1883 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
511 
Bee Notes for November. 
If the bees are to remain on their summer stands, 
either in chaff hives or in packing, they need but 
little attention this mouth, or until next April. Do 
not let the entrance become closed with ice or snow. 
If the swarms are to be wintered in the cellar or bee- 
house, they should be carried in early this month, 
before severe weather comes. The bees should be 
disturbed as little as possible, while they are carried 
in-doors. Leave the entrance to the cellar open, and 
the covers off of the hives. We prefer to place a 
piece of carpet or other heavy material over the 
hives, that will retain heat, but allow the free pass¬ 
age of moisture. Once in a dark and well-ventilated 
cellar that maintains a uniform temperature of from 
thirty-eight to forty-eight degrees Fahrenheit, 
the bees will need no further care until April. 
If they remain quiet in the cellar, we may know 
that all is right; but if they become restless, and 
loud buzzing is heard, and the hives are soiled 
about the entrance, they should be allowed a flight 
the first warm, pleasant day. It is better to arrange 
the cellar for sub-earth ventilation and avoid remov¬ 
ing the bees to the open air for a flight. If they 
are carried out, they should be returned at night¬ 
fall, where they will remain quiet for the winter. 
HONEY—MARKETING. 
The autumn is a leisure time in the apiary, and 
affords an opportunity to look after the honey. 
Honey should always be kept in a warm room. In 
October and November the extracted honey should 
be placed in kegs, bottles, cans, or pails, ready for 
market. The tin pails now used and sold with the 
honey, are cheap and satisfactory. By use of these 
vessels and elegant labels, now in the market, it is 
easy to sell all the extracted honey that is made. 
The label should give the kind of honey, and tell 
how to reliquify it, when candied. It is well to 
state that granulation is the best test of purity, and 
causes no damage if the honey is not overheated in 
reliquifyingit. The name of the apiarist should not 
be omitted from the label—if he is not in bad repute. 
In selling comb honey, the sections should be 
••leaned of all propolis, or bee glue, and if the mar¬ 
ket will warrant it, each section should be glassed. 
STIMULATING THE HOME MARKET. 
Bee-keepers are ofteu unwise in not working up 
their home markets. Very few groceries have 
honey to sell for any considerable part of the year, 
and when they do have it, it is rarely arranged in 
an attractive manner or in a conspicuous place. If 
all grocers exhibited honey in a neat ease, which 
would keep flies and fingers out, we should find that, 
overstocking the market, is well-nigh impossible. 
Protecting Grape Vines.—Simple Method. 
BY PROP. J. B. DE MOTTE, GREENCASTLE, IND. 
This season’s experience here proves very forci¬ 
bly the advantage of winter protection for even 
the hardiest native grape vines. Last winter, 
though severe, was not colder than one in every 
three, yet the iron-clad Concord shows only a very 
few poor bunches, and no fine ones except in the 
few instances where the vines were laid down and 
well covered. These were loaded with bloom, and 
after thinning to six bunches to the double spur 
the clusters are magnificent. The vines are un¬ 
usually vigorous, while those unprotected are fee¬ 
ble, with many open spaces where the wood was 
killed. Many of the so-called hardy varieties are 
killed to the ground. 
How may we secure such protection most eco¬ 
nomically, with the least bending and twisting of 
the main vines? After growing all the standard 
varieties and most of the newer sorts, and trying 
many methods of culture and training, I have 
adopted the Folding Trellis as the best, all things 
considered, and present it herewith, hoping that 
many readers of the American Agriculturist will try 
it, and see how easily they can fold away a hun¬ 
dred vines for winter, after pruning the surplus 
wood, and lift them again in spring, even dropping 
them half a dozen times during the frost months, 
if desired. Five minutes suffice to fold a two 
hundred feet row, and the covering of straw 
will take care of itself when the trellis is raised. 
Space the ground with pegs five feet apart in ten 
foot rows. Set good five-foot posts three feet 
deep, very straight along the rows, beginning two 
and a half feet from the outside peg ; the second 
ten feet from the first ; the third five feet from the 
second, and so on. Each section of the trellis 
consists of three horizontal pieces, fifteen feet 
long, one and a half by three inches, screwed 
three feet apart to upright slats placed five feet 
from each other — these uprights having the vines 
fastened to them by leather loops. The horizontal 
vines are fastened in the same way to the pieces. 
The uprights are eight feet long, and screwed 
edgewise to the frame, extending two feet below it 
to the ground, so that they can be bolted to the 
posts. A twelve-inch plank is fastened on top, 
to protect from light frosts, heavy dew, and hail. 
The Vines are trained on the horizontal arm, in the 
short spur plan, with double rows. Short-jointed 
varieties, like the Delaware, should be planted for 
the lower arms, and more vigorous growers, like 
the Concord, Lady Washington, Pocklington, etc., 
for the upper. Where an arbor is desired, a sec¬ 
ond frame can be bolted to the top of this one, to 
ridge against a similar one in the next row, mak¬ 
ing a roof, the rows being set closer together. This 
frame is let down first, then all folded over to¬ 
gether. After the fall pruning, the upper bolt 
which holds the frame to the post is unfastened, 
the key is removed, and the sections are laid 
down and covered with straw for the winter. Not 
a vine has to be unfastened, no sharp bends are re¬ 
quired, and the wood is all protected. 
Aids in Digging Eoot Crops. 
Figure 1, shows a carrot and sugar beet lifter 
made in the following manner: Take a piece of 
hard-wood, two and a-half by three inches, and six 
Fig. 1.— A ROOT LIFTER. 
feet long, for the main piece a, into which make a 
mortise two feet from the wheel end, to receive the 
lifting foot (figure 2) ; attach two handles, 6, 6, at 
one end, and a wheel, c, at the other. This wheel can 
be set high or low as desired, by the setscrew, d, 
in the clevis, e. Figure 2 shows the lifting “foot” 
separate from the machine. This is made of flat 
iron or steel, five-eighths inch thick and three inch¬ 
es wide, with a steel point and a small wing at the 
bottom. It is in the curved form seen in the en¬ 
graving. The roots are first topped with a sharp 
hoe or sickle, two rows of tops being thrown into 
Fi£ 2 
one, which leaves one side of the rows clear for 
the lifter. The horse walks between the rows and 
the foot of the implement enters the ground at the 
side of the roots in a slanting direction, as shown 
in figure 3, lifting the roots so they may be rapidly 
picked up. The implement is very easily made to 
run deep or shallow, by simply changing the wheel 
and lifting, or pressing down, upon the handles. 
A “foot” made in the form of figure two, may 
be placed in the centre arm of a common horse hoe 
with sides closed, and used as above. 
Hew to Attach Lightning Hods. 
BY F. D. CURTIS . 
Several barns in my neighborhood supplied with 
lightning rods having been struck by lightuing, I 
concluded that there must be something defective 
in the arrangement. In every case, either the peak 
at the gable end, or a corner post had been struck, 
the rod being in the centre and the connection with 
the ground in the middle of the barn. 
The rod on my barn was similarly placed, but fif¬ 
teen years ago I had it taken down and changed as 
shown in the engraving. Common half-inch iron 
rods had the ends so turned that they could be 
hooked together on the roof, and by driving an iron 
wedge underneath they could he brought into close 
contact. Common iron staples fastened the rods 
to the roof. These rods were placed the whole 
length of the peak and joined together, the ends 
projecting three feet beyond the gables. At the 
gable-ends rods were hooked on each side of the 
roof, and extended down over the corner posts and 
projected two feet beyond. A rod, connected 
with the end projecting over the gables at the peak, 
extended into the ground for a distance of nine 
feet. At the centre of each building an upright 
rod is placed with a pointed end to which the rods 
on the peak are attached. This rod runs to the 
ground and into it to the depth of nine feet. My 
idea was to have every corner of the building, as 
well as the whole peak, protected by a rod so that 
if the lightning should strike at any point it would 
be quickly conducted into the ground. Set up¬ 
right points at the gable ends, on large buildings. 
There are several hundred feet of these rods on my 
barns which have never been damaged by lightning. 
Praiseworthy Fair Arrangements. 
At the Orange County (N. T.) Fair we noticed 
three features, which, though not novel, are far too 
often overlooked; indeed they are the exception 
rather than the rule. First, there were “ retiring 
rooms” for both sexes, properly designated, and 
at points convenient of access. Second, tanks and 
barrels of ice-water at many points, kept well 
filled, and each supplied with several drinking 
cups, which, in this case, were small, bright gal- 
vanized-iron dippers, with long handles that pre¬ 
vented their sinking out of reach, and terminating 
in a curve, or hook, by which they were readily 
hung upon the edges of the barrels, and upon iron 
rods by the sides of the tanks. Third, a large 
number of seats, boards upon blocks, etc., placed 
in the shade of the principal building, and of trees. 
These should always be provided for at least one- 
fourth of the attendants present upon any day. 
Boards, or planks, for this purpose, can usually be 
borrowed or rented cheaply at the lumber yards, as 
no cutting or nailing is needed. A little attention 
to such particulars will add immensely to the pop¬ 
ularity of the fairs, and to that of the managers. 
