296 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15. 



my aim to produce an escape that should be 

 more rapid than any now known; but while I 

 have half a dozen patterns that will work as 

 rapidly as any, I can not fairly say that they 

 will do more. I have tried escapes with one in- 

 let and four outlets, and vice versa, but one is no 

 better than another, in that respect. The cut 

 of the Hastings, with a chance for four bees es- 

 caping at once, with but one inlet, looks very 

 nice; but it is no more rapid than the Porter, 

 where a single bee seems to be examining the 

 springs. I believe, however, that, where one is 

 in a hurry to have supers cleared, to put from 

 two to four escapes in a board is a decided gain. 

 This is my conclusion after making many trials. 

 There is one other point I want to make 

 clear; and that is, the distance required to make 

 my shute principle a success. As I have shown, 

 when bees are isolated by getting into the well, 

 they will travel any distance to regain the 

 hive bees; but no such large escapes are neces- 

 sary. When I first discovered that the princi- 

 ple would work successfully I was using a sort 

 of double honey-board the full size of hive. I 

 then commenced to cut down the size of the 



Eroposed escape, all the while making tests. I 

 ave now reduced the size to 1}>4 x 5 inches, 

 with not less than three shutes, or gates. Such 

 an escape is as simple and as rapid as any es- 

 cape now known. If a less distance or fewer 

 gates are used, the bees will pass back through 

 it, and, of course, it fails to work. 



I long ago tried some such devices as Mr. H. 

 Alley describes — holes punched through tin. 

 Sometimes they work all right, and sometimes 

 they don't. If Mr. Alley thinks it is not the 

 jagged edges that keep the bees from returning, 

 let him try round smooth holes. Drones in 

 supers will effectually stop up such escapes. I 

 have also tried his honey - board theory, but 

 found it " no good." " C. H.Dibbern. 



Milan, 111., March 28. 



[Well, friend Dibbern, we believe you are the 

 doctor on this question. You have experiment- 

 ed so carefully along these lines that your con- 

 clusion of the whole matter is doubtless pretty 

 nearly 'orrect.] 



CUTTING COMB FOUNDATION. 



HOW DOOLITTLE DOES IT. 



I am requested to tell in Gi,eanings how I 

 cut comb foundation, and what I use on the 

 knife to pn-vent the foundation, or wax. from 

 sticking to it. The writer says he Is botheri>d 

 with the wax sticking to the knife, to such an 

 extent that the foundation is torn rather than 

 cut. In cutting foundation I have a wide board 

 which I use on purpose for this business, on one 

 side of which are screwed strips half an inch 

 thick, which are for the purpose of stops to 

 keep the foundation from sliding on the board. 

 These strips have notches in them half an inch 

 wide by one inch deep, so spaced that they 

 come just where the knife will run into them in 

 cutting the foundation; and a pin is set in one 

 end for the gauge-board to strike against, so 

 thatnotimeis lost in measuring. .Thisgauge- 

 board is made by nailing strips of the right 

 length, in pairs, each pair being set a thirty- 

 second of an inch apart, for the knife to run in, 

 and the pairs nailed to suitable cleats, to make 

 the whole thing rigid and strong. In nailing 

 to the cleats, the pairs are spaced so that, when 

 the knife is put in them, it will cut the founda- 

 tion to the desired width, when it is ready to be 

 cut the right length by using another gauge- 

 board fixed for that length. If the notches in 

 the strip screwed to the wide board are not in 

 the right place for this lengthwise cutting, 



change for a strip that has right notches. Hav- 

 ing both boards ready, put from five to eight 

 sheets of foundation on the board, bringing it 

 up against the strips, and even with the pin; 

 put on the gauge-board, and draw the knife 

 between each pair of guides, thus cutting the 

 foundation in the right place, and perfectly 

 true, the same as a saw works in a miter-box. 

 In using the gauge-boa*d, the left hand holds 

 it down firmly, but not hard enough to make 

 the foundation stick together. This keeps ei- 

 ther the gauge or the foundation from slipping. 

 For the knife I prefer an old table-knife, such 

 as our grandmothers used — one that has been 

 worn till it is very thin, when the edge is made 

 very sharp on an oil-stone. 



How to prevent the wax sticking to it was a 

 problem on which I worked a long time. I was 

 told to heat it, by some; others advised the use 

 of honey, weak lye, etc., all of which did not 

 work to please me. Moistening the knife with 

 kerosene worked the best of any of these, and 

 this plan was used till one day when I was in a 

 great hurry I drew the knife through the foun- 

 dation as quickly as possible, when, lo and be- 

 hold I the whole sticking matter was solved; 

 for the friction caused by the rapid motion of 

 the knife through the wax melted it to a suffi- 

 cient extent so it did not stick to the Knife at 

 all. To be sure I was right, I quickly drew the 

 knife to the middle of the pile and stopped, al- 

 lowing a few seconds to pass before I tried to 

 goon again, when I found the knife was fast 

 and could not bp. moved, except by tearing the 

 foundation. This may be old to others: but as 

 I have n^ver seen it in print I here give it to 

 those who are fussing with honey, lye, etc.; 

 and, if like me, they will appreciate bothering 

 with those no longer. Eight sheets of thin 

 foundation, or five of thick, are about all that 

 can be cut with one sti'oke of the knife handily. 

 Where the thin comes in narrow strips, several 

 piles eight sheets deep can be put on the board 

 at once. 



POSTAGE ON QUEENS TO AUSTRALIA. 



Friend Root. I think you are quite rightabout 

 the postage on queen-bcos to Australia, on page 

 186: but the words. "' We can now send queens 

 more cheaply to Australia than we can to a lit- 

 tle town four miles distant from Medina," may 

 be misleading to some, and cause trouble if the 

 postal rulings are not fully understood. As I 

 understand the matt(^r. we have to pay two 

 cents postage on any thing sent to Australia, as 

 samples of niorchandise. no matter if the pack- 

 age doos not wiMgh more than one-fourth of an 

 ounce: while only two cents are required for a 

 package weighing four ounces. If the weight 

 is above four ounces, then we have to pay one 

 cent for each extra two ounces or fraction 

 thereof, up to the limit of weight, which is, as 

 you say, eight and three-fourths ounces; thus 

 the postage on a package coming up to the full 

 limit would be five cents. If you were to send 

 a queen to a little town four miles from Medina, 

 you would undoubtedly use the small Benton 

 cage, weighing an ounce or less, and on this 

 you would put a one-cent stamp, according to 

 U. S. laws; but if the same cage were started 

 for Australia it would require two cents. I 

 thought a little explanation of this matter 

 would help all who might be thinking of send- 

 ing queens to the Old World. 



THE GOVERNMENT IJQUORBUSINESS. 



I read with considerable interest what the 

 editor said on page 222, relative to "Govern- 

 ment Distilleries." I note that "government 

 distilleries are out of Uncle SamueVs line of 

 business;" but instead of that they appear to 

 be right in line with Ms business, for he re- 

 ceives 90 cents on every gallon of whisky dis- 



