hole in the lower plug may not be 

 clogged, and then fill up the tin case with 

 smaller bits. Now lay a coal of fire on top of 

 the fuel, and do not put in the plug until the 

 rotten wood is smoking briskly. With your 

 breath give it a puff, and if the smoke pours 

 out of the plug at the lower end, you are ready 

 to put in the mouth piece and go to work. 

 When your bees are quiet enough, take out 

 the mouth piece and lay it down; but if yau 

 lay it down without takipg out the mouth 

 piece, it will go out very soon. If you choose, 

 you can hold it between your teeth all the 

 time, but if you do not wish it to go out, you 

 must not omit giving it a puft" every little 

 while. It may thus be kept going for more 

 than an hour, with once filling. In trying to 

 do this, you will very likely get the smoke 

 into your lungs and get strangled, but you 

 are to bear it all patiently, and remember that 

 "every rose has its thorn." If you will put 

 the end of your tongue over the hole in the 

 mouth piece, when you are not blowing, you 

 will be in no danger of drawing smoke into 

 your lungs. 



The advantage this smoker has over the 

 bellows smokers, is that it can be held in the 

 teeth, while you work with both hands. Some 

 people — I can hardly think they deserve being 

 called apiarists — imagine they must have a 

 veil and smoker too, both at the same time, in 

 which case it is well to have a hole through 

 the veil for the mouth piece of the smokers. 

 But very little blowing is needed when these 

 smokers are in trim, and if a little cloud of 

 smoke is kept curling up gracefully — not to- 

 bacco smoke under ani/ consideration — you 

 certainly ought to be happy without being en- 

 cumbered with anything in the shape of a veil. 



COMB FOIJNOATJOW, THE ONLY CQM- 

 P1.AINT OF THE SE.5:«aiV, 



AND THE WAY IT HAS TURNED OUT. 



M FTER our note on page IGl of last month, 

 J(^_ we received a top bar from friend B., 

 "■'^^ with a strip of fdn. to all appearance 

 neatly fastened in a saw cut in the top bar. 

 We wondered at the time, how he did it so 

 neatly, but as it seemed all secure when pulled 

 on, we hung it in the hive. Three hours later, 

 we opened the hive expecting of course to find 

 comb nicely started ; but sure enough, we had 

 only a clean stick. The fdn. had all vanished 

 just as friend B. had said, and it was at the 

 bottom of the hive partly eaten up by the bees. 

 We sat down and pondered, put the fdn. back 

 in its place, and found by gently pulling, it 

 would slowly slip out of the groove ; after it 

 had fallen to the bottom of the hive the bees 

 disliking to waste so much wax, picked it off 

 by little bits, and carried it where wanted. 

 This was the solution of the whole mystery. 

 ]Mr. B. had borrowed his idea from our section 

 boxes, but had forgotten the part about open- 



