THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



11 



any kind of loose, hanging", or fing'er- that the more propolis I have, the more 



spaced frames, if j'ou will ag^ree to 

 keep 3'our combs as nice and straight, 

 as I do mine; and now I know I will 

 shock vou and a few others when I saj' 



I want Hofl'man frameswith short rests. 

 Was it Dr. Miller that said, "what 

 queer critters we mortals be ?" 



LoNOMONT, Colo., Nov. 12, 1905. 



Prepmire for tlie Cosmlin^ Sesison 



H. SMITH. 



□QHE honey season over, the bees put 

 T^ into their snug winter quarters, 

 and the most of the season's crop dis- 

 posed of, and we, as thorough bee-keep- 

 ers, turn our attention to making pre- 

 parations for the coming season. 



If we have fifty or more colonies, and 

 if we have anything else to take some 

 our attention and time during the 

 winter, fiozv, is none too soon to com- 

 mence preparing the numberless things 

 required in the apiary during the busy 

 time. 



Possibly, the man who buys all his 

 hives and fixtures need not get such a 

 rush on. He gets all his material 

 read}' to put together, which is not a 

 very long operation. But the founda- 

 tion is to be put into frames and sec- 

 tions, hives painted, and numberless 

 other things to be done, which if not 

 attended to in spare time, will find him 

 full of regrets in the busy season, when 

 the air is full of honey and swarms. 



But the man who intends making his 

 own hives and appliances is the fellow 

 who in Its f get to work now. That lum- 

 ber must be brought from the mill, and 

 if he gets it in the rough, it has to be 

 dressed, which is a very long opera- 

 tion, unless he has a planer run by 

 power. In cutting out hives, if he has 

 a circular saw, I would advise setting 

 the gauge and cutting out first what 

 ends for hives he will require; then re- 



set the gauge and cut out all the sides. 

 By doing this, everything will be ex- 

 act and the hives all one size. 



MAKING HOFFMAN FRAMES WITH A 

 HOME-MADE RIG. 



I believe those who use Hoffman 

 frames, even though they make their 

 own supplies, depend on the supply 

 dealer for these frames. But I find I 

 can make them cheaper than I can buy 

 them. I select stuft" the same thick- 

 ness as a Hoffman end bar is wide at 

 the widest part, and saw it into blocks 

 the length of an end-bar. By running 

 these blocks over a saw I trim them up, 

 so that when ripped into slats they are 

 perfect Hoffman end-bars. I put a 

 w^asher on each side of the saw so as 

 to make it wabble, and this cuts the 

 notch on the top of the end-bar, and 

 forms the self-spacer. 



I also make my own fence-separa- 

 tors, using a grooved board to tack them 

 together. Four grooves run crosswise 

 of the board to hold four posts, and 

 four other grooves run lengthwise to 

 hold the slats. These grooves are 

 made deep enough to allow the second 

 lot of posts to be laid upon the slats 

 and be just level with the top of the 

 board. 



If a person has invested money in a 

 circular saw and power to cut out 

 hives, I believe it will pay him to make 



