1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



557 



size to your eight-frame Dovetailed, my frames be- 

 ing % thicli by li wide, top, ends, and bottom-bars. 

 These in the hive evenly spaced, leave 7 spaces be- 

 tween the frames, i'^ inch wide, with two spaces 

 bacli of the outside combs, just half that width. 

 Now get 7 strips =8 inch thick, scant /« inch wide, 

 and the length of your top-bar, also two strips half 

 the width gotten out, and put them in those spaces; 

 clean off from your old frames burr-combs, side 

 and top; and if you have bulged comb, shave it off 

 for that spacing, and you will find that all future 

 comb-building will be in exact keeping with that 

 scant IVa-inch spacing. It works perfectly; and if 

 any practical apiarist will give it a trial, and can 

 find any fault with it, I should like to have him tell 

 what it is, in Gleanings. E. D. Keeney. 



Arcade, N. Y. 



If I understand your spacing-aevice it is 

 simply a series of strips of wood wide 

 enough and long" enough so as to close en- 

 tirely the spaces between the frames. Of 

 course, there will be no burr-combs because 

 the bees can not gain access to the tops of 

 the frames the spacers are on. Those spacers 

 must be removed every time you put on 

 sections or an extracting-super. I doubt 

 very much whether such an arrangement 

 will be tolerated by bee-keepers in general, 

 for you yourself say that there are no burr- 

 combs except when the sections are on, and 

 that is just the very time when burr-combs 

 are built, and when we don't want them. 

 When honey is not coming in they are not 

 built, and so your spacers will do no good 

 except to hold your frames at fixed dis- 

 tances. In fact, friend K., we do not see 

 that you get rid of the burr-combs at all. — 

 Your method of wiring is working nicely, 

 and it will probably supersede all other 

 methods for new frames in the near future. 



DAD ANT'S EXTRA-THIN FOUNDATION 

 STRETCHING. 



THE RIGHT AND WRONG WAY TO PUT FOUNDATION 

 INTO SECTIONS. 



I am using Dadant's extra-thin comb foundation 

 in the standard one-pound section, but have to 

 trim every piece, as the bees bulge it if used full 

 size. Now, if this is always the case why do they 

 not make it narrower and save waste? Can you 

 mention this in (iLEANiNOS? I should like to know 

 what others think about it. Bees are booming on 

 basswood now. It openea here July 4. 



Harry Lathrop. 



Browntown, Wis.. July 10, 1890. 



We sent the above to Chas. Dadant & Son, 

 who reply: 



We think the main trouble lies in the foundation 

 not being properly hung. It should hang thus: or 



[CCoIf€€mCC€€«» 



n 



mw. 



it may be that the foundation was too fresh when 

 used, for we notice that the softness of the fresh 

 sheets, which makes them more malleable for the 

 bees, also helps them to sag more readily. Most of 

 our customers use foundation for sections 4 inches 

 wide, and we have but very few complaints of its 



being too wide; we think this is due to the fact that 

 the most of them do not use full sheets, but only 

 three-cornered pieces or narrow strips running the 

 full length of the section. We prefer to use sheets 

 about 4K inches wide, and cut them in two so as to 

 make a little over two Inches in depth. This allows 

 of sagging whenever there is any in the extra-thin 

 foundation. We expected to hear of more sagging 

 this year than other seasons, owing to the exceed- 

 ingly hot weather of the month of June, but so far 

 we have not had any complaints. We should like 

 to hear from others. We cut our foundation any 

 size wanted. Dadant & Son. 



Hamilton, 111., July 19, 1890. 



The point you make, friend D., is referred 

 to by Cheshire in his work, and we are glad 

 the matter has come up as it has, for the 

 opportunity is presented of instructing the 

 users of foundation respecting the right and 

 wrong way of putting foundation into sec- 

 tions. When it is fastened into sections as 

 shown in the engraving, the downward pull- 

 ing is all on perpendicular lines. When it 

 is put in the other way, the cell-walls run- 

 ning upward are like a rail fence, or thus : 

 If there is any stretching, this rail fence, 

 as it were, straightens out a little. All 

 our L. foundation is made with the cells 

 so as to hang to the top-bar as shown in 

 the engraving below. Our thin surplus, 

 when it comes out of the mill, is in long 

 strips, four inches wide. If pieces two 

 inches wide are cut off the end, and fast- J> 

 ened the long way to the top of the sec- / 

 tions they will be suspended the wrong way. 

 If, however, these strips be cut into squares, 

 and then divided the other way, the foun- 

 dation, when put into the sections, will 

 hang right. There is only one way to get 

 our brood-foundation into brood-frames; 

 and that is, with the cells hanging right as 

 shown below. We have no doubt but that 

 Mr. Dadant makes his foundation in the 

 same way. 



After dictating the above I went down in- 

 to the wax-room to test the relative strength 

 of foundation fastened in the two ways. 

 I took a strip of our thin surplus, 4 in. wide 

 and about 17 long. This I cut into squares. 

 Now, then, I welded together two of the 

 pieces so that one side and one end lapped 

 together. The welding was accomplished 

 simply by pressing the lapped ends so they 

 were, so to speak, firmly fastened. After 

 warming the strips a little and putting the 

 ends between a couple of grippers, I pulled 

 to see which half of the foundation would 

 stretch first. Of course, I expected that the 

 foundation as shown in the cut opposite 

 would stand the greater strain ; but in this 

 I was disappointed. I could detect no ap- 

 preciable difference, after many trials, in 

 the strength of either. I'ossibly in the hive, 

 when the comb is drawn out, there may be 

 a difference. Theoretically, the facts as 

 stated above ought to be true. Have any 

 of our readers tested this matter in the 

 liive— that is, by making comparative tests 

 by putting sections into the super with foun- 

 dation fastened both the right and the 

 wrong way? I know that Cheshire and the 

 Dadants mention this in their works. Per- 

 haps the Dadants can give us a little^ more 

 light on the subject. '' " 



E. R. 



