380 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 26, 19C4. 



being quite prominent just now, I will give a 

 little of my own experience, or, more properly 

 expressed, perhaps, ray own little experience, 

 as tliis has lieen my first attempt in this line ; 

 but I should never have undertaken the work 

 if I had not had plenty of tools for amateur 

 work, such as plow, rabbet-plane, jointer, 

 jack and smoothing planes, saws, squares, 

 etc., all of which have a place in making bee- 

 hives. Before buying the lumber, I did con- 

 siderable figuring to get proper lengths and 

 widths for the different parts of the hive, so 

 that the waste has not been worth mention- 

 ing. The " fillings," such as frames, wedg- 

 ing boards and bottom-slats for supers, honey- 

 boards, etc., I ordered from the factory. 



The catalog price of 25 I'.j story, S-frame 

 hives, in the flat, is $36.2.5 at the factory. 

 Without taking up space to itemize, I find 

 that the cost to me of 26 hives with the cover 

 and bottoms, and 37 supers — including " fill- 

 ings" bought of the manufacturers — is just 

 •^19. OS. The item of labor 1 have left out for 

 the reason that my time was not worth any- 

 thing for anything else. I am 69 years old, 

 and feel better physically and mentally, too, 

 in that kind of employment than sitting 

 around the house doing nothing but read the 

 papers or bother the women-folks. But I am 

 sure it would require a greater genius than I 

 am to make good bee-hives with only a " saw 

 and jack-knife" for tools. 



While I have no quarrel with the manufac- 

 turers of bee-supplies, and think I owe to 

 them quite a degree what measure of success I 

 have had with bees, still, I like to be in a posi- 

 tion where I can stand on my own " Foote- 

 ing " when it seems for my interest to do so. 



Mr. Bevins complains of being tired of the 

 effort to make the one-piece section retain its 

 "squareness." I had the same trouble for 

 years, until three years ago 1 made a machine 

 for folding sections entirely different from 

 anything I ever saw or heard of before, and 

 since then I have no such trouble; with this 

 machine I can put together 10 sections a min- 

 ute, and they are perfectly square. 1 fold 

 enough at one time to fill 5 or 6 supers, then 

 put them in place and they liaveto retain their 

 " squareness." A. F. Foote. 



Mitchell Co., Iowa, April 19. 



[Why not describe that section-folding 

 machine? And also send in a picture of it. 

 We should be pleased to publish them for the 

 benefit of the. fraternity, if Mr. Foote will do 

 so. — Editor.] 



Long Winter— Bees Starved. 



This is said to be the banner county in this 

 State for the production of honey, but last 

 summer was very bard on bees here, as there 

 was no honey-flow after the bees quit rearing 

 brood, consequently they went into winter 

 quarters quite light in stores, and, being a 

 very long, hard winter, about one-half of the 

 bees in this part of the country have starved 

 to death. E. L. Cook. 



Benton Co., Minn., May 11. 



Clipping Queens— Bee-Houses. 



I returned to my northern home from the 

 South on April T, and I find a big change in 

 the climate. I have experienced lots more 

 cold since arriving here than I did all last 

 winter. On my arrival here I found I had 

 lost one colony ; the prolonged winter gave 

 them dysentery. They were all packed in 

 chaff hives. The rest are doing finely. 



I notice that quite a number ask about a 

 device to catch and clip the (jueen. I made a 

 simple little device that is the best thing for 

 that purpose I have ever seen. It is set over 

 the queen as she travels over the brood-comb, 

 and she can be taken in the house to clip if it 

 is more convenient. She is not touched with 

 the fingers. The cost is 10 cents. Any one, 

 if he has the wire, can make one in a few 

 minutes. Often her wings will slip through 

 the spaces so they can be clipped so easily. I 

 always release her on the same frame that I 

 find her on. 



When I find the frame with her on, I watch 

 my chance and set it over her, and as quick as 

 she runs up, slip my thumb over the end, set 

 the frame on end, where I took it from, clip 



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Write to-day for 1904 Catalog;. Address, 



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565 iL 567 W. SEVENTH ST. DES MOINES, IOWA 



L the Bee Journal. 



Send for Our 1904 Catalog and Price-List. 



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AQENCIES. 

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1 to nobody and nobody 



51 WALNUT STREET. 



CINCINNATI, OHIO. 



