1S80 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



65 



bottom pieces narrower, so as to let the bees 

 pass through. These cuts are about iin. 

 deep. If you want closed top sections, only 

 one cut is made instead of two. The end of 

 each bolt is now dovetailed with the gang of 

 saws, precisely as in the old way, except that 

 one end of the plank is made so" as to match 

 with the other end, that the section, when 

 rolled up, may exactly come together. This 

 being done, the bolts are ready to be ripped 

 into strips. The thickness is to be such that, 

 when planed on one side, they are a plump 

 eighth of an inch. They are now ready for 

 the machine as described above. 



nOW TO FOLD THE SECTION UP. 



This is a very simple matter when you 

 once know how, but without having it ex- 

 plained, you might bother with it a long 

 while, and then not get a decent section. In 

 the first place, the machine makes it so that 

 the top and bottom are to come between the 

 two sides. Lay the piece flat on the table, 

 with the rough side up; take hold of either 

 one of the sides, or the pieces that are to be 

 sides when they are folded up. press the end 

 hard against the table and, at the same time, 

 raise it so as to make the thin wood bend 

 close up to the end of the stick. Do the 

 same with the other side, and you will have 

 the two dovetailed ends just ready to be 

 driven together with a light mallet. This 

 corner is a remarkably strong and beautiful 

 one, as you will see from the samples we 

 send out, and it is adapted not only to honey 

 sections, but also to a vast variety of other 

 purposes. 



If folded together in glue, it is like the 

 solid wood; and. if you will give me your 

 attention for a little while, I will tell* you 

 how to make all kinds of boxes of wood, on 

 a few modifications of this plan. 



■Suppose, when we are setting the saw to 

 rip off the strips from the bolts of plank, we 

 should put another saw on the same arbor, 

 tight up against the usual one ; but suppose 

 this second saw to be so much smaller that 

 it just reaches £ in. above the table-top when 

 the large saw goes through the plank. This 

 small saw would cut, in the plank, a narrow 

 rabbet, and, when the strip is ripped off, the 

 rabbet is in the strip. Well, when the box 

 is finished and folded up. the rabbet is there 

 still, clear around the inside, and it is exact- 

 ly what you want for a shoulder for a thin 

 bottom to rest on, if cut just right to drop 

 into it. Drop it in with some glue on the 

 edges, and you have a strong, solid bottom, 

 halved in. 



It has taken no extra motions or labor to 

 make this rabbet, for that small saw did it 

 of itself. How shall we manage to get a 

 rabbet to drop the cover in, in the same 

 way, and still have no extra motions to get 

 it V Put a similar saw on the opposite side 

 of the large saw, and turn the bolt end for 

 end, each time you saw a piece off. This 

 comes pietty near it, but it would leave the 

 rabbet for the cover around the outside of the 

 box. Now just hold your breath right where 

 you are, and I will tell you what to do. Set 

 the saw on the back side, a little away from 

 the large saw, by a collar, and then you will 

 have a rabbet on the inside, around both top 

 and bottom. In putting the box together, 



use glue for the bottom, but none for the 

 cover, only to glue a strip of cloth along one 

 side, to answer as a hinge. Instead of a 

 cover of wood you can use one of glass, and 

 then you can tell what is in the box, without 

 being obliged to open it. And this reminds 

 me of— 



HOW TO MAKE SECTIONS TO BE GLASSED. 



Make them closed tops or not as yod 

 choose, but run the rabbet around as above. 

 In first thinking of this, I objected, because 

 the bees would lill the rabbet with propolis. 

 After further study, I thought of warming 

 the glass in an oven, so that it would melt 

 the propolis enough to be securely cemented 

 into place, when pressed in with a clean 

 cloth. This would make a package almost 

 as tight as a, glass bottle, and the glass could 

 certainly be put in more rapidly than where 

 we have tin points to drive in and bend over. 



Aside from boxes for sending goods by 

 mail and express, it seems to me that this 

 machine may profitably be used to make 

 boxes for berries, and small fruits, and make 

 them as cheap or cheaper, and stronger than 

 anything yet in the market. 



GOOD NEWS! GOOD NKWS FOR ALL! 



PROF. COOK nAS SUCCEEDED, AND QUEENS 

 CAN ONCE MORE GO BY 3IAIL. 



IF you will turn to page 496, Dec. No., you 

 J| will see that we sent a cage to friend 

 - Cook, having a screen of perforated tin 

 over the ordinary one of wire cloth. I con- 

 fess that we had tried so many limes, and 

 orders had been so short and positive (see 

 page 312 of Aug. No., 187n), that I had little 

 faith when I made and sent the cage. It 

 seems, however, that even the postal officials 

 have hearts, and that our friend Cook was 

 just the right man in the right place. Read: 



I have just learned that the Post-Office Depart- 

 ment has acceded to our request. We can now 

 mail queens and foundation. The sugar in the cage, 

 instead of honey, and the double gauze, helped very 

 much. This is certainly a great gain. Our thanks 

 are due to Hon. Edwin Willits, Representative from 

 Michigan, who gave me great assistance. 



A. J. Cook. 



Columbus, O., Jan. It, 1880. 



May God bless both you and friend Willets, 

 and may the bee-keepers of our land all re- 

 member long the service you have done us. 

 We shall probably soon have instructions 

 from head quarters in regard to the con- 

 ditions to be observed in putting them up 

 for mail, and now, friends, let us all be care- 

 ful to observe a strict compliance with those 

 instructions, that there may be no more ne- 

 cessity for ruling queens out of the mail 

 bags. 



> ♦ • 



GRAPE SUGAR CANDY. 



Thi=> is Jan 2d, 1880, and the bees are flying thick. 

 I tried the grape sugar, and think it is a gra.ad suc- 

 cess [ made the candy as you directed in 0<-t. No., 

 and put i' on 4 weak clonics, and they -are all ri>rht 

 now hut one. I think I irot the sugar <>n too late for 

 this swirni, but th'-y hail nothing in the combs at 

 all. I think tho people that talk So much about 

 grrape sugar want something to talk about, and that 

 is all. John C. Stkin. 



ri.iua, O., Jan. 2, 1880. 



