1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



231 



apiary for the purpose of keeping down 

 grass is sound, although a word of caution is 

 necessary as to how the hives should be 

 placed to avoid having them turned over on 

 their sides. 



At one of my yards the bees are wintered 

 in rough cases, and then the hives are taken 

 out in the spring about fruit-bloom time, and 

 placed in pairs on stands six inches high. 

 As long as the bees are in the cases the 

 sheep in the yard are a fine thing; but as 

 scon as the hives are on the summer stands 

 after being taken out of the packing, I have 

 always considered the sheep a bit dangerous 

 to have in the yard. However, last spring, 

 contrary to my advice, the owner of the or- 

 chard wherein the bees are situated let a 

 flock of sheep into the yard about the first 

 of June, thinking no harm would result. As 

 a matter of fact, the same thing had been 

 done in previous years a few times with no 

 trouble. However, it was the old story of 

 "the pitcher that oft goes to the well, etc.," 

 again; and when I went out to the apiary a 

 few days after the sheep had been let in the 

 yard again I found one of my best colonies 

 with the hive lying over on its side, the cov- 

 er off, frames all jammed together, and most 

 of the brood dead. The hive was righted 

 and frames adjusted, and the bees, depleted 

 in numbers, went to work to make the best 

 of a bad job; indeed, it was about as bad as 

 it could be; for before leaving the yard in 

 the afternoon the queen was found dead, 

 dragged out at the entrance. Of course, 

 that meant no surplus for the season from 

 that colony; and as that apiary averaged 

 over 150 lbs. per colony, we naturally were 

 sorry that we had not cut all the grass our- 

 selves. If the hives are close together the 

 sheep will often get to rubbing themselves, 

 and gradually work in between the hives. 

 This process we have noticed more than 

 once, so the remedy would obviously be to 

 place the hives singly or else so close that 

 not even the head of a sheep could get be- 

 tween. Certainly the presence of sheep in 

 a yard is a nice way to keep the grass down, 



Erovided it is so arran£;ed that no hives can 

 e upset. 

 Mt. Joy, Ontario, Canada. 



DIRECTIONS FOR "SPLINTING" FOUN- 

 DATION. 



BY EMMET B. KIBBE. 



I want to put some foundation in Jumbo 

 frames, and not have it sag or buckle if I 

 use medium brooJ^ Will it be best both to 

 wire and splint it? If so, shall I draw the 

 wires taut? Ought I to wire and imbed the 

 w ire tirst, then apply the splints? 



Must I have splints long enough to reach 

 to the bottom-bar? 



Cincinnatus, N. Y. 



[We referred these questions to Dr. Mil- 

 ler, who replied as follows:] 



The object of pressing splints into foundation in 

 brood-frames is to prevent buckling, to prevent sag- 

 ging and stretching of the cells in the upper part of 

 the foundation, and especially to secure combs built 

 clear down to the bottom-bars. The splints are placed 

 perpendicularly in the frame, and are about K inch 

 shorter than the distance between top-bar and bottom- 

 bar. That K-inch space is merely for convenience in 

 putting in, and it does not matter whether it is at the 

 top, at the bottom, or divided between top and bottom. 

 As the bees are inclined to gnaw at the bottom of the 

 splints, especially when little honey is yielding, some 

 use five-inch splints, putting them at the upper part. 

 This secures against the stretching of cells at the up- 

 per part, but with these short splints there must be 

 wiring to prevent bagging at the lower part. 



The foundation is fastened to the top-bar the same as 

 when no splints are used, and the foundation is cut to 

 fit close up to each end-bar. A split bottom-bar may 

 be used, allowing the foundation to come down and be 

 fastened between the two parts. One part of the bot- 

 tom-bar is nailed on when the frame is made, the other 

 after the foundation is in place. Of course the founda- 

 tion is cut large enough to reach down to the bottom 

 of the bottom-bar. Then at the middle a small nail 

 driven through both parts of the bottom-bar pinches 

 them together, holding the foundation in place firmly. 

 Instead of the split bottom-bar, the ordinary single 

 bottom-bar may be used. In that case the foundation 

 must be cut to make a close fit at the bottom, and melt- 

 ed wax must be run along the edge of the foundation 

 to fasten it to the bottom-bar. Even if the split bot- 

 tom-bar be used, it is better to use the melted wax so 

 as to prevent the bees from starting to gnaw. The 

 only object of the split bar is greater convenience in 

 making a fit at the bottom, for with it there is no need 

 to be exact about cutting the bottom of the foundation. 

 After the work is done, the single bar is just as good 

 as the split bar— perhaps better. 



To drive the moisture out of the splints and to fill 

 their pores with wax, throw them into wax boiling 

 hot. They will froth up with the air and steam driven 

 out of the splints. When all frothing ceases, take them 

 out of the wax and keep them stirred as they rapidly 

 cool, so they will not be stuck together. 



When ready to press the splints in place, the frame 

 with foundation is put on a board the same as for wir- 

 ing, the board being large enough to fit rather loosely 

 inside the frame, with stops on the edges of the board 

 to allow the foundation to be in the middle of the 

 frame. A heavy black mark is made on the board at 

 the place where each splint is to be laid, the black 

 mark showing through the foundation. The mark 

 will show more plainly if the board be painted white, 

 or if white paper be pasted upon it. 



In a brood-frame of usual length a splint is placed 

 at each end about VA inches from the end-bar, and 

 another in the middle of the frame. Then, if medium 

 brood foundation is used, a splint is placed midway 

 between each end-splint and the splint at the center. 

 But if light brood foundation is used, two splints will 

 be used in place of each one of the last two splints, the 

 space being equally divided. Thus it will be seen that 

 for medium foundation there will be five splints with 

 spaces between them of about 3^ inches; and for light 

 foundation seven splints with spaces between them of 

 about 2>3 inches. 



A few splints are thrown into a shallow dish of wax 

 kept only hot enough to be liquid (if boiling hot the 

 splints will melt their way through the foundation i, 

 and one by one each splint is lifted with a pair of pli- 

 ers and laid in place, while a helper presses each splint 

 into the foundation by means of a little board with an 

 edge >i to }-8 inch thick, this edge being kept wet. 



Another way that is possibly be ter, but has not been 

 so thoroughly tried, is this: Instead of using a pair of 

 pliers pick up the splint with the fingers, holding it by 

 one end; dip it into the hot wax as far as possible with- 

 out touching the wax with the fingers, and then lay it 

 in place, putting next the top bar the dry end, which 

 is held in the fingers. The upper end may not be so 

 well imbedded as if dipped in the wax; but bees are 

 not much inclined to gnaw at the upper end. In this 

 way there is less harm from having the wax very hot, 

 and one can handle the splints more rapidly with the 

 ingers than with the pliers. 

 For ordinary brood-frames there is no object in hav- 

 ing wiring when splints are used. With frames of un- 

 usual depth there is a possibility of the foundation 

 bellying out to one side, so it may be well to have a 

 single horizontal wire drawn taut midway between 

 top and bottom, or else two wires some three inches 

 apart, the wire being imbedded before the splints are 

 put in. For extracting-frames, there will be less dan- 



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