GLEAXIXGS IX BEE CULTTRE. 



JfAR. 



over it. I prefer about a i inch hole for the 

 exit of smoke. 



Xow I take considerable pride in telling 

 you how I attach the whole to the bellows, 

 damper and all. for I consider it quite an 

 invenrlon in the way of cheapness, strenath 

 and simplicity. 



SMOKEK •■DISSECTED." 



Fig. 4 represents the bottom of the smoker 

 cup. The large hole in the center is to allow 

 the blast of air to come up through, and the 

 smaller ones are for 4 common screws that 

 attach it to the bellows. To prevent the fire 

 from falling through the large hole, a piece 

 of tin is cut as in Fig. -5. and punched full of 

 holes. s«> as to leave a deep bur on the upper 

 side. This allows the blast to pass through. 

 but no fire ever gets down into the bello\\"s. 

 The holes in the "extremities just match those 

 in Fig. 4. s-3 that the same screws hold it se- 

 curely in place. Xow we cannot screw the 

 fire receptacle <lirectly on to the wo'>d. be- 

 cause it would bum if; but I have found bv 

 experiment that 1-4 inch space t»etween the 

 bottom and the wockI. is all that is needed, if 

 the wood is first covered with a sheet of tin. 

 Accordingly, we cut another plain piece of 

 tin. exactly like Fig. 4. holes and all: between 

 the two. we put short tin tubes, made bv roll- 

 ing up short strips 1-4 inch wide. These" short 

 tubes shown at Fig. 7. are made so that a 

 screw will just go through them. (Jne thing 

 more, and we have all c^omplete. Our smo- 

 ker bums so fiercelv. that we are obliged to 

 have a damp»er for "it. This damper is made 

 of a piece of tin. cut in the shaj^e shown at 

 Fig. 6. When the smoker is put together. 

 the hole ju the damper is put just over one 

 of the short tin tubes and is thus held bv one 

 of these same screws. When it cl«oses the 

 central hole in Fig. 4. the end 6 is against one 

 of the other tubes. 



It has been suggested that the screws would 

 get hot. and bum the wood, but actual prac- 

 tice shows that the small amount of heat that 

 c»omes directlv on their heads onlv. never 

 heats them at all. The constant stream of cold 

 air that is c-oming out and going in. between 

 the w.»d of the Jx-Uows and tt^ tin cup. is 

 probably one reas^jn whv it never heats down- 

 ward S") as to affect the bellows. The hole 

 in the center. Fig. 4. should be sunk bv a 

 suitable punch, so as to more perfectlv col- 

 lect the entire blast from the bellows.* The 

 tin cup will probably cost you. at a tin-smith's 

 about -5c.. and the "funnel probablv as much 

 more. The damper, short tubes' etc.. will 

 eost about another oc.. and this will make 

 your smoker complete, cost ab«iut 4o cents. 

 Good strong boxes fortaailing win oost about 

 -5e.. and this leaves us oc. profit on each 

 when they are sold bv the dozen. The tin 

 work can be made for even less, on the long 

 tube QxiiQby style, even the largest sized 

 tubes. Any dealer in bee-keeping supplies. 



shoiild be able to make them at the above 

 estimate, and if machinery is employed, they 

 may be made for a less amount. 



PATENTS 0>f S>fOKEKS. 



Mr. Quinby made the first bellows smoker- 

 having the receptacle for fuel placed at one 

 side of the bellows. It was pronounced by 

 all. a very simple matter, after the idea was 

 first suggested to them by our friend Q. . yet 

 simple as it was;, it cost him a great amount 

 of study and experiment. Friend Xellis re- 

 marked that he had an old garret filled with 

 models of smokers of different forms, before 

 he first gave one to the world. Very soon 

 after they came out. I wrote him the price 

 was neevliessly high. He asked me how low 

 I would make them: I replied I would make 

 100 for Toe each. He soon reduced the price. 

 I wrote they should be made by machinery, 

 and that the price could be reduced still low- 

 er. For the purp-ose of doing this. I asked 

 him how much money I should pay him for 

 his smoker business." He declined to accept 

 any monev. as did ^Nlrs. Quinbv. after lis 

 death, and also Mr. L. C. Rx>t. * Under the 

 circumstances. I. for some years, declined to 

 interfere with the business, even though I 

 knew I could benefit the t^»eople by making a 

 smoker much cheaper. I felt that it ought 

 to be dime, but yet it seemed hardly right to 

 copy our esteemed friend's invention. Mr. 

 Kmg of the Magazine, it seems thought dif- 

 ferently, for he advertised an imitation, at 

 $1.00. and called it the Quinby Smoker. 



.Sometime after. Mr. Bingham made what 

 I called a Quinby Smoker. Itnd when he sent 

 me one to try. I remonstrated somewhat. He 

 replied it was not a Quinby smoker. It seems 

 to me it was. and is yet. but I presume every 

 t>ody will have theirown opinion ia regard 

 to such matters. Mr. Quinby had never 

 made any attempt to get his smoker paten- 

 ted: on this account I felt all the more reluc- 

 tance in copying him. Later, when 2»Ir. Bing- 

 ham began to sell a great man v. I felt it my 

 duty to try to furnish a good article at a lo\\ 

 price: but rather than copy Quinby. as 

 King and Bingham had done. Ibegan experi- 

 menting with the form I have shown you 

 above, never thinking anybody would "call 

 mine a coi»y of the others. Binorham had 

 omitted a valve: this I approved, for I would 

 omit every thing about implements not ab- 

 solutely necessary. In my experiments. I 

 omitted the other valve also. I should be 

 very glad to be able to omit the springs, for 

 thev sometimes break, and I am not siu-e but 

 that we shall soon do it. Perhaps we may 

 omit the bellows too: and finally, who knows 

 but that we can in time omit the fire, and 

 just blow •• onion juice "" or something of the 

 sort, in the bees" eyes when they get " ob- 

 streperous?" I have already tried aqua am- 

 monia, in a bellows smoker, and it drives 

 them verv well for a little while. 



Xow about the patent: I believe Mr. Bing- 

 ham has a patent on his smoker, and although 

 I have not taken the trouble to hunt up his 

 claim. I suppose it is on the arransrement that 

 he calls the direct draft. On i>age 114 of 

 Sept. Xo. of GtEAXiXGS 187-5. you will see 

 that a subscriber writes that if a small hole 

 is punched in the lower end of a Quinby 



