1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



85 



on the small tooth of a back saw; and, speak- 

 ing of files, do start with a new one, keeping 

 it clean and well oiled. 



But suppose you are starting out to work 

 on a saw tnat is badly out of order, such as 

 my correspondent described — one that has 

 been filed all kinds of ways, and set without 

 any system; then you will have a job on 

 your hands that will keep you busy for quite 

 a while. First, see that your saw is so set 

 in the vise that the lower part of the finished 

 tooth will be very little above the level of 

 the vise top — only enough for the vise to 

 clear it, and you will then have a guide for 

 the depth of the cut. Theoretically you are 

 to worK upon only one tooth at a time, but 

 I find my file is busy with one on each side. 

 Which will be filed the more will depend 

 upon how the pressure is applied; and this 

 gives one a chance to correct an uneven 

 width of teeth ; so when you apply the file to 

 any particular tooth, compare it with the one 

 on the other side of the file, and press hard- 

 est against the wider one, letting the other 

 take care of itself. You will thus be able to 

 get uniform width in the teeth of the saw. 



THE TOOTH TO WORK ON. 



Start work on one side at the end nearest 

 the handle, and file each alternate tooth; 

 then reverse the saw and file the remainder. 

 You will probably be in doubt as to which 

 tooth you are to work upon. I know I was. 

 It is the one that is bent away from you, the 

 one in which you can see the little tooth in- 

 side the big one; and you are to work on the 

 face next to the point of the saw. So when 

 the handle of the saw is on your right, the 

 tooth you are to file will also be on the right 

 of the tool; when the handle is on your left, 

 the tooth will be on the left of the file. 



ANGLE OF FILE. 



The angle at which the file is held is im- 

 portant. We have two to consider — first, 

 the angle with the perpendicular face of the 

 blade; second, the angle with the line of the 

 teeth. The first is always at right angles; so 

 if the clamp is standing perfectly upright, 

 then the file will be horizontal. The second 

 angle is determined by the amount of bevel 

 wanted on the teeth. In the case of a rip 

 saw, where a square-pointed tooth is wanted 



Fig. 10 shows the angle when we look 

 from above. The cant of the file will de- 

 pend upon the rake you want to give the 

 tooth. With crosscut saws the top face of 



FiG.9. 



the file will be at right angles to the length 

 of the blade. In Fig. 9 we are supposed to 

 be looking down upon the teeth of a rip saw 

 from above, and we see the file working at 

 right angles to the line of the teeth. In 

 crosscut saws, such as have been described, 

 an angle of 45° is about right. 



the file should be level in both directions; 

 with the rip and pruning saws the face of 

 the file working on the front surface of_the 

 tooth must be upright. '-^^ 



In working over an old saw that is in^^bad 

 shape, bend all your thoughts in getting uni- 

 form depth of cut, width of teeth, and angle 

 of bevel. Do not worry at this stage about 

 the height of teeth or the angle of slope 

 shown in Fig. 7; for if the other three are 

 right, these two will probably take care of 

 themselves, provided always the file is kept 

 level and at the proper angle with the line 

 of the teeth. 



An old proverb says that an old violin is 

 good enough for a beginner to practice on. 

 Of course it is; for it is a better instrument 

 than it was when first made. But an old 

 bent saw with twisted teeth, sometimes want- 

 ing a few of these essentials, is not the best 

 tool for first experiments in saw-sharpening. 

 The possessor of a good saw with many 

 broken teeth should send it to a saw-cutler 

 who will strip off the old teeth and punch 

 new ones in the new edge. 



Let me conclude by giving the dimensions 

 of saws that are recommended for such work 

 as happens around the average apiary or 

 farm: 



Length Points to inch 



Rip saw 28 4 



Hand or crosscut 26 7 



Tenon or back 10 to 14 10 



Keyhole or compass saw 14 to 18 9 to 12 



Victoria, B. C. 



A STRUGGLE WITH EUROPEAN FOUL 

 BROOD. 



The Removal of the Queen and the In- 

 troduction of a New Italian Queen Ef- 

 fected a Cure; Goldens Preferred to 

 Three-banded; the Alexander Method 

 Followed. 



BY EDGAR WILLIAMS. 



I should like to give you my experience 

 with European foul brood or the so-called 

 black brood. The winter of 1903 proved to 

 be a very severe one on bees in this locality. 

 Most bee-keepers lost from 75 to 100 per cent 

 of their bees during the winter and spring. 

 My bees were wintered out of doors in sin- 

 gle-walled hives packed only on top. I 

 saved only four weaklings out of eighty good 

 colonies the previous fall. Whether this had 

 anything to do with the disease I can not 

 say — probably not. I am simply telling it as 



