148 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



filling the mouth of the cell, and form a 

 sink in the wax cap that will bear suffi- 

 cient pressure to make the cocoon fit 

 snugly without touching the bottom. The 

 accompanying illustration shows my first 

 plan for dipping a large number of cups 

 at one time, and attaching them to slats 

 by means of melted wax; but the time 

 has arrived when cell-cups will be on the 

 market, and we need a bar to which they 

 can be attached without melted wax. 

 One, a half inch square, to fit between 

 the end bars of a brood-frame, with eigh- 

 teen five-sixteenths of an inch holes 

 bored nearh' through, and five-eighths of 

 an inch from center to center, furnishes 

 just such a bar. 



Only one round nail should be used at 

 each end when fastening it in the frame, 

 so that the holes can be turned out for 

 the cups to be inserted and the larvae 

 transferred, with the frame lying on its 

 side. The bars should be immersed in 

 hot wax before put in use, and if the 

 larvae only is transferred the cups should 

 first be slightly pressed into the holes 

 with a peg that fits the bottom: but if 

 the cocoons be transferred with the larvae, 

 it is only necessary to set them over the 

 holes, and the slight pressure necessary 

 to make the transfer will also tighten the 

 cups. 



The bar should be put across the center 

 of the frame, and the space above it, ex- 

 cept a bee space immediately above it, be 

 filled with a thin board nailed in. There 

 will ie'no neces.sity of ever taking the 

 bar out of the frame; as, if provded 

 with wire loops, the nursery ( see page 152 ) 

 can be slipped over the cells in less time 

 than it takes to count them, and the 

 queens removed as they emerge; or the 

 cells can be detached and used in the 

 usual way, by simply running a knife 

 between them down to the bar, and pry- 

 ing them off. 



To dip cell-cups that are smooth inside, 

 the first dip Uiust be full-depth, and the 

 others varied according to the tempera- 

 ture of the room and wax. Usually the 

 second dip should only be half way up, 



and then the third one will finish it, un- 

 less the wax is too hot, and should be 

 nearly full depth. 



The use of the new cell-bar will sim- 

 plify the dip])ing of cups wonderfully; as 

 any number of the forming sticks can be 

 made fast in a board, in rows of suitable 

 distance to admit of conveniently remov- 

 ing the cups, or the sticks can be made 

 fast in the bars, as teeth in a rake, in- 

 stead of loose as shown on page 147, and 

 a number of these sets can be fitted into a 

 frame and all dipped at once, b}' having 

 blocks of varying thicknesses or some 

 other arrangement, to be adjusted while 

 the wax is cooling, after making a dip, 

 for the frame or board to come down on, 

 to change the depths of the different dips. 

 It is not necessary to make the base of 

 the cups heavy, as is the case when they 

 are to be stuck on slats with wax, and 

 the sticks need not be varied from a per- 

 pendicular position, but simply give a 

 little jerk to dislodge the drops as soon 

 as they form on the points, to prevent 

 having long necks to the cups. 



The latest machine dips them by tiirn- 

 iiig a crank, and the pins have two 

 motions. They go around, like the 

 spokes in a wheel, and they whirl, or 

 slowly revolve, as they go around, which 

 keeps the wax spread evenly around un- 

 til it sets, which prevents the long points 

 that are so bothersome when dipped by 

 hand The wax must be the right tem- 

 perature and the dipping done by a 

 steady, slow movement. If moved too 

 fast the wax will be forced up too high 

 on the pins, and make the cups with a 

 long side and a short one. Although 

 they are turning while in the wax, they 

 will not turn entirely around while at the 

 deepest point. 



The pins are arranged on the circum- 

 ference of a wheel but not put on entirely 

 around the wheel, and after all are dip- 

 ped, and the point reache;l where no pins 

 touch the wax, all is suddenly raised suf- 

 ficiently for them to miss the wax, and 

 another revolution given without stop- 

 ping the wheel, followed by a pause for 



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