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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Feb. 15 



ceries; but perhaps when the farmers are 

 selling the bulk oi iheir produce through the 

 associations they will launch into the retail- 

 ing of these too, and will own their own 

 packing-houses and also turn wheat at a dol- 

 lar a bushel into breakfast food at ten cents 

 a pound. 

 Denver, Col. 



--♦-—^ • ♦ 



THE VALUE OF VISITING, 



Some Good Ideas Picked up from Vari- 

 ous Bee-keepers, and Passed on to 

 Others. 



BY F. GREINER. 



The time of the year has come when we 

 can give a little more attention to the theo- 

 retical part of our business. We have three 

 ways: 1. Reading and studying; 2. Attend- 

 ing bee-keepers' conventions; 3. Visiting 

 other bee-keepers. A great many bee-keep- 

 ers do not avail themselves of all these 

 means, particularly the last. In a conversa- 

 tion with some friend we can sometimes 

 learn a valuable lesson, or start our think- 

 ing faculties in an altogether different direc- 

 tion with benefit to ourselves. By rubbing 

 up against others I have picked up some 

 good things of late, and I wish to tell the 

 readers of Gleanings about it. 



FRESH FOUNDATION THE EASIEST FOR THE 



BEES TO WORK; D.FFERENT METHODS OF 



PUTTING IN FOUNDATION. 



By dear lessons many of us have found 

 out that bees are loath to take hold of old 

 foundation, particularly if it has been in the 

 hives previously, and not drawn out. My 

 aim has always been to procure freshly made 

 foundation in the spring, and not pat it into 

 the sections till the honey season has ar- 

 rived. The untouched starters in kept-over 

 sections I always cut out and replace with 

 the fresh article. 



In talking with S. D. House, of Camillus, 

 N. Y., I found that he had noted a great dif- 

 ference in the willingness of his bees to ac- 

 cept and draw out old as against new foun- 

 dation; and his practice is to fill his sections 

 with fresh foundation the very day he wish- 

 es to put them on his hives. If the condi- 

 tions are such that the bees will begin to 

 work on the wax at once, a great deal is 

 gained, as all of us well know, and this is 

 what Mr. House is aiming at. Bees are al- 

 ways more inclined to go to work on old 

 foundation when placed in the brood-cham- 

 ber; and the difference, he says, between 

 the new and old article is not so apparent. 



Before we had the Daisy or similar handy 

 combfoundation-fastening machines we se- 

 cured the starters in the sections by dipping 

 into melted resin, etc. We could clean and 

 fill our wide frames (section-holders) with 

 the made-up sections any time during the 

 dull season when we had plenty of time. 

 When we needed the supers, the starter 

 could be quickly put in, handling the sections 

 by fours. Since using the Daisy foundation- 



fastening machine we can not follow this 

 practice, and we therefore have no way of 

 putting starters into sections by machine 

 when said sections are in wide frames with 

 separators nailed on the frames. If 1 under- 

 stand it, the Root Co. is offering a wide- 

 frame super in which the separators are a 

 separate fixture. The Betsinger super, with 

 its screen-separators, which Mr. House is 

 using, is so constructed also. Such supers 

 offer the advantage that they may be gotten 

 ready during the winter for use in the apiary 

 except putting in the foundation. 



Mr. Betsinger's method for putting foun- 

 dation into sections was as follows: His wide 

 frame held three sections. This was placed 

 upon a board to which were fastened three 

 square blocks a Utile less in size than the in- 

 side of the section, and so spaced that the 

 sections fitted nicely around them. These 

 blocks were a little less in thickness than 

 half the width of the section. The properly 

 cut and well-fitting foundation was next 

 placed upon the blocks and inside of the sec- 

 tions. With a little ladle some melted wax 

 was dipped up, and with it the sheets were 

 secured to the wood, allowing the hot wax to 

 run along the top of the section as well as 

 part way down the sides. 



This process seemed to me a rather slow 

 one. I also objected to so much wax being 

 used inside of each section. Mr. House im- 

 proved on the plan inasmuch as he fastens 

 the foundation with a hot iron plate, a la 

 Daisy, but without any machine. The iron 

 plate is attached to a handle, the whole thing 

 resembling a huge putty-knife. Several such 

 are kept heating over a small kerosene- 

 stove, and are changed as often as necessary. 

 [This is just the principle of the Root foun- 

 dation-fastener — Ed.] 



We who use wide frames with separators 

 nailed on, or also section-holders, must han- 

 dle the sections one by one when putting in 

 the starters or sheets of foundation, and aft- 

 er that we have to put them in the frames. 

 Here we run into another snag. Sections do 

 not always fold absolutely square, and are 

 not rigid enough to admit putting in exactly 

 fitting sheets of foundation. Mrs. Bacon, of 

 Waterloo, overcomes this by cutting her 

 foundation sheets slightly bias, or just a lit- 

 tle narrower at the bottom of the sheet, us- 

 ing a pattern to cut by. I would make a 

 miter-box so that I could cut 12 or 15 sheets 

 at one operation. Of course the strips of 

 foundation would have to be of just the 

 right width, or about 4>s inches wide for the 

 4x5 sections. I think I shall practice this 

 plan if I ever use full sheets ot foundation 

 in my sections. 



THE PUTTY-KNIFE FASTENER. 



The House method of using the putty- 

 knife-fashioned plate instead of a machine 

 commends itself for several reasons to those 

 whose super fixtures admit of such a plan. 

 When putting in starters or full sheets with 

 the Daisy we have to work very lively. A 

 section must not be left on the machine a 

 moment longer than is necessary to operate 

 the hot plate. Sometimes the foundation 



