626 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 1 



two end-pieces of a section-holder or ship- 

 ping-case (one in each hand) and thrust 

 them down between the cleats d and e, and 

 the ends of the fingers a and h. This will 

 stretch the spring c, and its recoil force will, 

 by means of the fingers, hold the two pieces 

 firmly in exact position for nailing. 



Only a few dimensions are given, because 

 the other dimensions may be varied to suit 

 the material at hand. It is important that 

 the cleats d and e be exactly 4>| in. for put- 

 ting up standard-size section-holders so they 

 will hold the bottom piece exactly in place, 

 and yet will not stick up far enough to hin- 

 der in nailing. 



I bought a few section-holders last spring 

 with thin end-pieces which were evidently 

 intended to be nailed slightly back from the 

 ends of the bottom-piece. To use the above 

 contrivance for putting up such section- 

 holders it is only necessary to nail to the 

 cleats d and e two thin slats of the thickness 

 it is desired to have the end pieces set back, 

 and not high enough to interfere with nail- 

 ing on the bottom piece. 



I made one of these contrivances two 

 years ago in about twenty minutes, and I 

 think I am safe in saying that it has since 

 saved at least $15.00 for us in my time and 

 that of hired help, besides the great satis- 

 faction of having the work well done. 



Just who originated it I do not know, but 

 the honor perhaps belongs to a man by the 

 name of Gathright, who kept bees in the 

 Mesilla Valley before my time as a bee- 

 keeper here, for I found at his old place, 

 among some of his old bee-supplies, some 

 such contrivance, but much smaller. 



Mesilla Park, N, M. 



FASTENING FOUNDATION IN SHALLOW 

 FRAMES. 



A Machine Working on the Principle of the Park- 

 er Foundation-fastener, which Serves Admira- 

 bly in Securing Foundation in Shallow Frames; 

 a Great Convenience for Bulk-comb-honey Pro- 

 duction. 



BY J. J. WILDER. 



In the production of bulk comb honey it 

 is necessary, of course, to secure foundation 

 time after time in frames from which combs 

 of honey have been cut. The double-groove- 

 and-wedge plan for this purpose is hardly 

 satisfactory, since it is so difficult to clean 

 the old wax out from the grooves. I have 

 made a little machine which works on the 

 principle of the Parker foundation-fastener 

 for securing starters in sections; but it serves 

 the purpose far better for fastening either 

 starters or full sheets in shallow frames, be- 

 cause the top-bars of such frames are rough, 



Wilder's fastener for securing foundation in shal- 

 low frames. 



and the longer they have been used the bet- 

 ter the fastener works. It makes no differ- 

 ence whether the grooves in the top-bars are 

 filled with wax or not. If they are, this ma- 

 chine fastens the sheet of foundation to the 

 wax; whereas if the grooves are open it fas- 

 tens the foundation to the edge of the groove 

 so that, when the sheet is turned at right 

 angles to the under side of the top-bar, it 

 hangs in the middle of the groove. 



It might be argued that it is a waste of 

 foundation to crowd it into the wood as this 

 device does; but I find that more than two 

 rows of cells are rarely used. On the other 

 hand, the loss of wax by other jirocesses of 

 fastening is far greater. Even with the 

 melted-wax plan I usually use from three to 

 five dollars' worth of wax each season, and 

 then by this plan there is a very thick 

 line of wax at the toj) of the honey when 

 it is removed from the frames. My plan 

 overcomes this objectionable feature. 



Furthermore, with the melted-wax plan 

 there has been no end of breaking down 

 of starters and full sheets of foundation in 

 handling supers before they are on the hives 

 and even after the bees are in them. The 

 reason for this is that there is only a very 

 thin edge holding the sheet of foundation. 



The machine in operation, showing that it works 

 on the principle of the Parker foundation-fastener 

 for putting starters in sections. 



