284 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



by their right names ? Why must the 

 public be misled, and somebody wronged, 

 by such misleading terms as ' Dove-Tailed 

 Hive ' and ' Cowan's Improved ' honey 

 extractor ? As good as is this machine in 

 question, and as strong as the baskets are 

 made, they wouldn't stand up against combs 

 heavily loaded with thick honey, until we 

 added supborts, which was very easily 

 accomliahed by fastening V shaped, wooden 

 pieces to the outer revolving rims so that 

 when the comb baskets were back on either 

 side, their centers rested firmly against the 

 wooden supports. 



But now we wish to mention another 

 serious fault with this machine, and how it 

 might be very readily overcome. Because 

 these large machines are so heavy and the 

 circular sweep large, the law of inertia ( so 

 called ) makes the starting and stopping of 

 the machine quite annoying. The starting 

 is not so bad, and can be readily put up 

 with, as the application of the extra energy 

 required is quite a natural one, but the 

 stopping is a most unnatural and yanking 

 application to the muscles. This should be 

 corrected as follows: The center shaft 

 should run down through the machine, in- 

 to the floor, there having its proper bearing. 

 Upon the lower end of this shaft might be a 

 wooden wheel with a brake attached, to be 

 worded by the foot of the operator. Once 

 using this addition, the bee-keeper would as 

 soon think of handling bees without a bel- 

 lows smoker, as running his extractor with 

 out this brake. 



Another improvement in function, and of 

 great convenience and dispatch, is a slip 

 gearinir; that is, a gearing so arranged that 

 by pulling the horizontal handle shaft, the 

 gear is thrown out, letting the basket frame 

 revolve by momentum, without the noisy 

 brake consequent upon dragging the handle, 

 shaft and laige cog wheel. 



Now when the operator has uncapped four 

 combs and placed them in the baskets, he 

 starts the machine, slips the gear, and the 

 revolving goes on while he is uncapping 

 two more combs, and the honey from one 

 side is all out clean. Now he reverses his 

 baskets with a push, shoves in his gear 

 with another, starts the machine into rapid 

 motion with a few turns of the crank, and 

 then again slips the gear, and those four 

 combs will be completely emptied while he 

 is uncapping the second pair for the next ex- 

 tracting. 



The reader will readily imagine several 

 different practical ways by which the slip- 

 gearing can be arranged. With the above 

 additions we might have a honey extractor 

 with at least 30 per cent, greater efficiency 

 than any yet devised, and at the same time 

 add enormously to the ease and comfort of 

 manipulating the same. 



It is also posssible and practicable to 

 arrange the basket framework of this ex- 

 tractor so it can be readily and easily re- 

 versed while under the highest speed; but 

 such an arrangement would add more 

 largely to the cost of construction and 

 would not prove of so very much advantage 

 as we would at first suppose, especially 



where the slip-gearing and the brake are in 

 use. Who will give us a honey extractor 

 worthy of the bee-keeper who handles from 

 50 to .WO colonies or more ? " 



If I remember aright, the Van Allen & 

 Williams machine does not use a sprocket 

 and chain arrangement. I saw their ma- 

 chitie at the World' sFair, and while I do not 

 remember exactly how the reversing of the 

 baskets was brought about, I know that 

 there was no chain. If I remember correct- 

 ly, it was some sort of a hoop arrangement 

 that slid around and turned all of the bas- 

 kets at once. The sprocket and chain 

 arrangement is not new. A. J. King & Co., 

 illustrated it in the Bee-Keepers' Magazine 

 something towards twenty years ago. 



How to Avoid Being Stang so Much. 

 Mr. F. D. Wine writes to Gleanings and 

 asks why bees sting some people more than 

 others. He also wishes to know if there is 

 any way to avoid stings. To this the editor 

 replies as follows; — 



" I know there is a sort of current im- 

 pression, to the effect that bees will stmg 

 some people more than others. While this 

 is true, it is not because they are able to 

 recognize any peculiar physical condition or 

 difference, nor is it because one person 

 smells to the bees differently from another. 

 It is because they notice a difference in be- 

 havior in different persons. For instance, 

 Mr. A has made a close study of the habits 

 of bees, and particularly of the causes that 

 induce them to sting. He recognizes that 

 quick motions, under some circumstances, 

 are quite liable to arouse the bees and 

 make them sting quite badly. There are 

 certain things he can do with impunity, and 

 others he can not ; or, perhaps, we had 

 better put it this way : He can do any thing 

 with bees he desires ; but if he works in a 

 certain peculiar way he will get stung badly; 

 but if his motions are regulated to their 

 whims, he will get along with few or per- 

 haps no stings. Another man, Mr. B. is 

 not afraid of bees, and does not care much 

 whether he is stung or not. Perhaps he 

 thinks a veil useless, and does not wear one; 

 or may be he rips the cover off with a yank. 

 He is clumsy in his motions. One bee 

 stings him. He draws back quickly, and 

 receives half a dozen more. He does not 

 know the importance of doing all things 

 decently and in order. Smoker ? Oh, yes I 

 he has one ; but he uses it at the wrong time, 

 and does not keep it on hand ready to quell 

 any disturbance that is likely to arise. Mr. 

 A, on the contrary, observes that bees are 

 crosser on some days than on others ; but if 

 he must handle them on an " off day " * he 



* A cool ilay after a rain ; a day wlien the bees 

 have beeu r<)bl)ing, or a day following a sudden 

 stoppage of the lioney-fiow. 



