332 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



excellent to use where one wishes to try a few 

 thick bars by reinforcing- some of the ordinary bars 

 already in use, with strips of veneering. They can 

 be used on all four of the corners, when they will 

 cost about l/„ cents per frame. They are called 

 "furniture nails," and are No. 9. Be sure to get 

 No. 9, if you wish to space tlve-sixteenths of an inch 

 apart. Other numbers will space slightly closer. I 

 want to ask Dr. Miller to try a few of them on his 



PHELPS BRASS SPACERS. 



veneer-reinforced frames, and tell us how he likes 

 them for moving bees. They can be pushed in by 

 making a wooden punch with a concave end, and 

 need not be struck so as to jar the combs at all. 

 Small wire nails to fasten on the veneer can be 

 pushed in in the same way, and no driving or jar- 

 ring of the frames. If the uncapping-knife should 

 strike these brass heads it would not injure it 

 much, and it would have to hit pretty close to the 

 frame to catch on to the nail at all; so the danger 

 of dulling the knife is small. 



In closing I wish to say that there is no patent on 

 it, and all criticisms will be taken as a matter of 

 course, and I shall not pose as a martyr if somebody 

 happens to have thought of them before I did. 



Kingsville, O., March 10. N. T. Phelps. 



Here is what C. C. Miller says of them, 

 who writes to us after receiving samples, 

 accompanied with a letter from friend 

 Phelps : 



I must say that these furniture nails of Mr. 

 Phelps strike me veru favorably. Have your cast- 

 ings any advantage over them except the single 

 one that they make a fixed distance from center to 

 center of top-bar while these nails make a fixed 

 distance betueen frames? After all, the latter is 

 what we want. These can be more easily applied to 

 frames in use. In fact, you don't need to shake the 

 bees off. 



In reply to friend Miller's question I 

 would say that the A'an Deusen have the 

 advantage of being reversible and a little 

 more stable. The round smooth heads of 

 the furniture nails would be liable to slip 

 by each other when pressure is exerted. In 

 point of cheapness, the brass nails can hard- 

 ly be beat, unless by the staple first sug- 

 gested by Mr. P. on page 98. Yes, both of 

 his arrangements can be used on frames al- 

 ready in use. No, it is not even necessary 

 to shake the bees off. The round-headed 



nails could be easily driven home with a 

 kind of wooden pliers that might easily be 

 extemporized for the purpose, and thus do 

 away with all jarring from pounding. Aft- 

 er all, it is hard to say whether any or all of 

 these spaces will be accepted by bee-keepers. 

 But there is a growing demand for fixed 

 distances ; and with the arrangements that 

 have been suggested we can all experiment 

 and decide for ourselves this summer. 

 While I am about it I might say that the 

 thick top-bars which we are making are like 

 B, shown in the cut, without the spacers, the 

 end-bar being nailed on as shown. F is a 

 reduced figure of the nails. The heads are 

 of polished brass. C shows how thev come 

 in contact. E. R. 



FIXED DISTANCES. 



THE NEED OF THEM, ETC. 



Last year there were several parties who wanted 

 me to look over their bees. I found them in every 

 conceivable shape— some in Langstroth hives, 

 spaces cut in hives for frames to rest in, some with 

 slots cut at fixed distances, some in home-made 

 hives, with no spacing. I found, in some hives, 

 frames touching each other; others, two inches 

 apart. One man with seven swarms had not a sin- 

 gle straight comb in the hives that could be spaced. 

 Under such circumstances it would be impossible 

 to handle successfully, or to space up combs the 

 proper width, or to put such frames in hives that 

 are spaced. 



On page 173 of Gleanings (frames affixed dis- 

 tances), I have tried that plan without success. 

 The article on p. 199 is just as bad, as they both hold 

 frames at fixed distances in the hive. My experi- 

 ence is, that all spacing must be on the frames. 

 The article on page 98 illustrates my plan exactly, 

 such as I use in my hives, and some of my neigh- 

 bors have taken up the same plan My frames are 

 all spaced with staples which are driven ia exactly 

 like the engraving on page 28, leaving the staples 

 just J^ of an inch out of the wood; and in addition 

 to this, at the center of the bottom-bar, I nail on a 

 small block, >/ in. thick, ''8 wide, and one inch long. 

 This gives the exact width from center to center, 

 1 'b or l/,„ and exactly X inch between frames. As 

 you will perceive, they can be spaced any width 

 that is needed to suit the notion of some; i. e., that 

 bees want more space in winter, but can not be 

 closed together less than the required space, and 

 no bees can be jammed in closing the frames. By 

 placing a dummy-board at one side, and keying 

 up, the hive can be turned completely over without 

 moving a frame or injuring a bee. The additional 

 cost to each hive is two cents. D. Noble. 



Clintonville, Wis., Mar. 31. 



Quite possibly you are right, friend N., 

 in saying that we want the spacers attach- 

 ed to the frames and not to the rabbets. In 

 buying up bees last sjiring 1 noticed just the 

 kind of spacing you describe. If beginners 

 need spacers, and many veterans are either 

 using fixed frames or desire them, it is time 

 we were giving the matter thoughtful con- 

 sideration. I am glad to hear that you like 

 the staple. Do you find that they interfere 

 seriously with the uncapping-knife V 



