236 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



May 



Now in regard to the press putting fdn. in wired 

 frames. After I had devised the lye process last 

 season, I supposed I had all sticky troubles at an 

 end: but wo hnve now been at it one more day this 

 year, and I can not make the lye process work near- 

 ly as completely as it did last season. I shall have 

 two new die-books here in a few days, and I will 

 then make a new trial, and report. The Given press 

 has enough advantages in its favor, that it needs no 

 bolstering by denying the fact, that hand-pressed 

 sheets work to perfection. 



I have shipped many hundred wired frames of 

 Given fdn. over the country as far as iiOO and 400 

 miles away, and I have heard of some complaint of 

 the fdn. breaking loose in transit, but am led to 

 think that most of it went safely. The great objec- 

 tion to the general sale of made-up frames of fdn. is 

 the hig-h transportation charges; and for that rea- 

 son I said the following in my circular for this j-ear. 

 I quote:— 



I believe it will pay all who keep 10 or 5« eolonies of bees to 

 owna)iiess ami make their own tounilation, iiiasimich as the 

 trauspoilatii^ii on that on wires in niaiie-ni) frames is high, and 

 the press makes tin- very best we have ever seen for both de- 

 partments, besides makint;' it in wired frames. 



I ha\ o- no doubt of the perfect adaptability of 

 made-up fdn., pressed on to wired frames by hand, 

 after looking over my colonies this spring. 1 have a 

 number of combs (say oOO) drawn from hand-press- 

 ing, and aU is in good and perfect order. I really be- 

 lieve it will pay those who have no press, and not 

 colonies enough to warrant the purchase of one, to 

 buy their frames in the tlat, wire on the spool, and 

 fdn. made up, and make up and wire their frames, 

 and press on their fdn. by hand. It is not so formid- 

 able a ,iob as it seems to be. 



I paid girls U cent per frame, and they hand- 

 pressed the wires into the fdn. with the end of a 

 nail, pressing it into every cell the wire ran over, 

 ©ne by one, and made wages. 



Will you do us the favor to detail your latest ap- 

 proved method of hand-pressing on fdn. in this May 

 No. of Gleanings, for I think 1 am aAvay behind in 

 that matter? 



I had always supposed that the Given fdn. was the 

 icrtst " brittle" of all. I know of no better style of 

 fdn. for hand-pressing on to wires than the Given. 

 The bulky, soft, low side-wall makes it well adapted 

 to that purpose. 



To conclude, 1 really much prefer the press and its 

 product to any of the roller mills, both for the ease 

 with which I can run the sheets off, and the rapidity 

 with which the bees use it. If I can't obviate the 

 sticky troubles we are now having with the wired 

 frames, without having to bother with half-nailed-up 

 frames, or pulling off the bottom-bars, I shall put 

 my sheets of Given fdn. on by hand, knowing, as I 

 now do, that the ©peration is not complicated or ex- 

 pensive, but practicable in every point of view. 



I am opposed to metal corners; and if you will use 

 a regular half-inch end-bar (as given to us by Mr. 

 Langstroth), and make it of whitewood, as all end- 

 bars should be, you will tind that one 3d fine nail will 

 hold a pull that will pull your bottom-piece in two 

 in the middle, before it will give way. 



Now, friend Novice, you an) too old and experi- 

 enced for us to excuse you for using any arrange- 

 ment that allows the bees to glue the bottom-bars 

 of the upper frames to the top-bars of the lower 

 ones. The objection, that heavy end-bars take up 

 too much room, is " straining at a gnat and swal- 

 lowing a camel." I am one who cares not for early 



and late breeding, and many other supposed ad- 

 juncts to this pursuit, l)ut do enjoy bees free from 

 chol— dys — diarrhtea, and seasons in which the 

 nectar flows lively. I am much interested in the 

 "fresh-air " ideas. lean and will add something in 

 favor of the fresh-air theory, by and by. 



Dowagiac, Mich., April 5, 1^82. 



P. S.— Please explain to us why j-ou think hand- 

 pressed fdn. will stick to the wires better during 

 transit, than those put on with the Given press. 



Thanks, friend 11., for the determination 

 you show in helping to work out this im- 

 ])ortant matter now before tlie world of bee- 

 keepers; and thanks, too, for the very 

 beautiful specimens you have sent, of thiii 

 fdn. made on the press. If you will excuse, 

 however, I think the samples I send you are 

 a little thinner in the base, and they are 

 made on a S^HO nine-inch mill too. Very like- 

 ly, a wall so heavy that s feet will weigh a 

 pound will be better than that thinirer. We 

 can make either the light or heavy wall on 

 the same roll or press, either, and I can not 

 well see why the product of the one should 

 ditfer vei'y materially from that of the other, 

 ])roviding the embossing is the same on each. 

 Very likely, the deep cells may never be 

 fotuid desirable for general use ; but we 

 need more experiments in the matter. I 

 presume the greater first cost per square 

 foot would stand much in the way. 



I have given in the supplement, issued 

 April 15th, our method of putting fdn. into 

 wired frames. We pay the little girls half a 

 cent apiece for putting in the wires, and it is 

 worth about half as much for putting the 

 sheets of fdn. in, and doing it nicely. The 

 greatest reason why I tliink the fdn. would 

 stay better put in by hand, is because we 

 catch the edges of the sheet of wax on the 

 sides of the frame, with the fingers. This 

 same thing may be dome with the press yet, 

 and I hope it will. We can do it nicely with 

 the rubber plates, and have the melted wax 

 catch right on to the wood of the frame, on- 

 ly said melted wax will get on the wood- 

 work in too great a quantity, and the trouble 

 of getting it olf takes more time than the 

 hand method. If just enough wax could be 

 poured on the plate ecenZ?/, and no more, the 

 .rubber i)lates would be ahead of all. In re- 

 gard to the metal corners, about f of all the 

 frames we now sell are metal-cornered, and 

 we often have single orders for 1(1,000 of the 

 corners alone. Two machines are now at 

 work constantly, with a capacity of about 

 5000 a day, and "we find it hard work to keep 

 up. 



I really wish, friend Ileddon, you would 

 explain to us ABC scholars how to keep 

 the bees in a two-story hive from building 

 between the upper and'lower frames. 



Now I Avish to revert to a subject referred 

 to on p. 140, March No. It is the little point 

 that distinguishes the Diuiham fdn. from 

 all others. I mean, making a cell a little 

 nearer round, or, rather, rounded at tlie 

 corners, instead of the natural hexagonal 

 shape. After deciding that fdn. made thus 

 has a much greater strength, besides com- 

 ing from the rolls much easier, and also giv- 

 ing a thin base with much less pressure, I 

 directed Mr. Washburn to make a conical 

 hollow punch, and strike over a pair of our 



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