FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 69 



BEE-SMOKERS. 



You who have used smokers ever since you began 

 working with bees hardly know how to appreciate them. 

 At least it is doubtful if you appreciate them as much as 

 you would if you had done as I did when I first began 

 bee-keeping, going around with a pan of coals and a 

 burning brand on it, or else a lighted piece of rotten wood 

 (indeed this last was quite an improvement over the 

 first), the only bellows I had being a sound pair of lungs. 

 Any one of the various makes of smokers I have tried 

 will do quite satisfactory work. I have used up more 

 Clark smokers than any others. Although low in price, 

 the Clark is really more expensive than anv other. It 

 works beautifully while new, but the "new" wears oi? 

 entirely too soon. The bellows becomes incapacitated by 

 reason of the smoke sucked into it, and then there is no 

 good way to clean it out. 



CONTINUOUS AND CUT-OFF BLAST. 



The Bingham, Cornell, Crane, and others, are all 

 good. The cut-oflf blast lengthens the life of a smoker, 

 but shortens its blast. The continuous blast, as in the 

 Clark, allows one to send the smoke with more force, 

 but, as already mentioned, shortens the life of the smoker, 

 because the bellows become foul with smoke. The 

 Crane has the advantage of the full strength of blast 

 without the weakening of the cut-off, and works in per- 

 fection for a long time. Still, in the course of time, the 

 metal valve becomes dirty, and it must be cleaned. For- 

 tunately the part containing the valve can be taken off, 

 allowing all to be made just as clean as when new. It 

 takes quite a bit of time to do this, but it is time well spent, 

 and one cleaning a year, even with heavy use, is suffi- 

 cient. Those who do not care for so strong a blast will 

 prefer a Bingham, Cornell, or other smoker with a cut-oflf. 



