BEE MANUAL. 175 



but with the " direct draught," the air going through the fire 

 must necessarily be hot when it leaves the smoker, and after 

 using it steadily for some little time the smoke is apt to be very 

 hot ; herein I prefer the " cold blast." On the other hand, the 

 advantage of the Bingham direct-draught smoker over all others 

 in use, with perhaps the exception of King's (which I have not 

 seen), is that it can b6 set down without the fire going out 

 immediately ; in fact, it will burn away for hours, or until the 

 fuel is exhausted. Those who have been troubled with their 

 smoker going out every now and then as soon as they laid it 

 down for a minute will be able to appreciate this advantage. 

 I don't know anything more annoying than while manipulating 

 bees, especially if they happen to be hybrids, to find your 

 smoker out that you only a minute before laid out of your 

 hand. The peculiar feature about the Bingham (patented 

 in America) which insures the constant burning of the fire is 

 the non-attachment of the small tube directing the blast from 

 the bellows to the fire-box itself. There is about a quarter of 

 an inch space left between the end of the air tube and the fire- 

 box, so that a current of air is always rushing through this 

 opening into the fire. 



I have both the above smokers in use at Matamata, and 

 although I like the principle of the " cold blast" I prefer the 

 Bingham for the reasons given. Could the principles of the 

 two be combined in one I think it would make a perfect 

 smoker. 



FUEL FOR SMOKEKS. 



For the cold->blast smoker I find very dry half-rotten wood 

 or dry cow-dung as good as anything I have used ; but for the 

 Bingham it is better to use good dry sound wood, cut into lengths 

 of about four inches by one-half inch square. To set the smoker 

 going, drop in first a few live embers and cover them with 

 small fuel, give a few puffs to start the fire, and fill up with the 

 larger pieces. A correspondent to the New Zealand and Aus- 

 tralian Bee Journal recommended soaking the fuel in a solution 

 of saltpetre (an ounce to the pint of water) and drying it care- 

 fully before using it ; a match will then be sufficient to light it. 



As it would be difficult to explain clearly how to make a 

 smoker without a number of illustrations, and more difficult 

 still for an ordinary bee-keeper to make one even were instruc- 



