noise."Apple Honey's Perfectly Ordinary Day--story notes · 3:59am Sep 6th, 2015
Apple Honey's Perfectly Ordinary Day Notes
Thanks to Topaz Moon, theRedBrony, AShadowOfCygnus, metallusionismagic, and MSPiper for pre-reading, editing, and whatnot.
Additional thanks to Topaz Moon and theRedBrony for suggesting and inspiring some of the scenes in this story.
Parts of a Wagon
We're going to start off with parts of a traditional wagon. The wheels, I should hope, are obvious. In the front of the wagon, there would be a singletree or a doubletree, which is what the horse's harness connects to. The singletree is for one horse; the doubletree is for two. If you were pulling with more than that, you'd have a singletree connected to the harness, then an evener, then a doubletree, and so on all the way back to the wagon.
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In this three-abreast hookup, the three horses are hooked to singletrees. Behind that, the pair on the right is hooked to a doubletree, and they--and the horse on the left--are connected to an evener, which is in turn fastened to the wagon.
The ironwork would be all the metal parts of the wagon. In a pre-industrial or early industrial society, they'd be among the most valuable parts, since they're not so easily recreated locally.
The tailboard is the tailgate on the wagon.
Friction brakes are what they sound like—brakes which engage the wheels to stop the wagon. In the wagon picture above, you can see them in front of the rear wheels. It's important to note that not all wagons had them. On many setups, the horses were responsible for the braking. That's what the breeching strap on the harness is for (but we'll get to that in a bit).
This brings us to the drop chains. If a wagon didn't have friction brakes, there needed to be a way to keep it from rolling away when it wasn't hitched to a horse. One method was called a 'dog stick,' which was a y-shaped stick that was jammed into the ground and against an axle. Obviously, if the wagon were operated on paved roads, that wouldn't be practical, so many wagons had drop chains—a pair of chains on the front bolster (the piece of wood which made up the front of the wagon frame) that would be looped through the spokes on the wheel.
For downhills, wagons without friction brakes relied on drags, which were small ski-shaped shoes that went over the bottom of the wheel, and dragged on the ground.
A chicken run is some kind of enclosure which helps keep the chickens in where you want them, and protects them from predators. Often, they are built with roofs, to keep birds of prey away, and—if the roof is solid—to allow the chickens to run around in rainy weather. In Apple Honey's case, it's simply a fenced-in enclosure that keeps the chickens on her property.
A kaleyard is a small kitchen-garden. It's also spelled kailyard.
A stile is a means of crossing over a fence without a gate. Often, it was a set of stairs over the fence, which animals couldn't use but their human handlers could.
Farm Equipment
A cultivator, for the sake of this story, is a pony-drawn frame with several small blades—or tines—that dig at the soil, turning it and uprooting weeds.
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A rotary hay rake is a tool which is used after the hay has been cut to put it in windrows for baling.
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A muck wagon is a wagon that's primarily used to haul manure (really, once you'd used it for that, would you want to use it for anything else?).
A stone-boat (which Topaz pointed out is supposed to be hyphenated) is a sled. They were used year-round on farms for hauling stone, and they're also used in horse pulls, among other things. While they don't move as easily as a wheeled vehicle, they won't get stuck as easily, and they don't need brakes to stop.
It's also worth noting here that oftentimes the word 'new' is deceptive. My grandmother had two push reel lawn mowers. When she passed away, I got one of them. The owner's manual for it was labeled 'new lawn mower.' It was from 1957. I have no idea how old her other mower was.
Parts of a Harness
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In the interests of full disclosure, the source above is not the one I used for my harness terminology. (I used a book called Driving Horses: How to harness, align, and hitch your horse for work or play by Steve Powers and Marlen Steward.) As the author of that page points out, there is some confusing terminology, and not all harnesses have the same parts. What are called 'quarter straps' in the story aren't even on the harness pictured.
The quarter straps run under the belly. The whole assembly over the back is called the hip strap assembly. At the top center, the crupper dock loops around the base of the tail (the dock), and keeps it from moving side-to-side.
Below that, against the hind legs, is the breeching strap. That's the primary braking on many wagons.
When we picture beekeeping, we probably think of the modern bee boxes, but it wasn't always that way. Traditionally, beehives were made out of straw or wicker, with a waterproof coating applied. Those were called skeps, and they worked pretty well . . . except that you'd pretty much wipe out the hive when you went to collect the honey.
Nowadays, we use a box-style which has removable honey boxes. Those can be havested while leaving the main colony alone, which is much better for the bees.
A ringbolt is a bolt with a ring at the end (I know, so helpful). Usually, they're just hammered over, although in industrial applications they can be welded or forged in one piece.
If you wanted to open one, the smart way to do it would be to put the eye (the ring part) in a vice and apply force to the threaded end, since that gives you more leverage. Obviously, you need to protect the threads if you're doing it this way, but there are many ways of doing that.
I owe "the laying down roller dohicky thing" to Topaz Moon. It's a creeper—a small, wheeled board which allows one to get under a car or wagon. Scootaloo was one one when she was working on the parade float, so they're canon.
The old general service kid at our shop named the two brooms "Mister Sweepy" and "Sweepy Junior."
Dinky helped cook dinner last night is a reference to Dinky Debates Dexterity, Destiny and Dinner
I believe in Big Mac Reads Something Purple, Bad Horse mentioned that the bag was tied with a 'simple plowpony's knot.' I envision a simple loop to hold the bag shut, which can easily be untied.
Coopers work on barrels.
A barrel is made up of two heads, and the sides are individual staves. Everything is held in place by a series of hoops—usually metal bands—which surround the barrel.
In case you're interested, the parts of a barrel are further broken down thus. The heads have a middle board (in the middle), then two cant boards on either side of that, then two quarter boards on the edge (the barrel pictured only has four; I suspect they are two cant boards and two quarter boards). The staves don't have individual names, but the hoops do: From the top down, they're the chime hoop, quarter hoop, and bulge hoop (and then those same hoops are repeated on the other end).
Compost heaps can, and do, catch fire. The biological processes which turn the waste into usable compost generate heat, and given the right circumstances, it can be enough to start a fire inside the pile.
The fire engine is, of course, pony-drawn. It looks much like this:
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The stallion selling Apple Honey an outdoor shower is a reference to Aviatrix. It was the same stallion in both cases.
A donkey engine is a stationary steam engine, usually with a winch. They were commonly used in logging.
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The Mystery of the Manehattan Musical Mare Mixup is a Prancy Drew story, and is specifically mentioned by name in Friends Forever issue #16.
Remember when I told y'all in the last blog post that I couldn't remember where I'd gotten the name White Clover from? What I didn't tell you is that this story has been in production for seven months. I suspect that the pony in question got renamed while the story was sitting in the 'unfinished' pile.
Also, Lavender August was overlooked in the dramaturge.
There are two similar earth ponies, called Lavenderhoof and Lavender Blush, who might be her sisters.
You know, I just can't see the Equestrians making harness out of leather, so what do you think they use? Maybe a heavy canvas?
Did not know that's what a donkey engine is. That fire engine is smexy. I may be a tiny bit of a steampunk.
3372303
I'm sure there's a semi-magical plant that serves just as well, if not cork bark.
Given the show's tendency for literalism in descriptive form: Timber Wolf being made out of wood, bugbear being more like an owlbear than the expected fantasy goblinoid, etc... Leatherleaf Fern could be an entirely different thing.
Glad I could help.
Don't tell that to the guy that edits my story. I get yelled at for not ever using them, then arguing about it half the time... mostly with colors.
What would a pony style look like? What would allow a pony to pass but not a chicken or pig (one of the few animals I can think of which hasn't been shown to talk)
nice notes. just one thing seems to be missing from the wagon description, that of the roller brake. Where when going up lots of hills, its like a one way mechanism. You have a small log on chains, or ropes, that you place on th ground just behind the wheels. They drag along when the wagon moves forward up the hill, but chock the wheel as soon as the horses relax. Its certinly needed round here, the hill top to valley can be over a thousand feet, and even the railway hit 1 in 35 along the valley bottom.
I find the top view of th hauling harnesses layout very intresting, as for balancing forces to a single force point, loks remarkably similar to the suspension NASA has settled on for the latest round of Mars Rovers. Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity, and I think Pathfinder?
Mars Horse.
The Ponies would have one advantage we don't when using the older style beehive design. When it is time to harvest the honey you ask Fluttershy's over and she gets the bees to leave and hang out nearby, then have them move into a new one or ack in that one once the honey had been gotten out. The bees still won't like it, but it wouldn't be nearly as destructive or dangerous.
Still, I'm sure that everyone involved, bee and pony alike, will like the new style better. Hence why Fluttershy would endorse it. Do you think she went to talk to a hive that was using a new one and asked them what it was like?
3372303
I'd say a heavy canvas would be the most likely. We've seen some white saddlebags in canon, which makes me think that they're undyed canvas and lends a bit of credence to the theory.
They could also make a large number of the thinner straps out of rope rather than the traditional leather, or ropes run inside cloth sleeves. Or, as 3372323 said, there could easily be a suitable plant.
Or, they could be leather. Maybe when the dairy cows get old, they export them to the griffon empire in exchange for harnesses. That's probably the least likely explanation, but it's possible.
3372307
Fun fact: I had to make some changes in the story when I wrote the blog post, 'cause I'd forgotten that the boiler on those wagons extended below the rear axle.
3372323
You know, I hadn't thought about it until just now, but since we know that earth ponies are good at growing plants quickly, is it possible that timberwolves came about as a result of earth pony magic? Inadvertent, probably, although they could have been created on purpose.
I also wonder if they do engage in their own genetic engineering to get things that they need. Earth pony based genetic engineering could be pretty scary.
I don't know if the author has published them yet, but Lilligold in the OC Slamjam grew magical plants.
3372328
It's okay--I overuse them, putting hyphens in compound words that don't have hyphens anymore. My spellcheck generally catches them before the pre-readers get a chance to.
3372516
Well, you couldn't really make one that a chicken can't cross, since they can fly. Any arrangement of steps, and it could just fly up them one at a time until it's over.
For the pigs and cows (since in canon they're shown to not be all that smart [although in fairness, when the ponies panic, they often act just as dumb as the cows]), making it narrow would be the key. Both are considerable larger than the ponies.
3372583
Not only Fluttershy: a pony with a bee-related cutie mark would probably be able to do the same. Arguably, Apple Honey falls in this camp (although her cutie mark is cupcakes). That exact thing was actually a subject of debate in the story. The problem with the skep isn't so much getting the bees out, it's that you pretty much destroy the hive getting the honey out of the skep, since you literally have to tear it apart. A pony could probably persuade the bees to build their hive in such a way to minimize this damage, but there would still be some.
With the newer style, the parts where the bees put the honey are removable, and the nesting portions of their hive can be left untouched. I'm not sure how the bees know to build their hives this way, but apparently it works.
She probably did, yes. Even seeing the design would help convince her that it would be better for the bees. The only reason that ponies aren't adopting them wholesale is that they're far more expensive than the traditional style.
3372749
This is actually quite interesting to me as I'm in the process of writing a chapter involving a pony with a bee themed mark (Honeybun, a brewer specialising in mead) with a chapter where the mane character talks to her while she's harvesting a hive. It didn't occur to me how the hive would have to be destroyed to harvest, I'm a bit torn between her asking the bee's to move to a whole new home or to damage the hive as little as possible and then repair it.
Your stories are actually very handy for most of the stuff I write as it's for the Lunaverse which is supposed to have an approximately 1880's tech level (with a few exceptions) although the part I'm exploring at the moment is on the outskirts so it's probably a few decades behind the curve. All your technical detail is very useful to try and think out how life would be in such a community.
Nice bit of work there, though someone is eventually going to wonder where it fits in the timeline.
3372749
3372802
With the new ("new ") box and frame hives, you keep the queen separate from the honey by use of a queen separator (a mesh spaced to keep the queen out of the honey supers while allowing the drones passage. It doesn't always work and can cause swarming), rotating the brood boxes so that she never runs out of comb or becomes honey bound, adding a second entrance at the bottom of the lower honey super (some queens won't pass an opening if they can avoid it), putting the fullest comb in the bottom honey super (queens sometimes won't pass honey filled comb. They're looking for empty comb to lay in, not carbs), or using round or square sectioned frames (most queens won't lay in round or square frames. I don't know why, and I don't really question it). Queens also like to lay in the freshest comb, so, there's that as well.
3372838
The short answer is that CSI starts after Spike at your Service (S3E9), and Strike got his cutie mark in The Cutie Pox (S2E6). My own headcanon puts it about a year before the start of CSI.
3372802
Well, you've got a bit of freedom when it comes to the hive. Historically, Earth skeps weren't very good for the bees, but then there were a lot of bees, so probably nobody cared all that much. If you assume that the ponies generally do care, they could design the skeps in such a way to be less damaging to the hive, and the ability of a pony to communicate with the bees would also help. There's actually a lot of leeway, really. I think a pony with a bee-related cutie mark would probably be more concerned about the bees' welfare than one without,
I'd say in your case, it would be very reasonable for Honeybun to tell the bees that she was going to take some of their honey and ask them to leave the hive for a different one for a little while, and then carefully extract the honey without hurting the other parts of the hive.
It's also worth noting that there has been at least one episode with bee suits, and Rarity and Flax were chased by bees in one comic after harvesting a beehive. This tells me that while some ponies can successfully communicate with bees (Fluttershy being one example), others cannot.
Thank you! For the most part, I average the tech level in Pony Planet stories around the 1860s, although there are some outliers with technologies the ponies have developed that we hadn't, or technologies that they haven't come up with. There are a few books I've used which have been invaluable resources, and if you send me a PM, I'll give you a list when I get home. One of them is an absolute must-have for that technological era.
3372924
Intriguing....now to see how other things play out
3372904
Huh. Well, that's all very helpful. I didn't know any of that.
3372937
The traditional method of robbing honey from a skep (or basket, clay jar, log skep, wild hive, whatever) is to kill the bees by burning sulphur beneath the hive. This is done to keep the newly dispossessed bees from fighting with one's winter hive, which can result in the loss of all hives involved.
admin.lhost.cz/obrazek_domacivcelarstvicz/9/full.png
This is a full skep viewed from the bottom. Bees fill combs with eggs at the bottom, pollen in the middle, and honey at the top. To get the honey out everything has to go. So, after the bees are dead, the comb is ripped out of its cover structure (beeswax and crystallized honey are sticky as hell) and chopped up to separate the honey comb from the pollen and larva. The skep is then left outside to dry and to give the winter hive a chance to scavenge what they can from it before being cleaned and stored for the next year.
To improve honey and wax production (beeswax being at least as precious as honey), some people used double chambered skeps. The bottom cavity would hold the queen and brood chamber while the top cavity would (hopefully) be used for honey, with access between the two controlled by a queen separator. As previously stated, however, a queen excluder works about as often as not, and can cause more problems than it offers to fix.
That depends on where you were. Bees are not native to north america, so for early colonists what you had was all you had. Even in the old world, just because there may or may not have been a lot of bees doesn't mean it wasn't a massive pain in the ass to run down, capture and transport swarms every spring. Instead, what most farmers would do is save one hive over the winter by heavily insulating and storing it under some kind of shelter until spring time, when it would be replaced next to the empty skeps and the whole thing would begin again.
Just because you can communicate with something, doesn't mean it won't get mad at you for breaking into it's home and stealing all that hard work. Maybe it was just before the scheduled harvesting. Bees were expecting them next Tuesday.
3373843
That's probably a factor, too, but I do think that a pony like Fluttershy could harvest a hive without fear of a single sting, whereas most ponies couldn't.
And Apple Honey gave no further thought to Blue Clover the whole day?
3379844
Well, she had other things on her mind.
3372323
I think I'm going to have to borrow that idea for my stories, it's a great answer for both the problem and fits perfectly into the setting.
One of the things I liked about this story was the Apple Honey's name and cutie mark are unrelated to her line of work. It's just one part of her, not her entire ... destiny. ;)