44 Bee-keeping for Bkginners. 



in their way. Personally, I prefer No. i. The No. 2 

 is a Bingham, and is said to be an excellent smoker. 

 Mr. Meadows recommends cotton-wool as fuel, but 

 the writer nearly always uses rotten wood. Specially 

 prepared fuel is now mostly sold by the dealers, and 

 is very useful. To subdue the bees it is only necessary 

 to puff the smoke in at the entrance and wait a minute 

 or two. The bees will gorge at once, and are then 

 good-tempered. Should they not be so, a few more 

 puffs over the frames will make them so. A rag 

 soaked in carbolic acid solution is now frequently 

 used to lay over the frames. The bees will fly from 

 it. When this is used the rag must not be too wet, or 

 the honey will taste of the acid. 



One of the great advantages of modern bee- 

 keeping consists in the fact that the honey can be 

 extracted from the combs by centrifugal force, and 

 the combs given back to the bees to be re-filled. It 

 was said to have been discovered by an Austrian 

 gentleman who was playing with his children on the 

 lawn. To amuse them, he swung some honeycomb 

 round and round. Presently he found that the honey 

 was swung out of the comb. This led to the invention 

 of the Honey Extractor, now brought to great per- 

 fection. Here is an excellent one by our friend Mr. 

 Meadows, which goes as smoothly and quietly as a 

 pneumatic bicycle. A frame of honeycomb is taken, 

 and a long knife, which ought to be a little warm. 

 The cappings of the honey are cut off from both 



