154 A MANUAL OF BEE-KEEPING. 



of holes, so 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 bellows. The holes in the extremities 

 just match those in Fig. 4, so that the same screws hold 

 it securely in place. Now the fire receptacle cannot be 

 screwed directly on to the wood, because the latter would 

 burn ; but it has been found by experiment that ^ inch 

 space, between the bottom and the wood, is all that is 

 needed, if the wood is first covered with a sheet of tin. 

 Accordingly, cut another plain piece of tin, exactly like 

 Fig. 4, holes and all ; between the two, put short tin 

 tubes, made by rolling up short strips ^ inch wide. These 

 short tubes, shown at Fig. 7, are made so that a screw 

 will just go through them. One thing more, and all is 

 complete. The smoker burns so fiercely, that a damper 

 is required for it. This damper is made of a piece of tin, 

 cut in the shape shown at Fig. 6. When the smoker is 

 put together, the hole in the damper is put just over one 

 of the short tin tubes, and is thus held by one of these 

 same screws. When it closes 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 burn the wood, but actual practice shows that the 

 small amount of heat that comes directly on their heads 

 only, never heats them at all. The constant stream of 

 cold air that is coming out and going in, between the 

 wood of the bellows and the tin cup, is probably one 

 reason why it never heats downward so as to affect the 

 bellows. The hole in the centre, Fig. 4, should be sunk 

 by a suitable punch, so as to more perfectly collect the 

 entire blast from the bellows. 



The fuel for consumption in this smoker may be 

 rotten wood, rags, corduroy, brown paper, or almost any- 

 thing that will give off plenty of smoke ; perhaps rotten 



