808 



GLEAKIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



sma 11 "shower" of liquid, as it passed between the 

 hives and the feeders. 



I have just finished reading Gleanings for June, 

 and, when I see how much some others are doing 

 for the bee-keeping cause, it makes me feel very lit- 

 tle and humhU •■; and, after reading some of the arti- 

 cles, it seems as though my "first page" was about 

 the poorest part of the paper. I usually have such 

 a feeling for several days after reading a No. of 

 G leanings, u?if il I recover from the shock of receiving 

 so much information. W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. 



D. A. JONES, AFTER HE GOT HOME. 



SOMETHING NEW IN THE FOUNDATION 11USINESS. 



HAVE just got home and got my queens safely 

 introduced, and as soon as they commence to 

 lay, I will begin shipping to parties ordering 

 them. The price of Cyprians will be from ten to 

 lifteen dollars for this first shipment, according to 

 their grade, some appearing finer than others; also 

 the price of the "holy queens" or queens from Pal- 

 estine and Syria, will be the same; but I expect two 

 hundred more soon, and will try to sell them cheap- 

 er, or as low as they can be sold, after paying the 

 cost of importing them, when the dead ones are ta- 

 ken into account. I will write you giving a more 

 complete history as soon as I can. Now I have 

 something of great importance to tell you, and hope 

 you will put it in the J uly journal, even if you crowd 

 out other matter. 



Three cheers for C. N. Abbot of the British lice 

 Journal '. He has made foundation on wood a suc- 

 cess. I saw it in his yard while I was giving my 

 bees a purifying night there. Mr. Abbot is a live, 

 progressive bee-keeper, chock-full of new ideas, and 

 constantly trying new inventions, and is fast bring- 

 ing up bee culture to a high standard in England. 



I send you a piece of the foundation. I saw it in 

 his hives all capped over, with the beautiful worker 

 brood, some hatching, and some in every stage from 

 the egg up. Mr. Root, I wrote you years ago that I 

 was sanguine about wooden foundation, but you 

 discouraged me by saying the wood would warp. 

 Mr. Abbot's does not warp, and you, perhaps, tried 

 the wrong kind of wood. The combs must be put 

 very close until the bees get the cells started, and 

 then they can be set the usual distance apart. If 

 put the regular distance apart at first, the bees 

 sometimes build in pieces. I have a comb, of the 

 Langstroth size, all drawn out and filled with eggs 

 in a few hours. It is a beauty; no warping, no sag- 

 ging, and it can not be broken out or melted down. 

 Is not that just the very thing for the brood cham- 

 ber? People in America should take the British 

 Bee Journal, so they would know what our good, 

 English, brother bee-keepers are doing across the 

 briny waves. 



But this is not all. Just as I was about to start 

 for Canada, I received a friendly visit and flattering 

 welcome from the British bee-keepers, aud what do 

 you suppose was my astonishment, after I had giv- 

 en them some hints in bee-keeping, to hear a Mr. 

 Cheshire say that he had just invented a new pro- 

 cess of putting in comb foundation and preventing 

 sagging, without the trouble of rolling wire into the 

 foundation ; in fact, so that it could not sag or fall 

 out, even though it were only half as thick as foun- 



dation usually is. I saw him put in a sheet of fdn., 

 full Langstroth size, in five seconds, and I tried my 

 best to shake or jerk it out, but I could not stir it. 

 I send you the arrangement, and you can describe 

 it yourself. The bottom of the wire should be bent 

 to fit the depth of the frame, the same as the top. 

 Have a board to fit inside the frame, and just thick 

 enough to let the foundation rest in the middle of 

 the frame, then drop in the foundation full size, 

 hook the wire across from top to bottom, pat it with 

 your hands to drive the points through the founda- 

 tion, and space them about 3 in. apart, say five to an 

 L. frame. In twelve hours you can remove them, 

 and the comb will be fastened all around, and the 

 cells drawn out. One set of wires will last a life 

 time. 



HOW TO MAKE TnEM. 



Saw several creases in a board, and lay in jour 

 wires; then saw cross creases for pins; lay the 

 heads on the wires and solder them as fast as you 

 can touch them; then have a board of the right 

 thickness with holes bored in it at right distances 

 apart to let the pins stick through, and, with the 

 scissors, cut off all down even with the board. You 

 can make them to suit any depth of frame. You 

 see it is a ladder for the bees to climb up on, and 

 the up and down wire is just far enough out from 

 the foundation to admit of the cells being drawn 

 out. 



Now, friend Root, I must leave the invention for 

 you to make clear to the readers of Gleanings, as I 

 must write to other journals, and let all our brother 

 bee-keepers get the benefit of it. You will be as- 

 tonished at the simplicity of this arrangement, and 

 its value to bee-keepers, so I neglect a description 

 of my own journey and bees, to give this to the pub- 

 lic at once. 



I found on my return, that you had credited me 

 with ten dollars for writing you from Palestine. 

 You have no right to pay me that, as I wrote it for 

 the benefit of the readers of Gleanings, and you 

 could receive only the four thousandth part of it, 

 and I refuse to accept the ten dollars without giv- 

 ing you its value; so I will send you a fine queen 

 from Palestine for the amount. 



I have expressed to your address a sample of 

 wires, and also a sample of foundation on wood. I 

 will also send you a sample of drones and workers 

 in alcohol that will make you swing your hat. 

 Please don't have them melted up into gold coin. 

 Any orders for either Cyprian queens or those from 

 Palestine and Syria, which may be entrusted to you, 

 will receive my prompt attention. 



Beeton, Can., June 18, 1880. D. A. Jones. 



Here is something from Mr. Langstroth, 

 on the same subject that occupies so large a 

 part of friend Jones' kind letter: 



Mr. A I Root:— I enclose an article which Icopied 

 for you, at the request of Mr. Langstroth. 

 Oxford, O., June 21, 1880. Lynn Boulcane. 



From Journal of Horticulture and Cottage Gardener. 



WIRED FOUNDATION SUPERSEDED; NEW METHODS OF PREVENT- 

 ING SAGGING. 



Iii my last communication mi wired foundation I pointed out 

 that the grabs were killed by contact with the metal threads. 

 Further observation has shown me that the loss to the bees, it' 

 the wires are not removed, is tar in excess of what I had at first 

 supposed, since eggs are almost certain to be laid pretty quickly 

 after the clearing out of the dead remains, the grubs hatching 

 therefrom dying generally after being fed up to half size or a 

 little more. Those who know how greatly profitableness is in- 

 terfered with by an undue number of drones will perceive 1lv 

 gravity of the evil in thi* leak of life, labor, and energy. To 

 get rid of the wires is imperative, and my tirst efforts took the 

 form of endeavoring to remove from below by pincers, but 1 



