1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



61 



taken off iu the cut, to show both rollers) aids to lay 

 in the sheets conveniently. 



I would punch the rollers deeper to make higher 

 side walls, but the metal is so hard that I fear the 

 celts will break off. Thci - e is plenty of wax in the 

 walls to be drawn out, and the rollers are more du- 

 rable. John ijouhcmeyek. 



Fond du Lac, Wis., Jan. 17, 1880. 



GIVEN'S MACHINE FOR MAKING FUN. 

 IN WIRED FRAMES. 



fills machine was mentioned several 

 times last summer, and our friend has 

 J at length made a practical success of it, 

 as I should judge from the photo sent us, 

 and the samples of his wired frln. The 

 machine shown below was engraved from 

 the photograph. 



PRESS FOR MAKING FDN. 

 FRAMES. 



Our readers will readily understand it. al- 

 most without explanation. In the fore- 

 ground, you see an ordinary brood frame 

 ( with wires woven across it in the usual way), 

 placed over a copper die, having the usual 

 stamp of the cells and Avails. A second die 

 is shown, hinged to the first like the cover of 

 a book. Well, after the wired frame is laid 

 over the die. a sheet of plain wax, large 

 enough to till the frame, is laid on the wires. 

 The second die is now turned down on the 

 wax, and the whole is pushed along a track, 

 • right under the platen of the powerful press 

 shown. On bringing down the handle of 

 the press, the sheet of wax is made into fdn., 

 and, of course, the wires are right in the cen- 

 ter of the wax'. The press seema to be a 



very ingenious piece of work, especially 

 those four steel springs that raise the platen. 

 As this machine dispenses with rolls entire- 

 ly, it is doubtless a great invention, with 

 but one drawback. The drawback is that 

 the wax in the dipped sheet must all go into 

 the frame of comb. Now, if friend Given 

 can give us frames full of fdn., with good 

 walls, that will not take over a pound of wax 

 to 6 square feet, I shall order a machine of 

 him at once, and discard rolls for making 

 brood combs at least. I do not know how 

 this machine will work for fdn. for comb 

 honey, bnt it does not seem possible that it 

 can make fdn. as thin as the rolls do. I or- 

 dered one of the machines last summer, but 

 when Mr. Harrison came out with his dip- 

 ping machine, T countermanded it. I still 

 prefer the dipping machine, if it can be made 

 to work; but, if not, then this, if it will use 

 wax with as much economy as the rolls; if 

 not, then the rolls, and the plan I have giv- 

 en in our price list, which I know is a suc- 

 cess, and can be worked successfully, so as 

 to require not over a pound of wax for 8 

 square feet. Here is what our friend says 

 of his machine and invention: 



The press is all my own invention. If there is 

 another such thing in existence, I have never seen 

 or heard of it. I made all the patterns, and figured 

 all the iron. Although it is figured to stand 100,000 

 lbs. of pressure for an L. frame, I do not think it 

 takes over 40,000 lbs., or 300 lbs. to the inch. Many 

 laugh at me when I tell them so much pressure is 

 required ; but let them place 300 lbs. on a square 

 inch, and they will see that it will be required. 



I have spent 20 times more work on the dies than 

 I did on the press. I now make them of copper; af- 

 ter using one made from type metal last summer, I 

 found the wires would mark it ; so I have changed 

 to copper, and now make them with the raised 

 lines. I made several sets of patterns before I got 

 them to suit me. I had a great deal of trouble to 

 get the lines so that the fdn. would lift from the 

 dies nice and clean. 



I should have had these presses all completed last 

 summer, but I was taken down with the typhoid fe- 

 ver and was not able to do anything most of the 

 summer. Since every thing has raised so much, 

 and I have to make the dies of copper, I can't see as 

 I can manufacture these presses for less than $40, 

 for frames 10x18 or 12x12 inside; larger sizes will be 

 more; for the Langstroth frame, I will make them 

 for $38.00; as there are so many of that size frames, 

 I can make them for less. D. S. Given. 



lloopeston, 111., Jan. 1", 1880. 



^ H i ^ 



G. W. Demakke, ChristiaTisburgh, Ky., writes that 

 lie made sections on Mr. Gray's plan last spring, but 

 that he discarded them, because too many of them 

 broke; from which I infer that he did not have a 

 suitable saw for making the groove, for ours very 

 rarely break in folding up, and never after they are 

 put up. The wonderful rapidity with which they 

 can be put up, compared with the old style, amply 

 compensates for nailing a corner once in a great 

 while. The saws which we use for cutting the groove 

 are made with two cross-cut teeth and then one rip 

 tooth, and so on clear around. Such saws, made of 

 the right thickness, will cost V % more than ordinary 

 saws. Those we use are 5 inch, and we can furnish 

 them for §1.50; if filed and set, $1.75 each; and, if 

 wanted by mail, add 10c, for postage. 



