1893 



GLEANINGS IN KEE CULTURE. 



809 



considerable force has then to be used, frames and 

 combs are broken, hives are jarred, and the opera- 

 tor is compelled to act more like a burglar breaking- 

 into an iron safe than any thing else, with the 

 result that tlie bees are thoroughly maddened with 

 rage, and their owner soon brought into a simihir 

 condition. On the otlier hand, with every thing 

 properly fitting, there need l)e no more fuss re- 

 quired in taking out a few frames or sections from 

 the hive than books from a library shelf. Of course, 

 the old-fashioned straw skeps are now little used, 

 aithougli the demand is (much to our surprise) 

 sutficientlj' great as to cause Mr. lUow to employ a 

 man regularly in making them. 



The greatest departure tliat modern bee-keeping 

 has made from the old method is in the use of wax 

 " foundation," to the manufacture of which we are 

 next conducted. This is liere produced with as 

 much care as butter in a model dairy factory; tlie 

 thermometer is used at every operation, the quality 

 and general satisfaciory natui-e of the complete 

 "foundation " Ijciiig dependent on the temperature 

 at which the melting, dipping, and rolling are 

 accomplished. The larger portion of the wax used 

 comes from abroad, as the production of English 

 wax is necessarily limited; Madagascar, Chili, and 

 India each sending a considerable quantity. African 

 wax is often adulterated in a unique manner by 

 the natives, who suspend blocks of quartz or other 

 he.avy rock into the melting-pot with the wax, 

 which, of course, can not be discovered until the 

 block of wax is remelted or broken. Australians 

 (not the aborigines) adulterate the wax itself by 

 melting' mutton-fat witli it. Mr. Blow, however, 

 taises good care that nothing but pure wax be used 

 on his premises. That from India is colorless, the 

 absence of color being due to bleaching, and it is 

 used to lighten the hue of the darker wax in mak- 

 ing "super foundation."* 



Mr. Blow's arrangements for the manufacture of 

 foundation are on tlie newest and most elaborate 

 scale. The wax is first melted by steam in a large 

 cauldron, so that it is impossible to exceed a cer- 

 tain temperature, and during this process it is clar- 



D*" Foundation " is mainly divlrled into two kinds, brood and 

 super, the difference being in tlie color and thickness of the 

 sheets. 



ifled, after which it is strained into a deep, oblong 

 vessel, where it is still kept in a liquid state by 

 steam. The sheets are prepared by dipping smooth 

 wooden boards (whicli have been previously ilipped 

 in water of a temperature of 60° F. and diained) 

 into the melted wax and quickly withdrawing them, 

 and then the sheet of wax is readily stripped otf. 

 The next process is to impress each sheet with the 

 /V(cNi//i(7e of the basis of the cells, and this is done 

 by first placing it in a trough containing water at a 

 temperature of about 1UU° F., then passing it 

 through embossed rollers, the latter being hesited 

 to a temperature of 70° F. Mr. Blow dispatches 

 twenty tons of foundation per annum, and is proud 

 of the fact tliat there has never been a complaint 

 as to its quality. There is a great deal of adulter- 

 ated foundation in the market, which appeals to 

 some by reason of its ajipnrcnt cheapness, but those 

 who have tried it soon discovered that, in compari- 

 son with the pure wax, it is dear at any price. 



On the same fioor we are shown several metal- 

 working machines, most of them having been de- 

 signed by Mr. Blow. Metal section-cases, of which 

 a quarter of a million are now turned out yearly, 

 pass through several of these machines. The 

 "smokers " are made of tinned steel, with the best 

 quality of morocco for the bellows. Some idea of Mr. 

 Blow's connection can be imagined from the fact 

 that, up to the present, he has sold between forty 

 and fifty thousand smokers; and as each of these, 

 with fair usage, will last many years, it is fair to 

 assume that nearly every order for a smoker comes 

 from a fresh customer. In this department we see 

 excluding zinc, dividers, metal tops for feeding- 

 bottles (for the use of bees, not babies), and various 

 other metal flttiiig-s^. K^^-"^ 



Mr. Blow shows us, in passing, Jiis simple gas- 

 making apparatus, which turns out splendid gas at 

 the cost of .5.S. per thousand, the price charged by 

 the Welwyn Gas Company being tlie extraordinarily 

 hi^g n 0]ie of 6s. Hd. per thousand. 



On the next Moor we find the imaking of bar- 

 frames in full swing. Here are tiers of crates con- 

 taining glass bottles, "■ sections," etc., and at one 

 side are stored bee-appliances of all kinds, tjg 

 numerous to mention. For the past twelve ye. irs 

 an annual average of one million sections has b jgn 



THE FACTOKY— MAKING BAB-FRAME IIIVF.S AND BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES. 



