1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



361 



of sheets like the sample enclosed, for surplus box- 

 es, and made them faster than we could put them 

 through the 9 inch roller mill, just shipped to you. 

 We have made about 1,700 sheets in wired frames 

 and every one stands up perfectly, in the hive. The 

 queen does not avoid a single wired cell, as she does 

 where the fdn. is pressed on by hand. The wires are 

 level with the surface of the septum, which septum 

 is concave, the wires partaking of the same shape. 



In my judgement from actual expt rience, Mr. Giv- 

 en has "given" the bee-keepers of America the best 

 invention of the day, and I felt sorry to have other 

 than such credit go before your readers. I never 

 saw Mr. G., but I bought a press on trial, and have 

 paid for it. He owes me nothing-, and I owe him 

 nothing but justice, and this I will give him, if with- 

 in my power. I would not take $i00.00 for my press 

 if I could not obtain another cheaper. This fdn., 

 having such heavy lines and thin septum, is quickly 

 worked out by the bees, and makes a deeper cell, for 

 the weight of the sheets, than any I have ever seen 

 before. The fdn. used in boxes is quickly drawn 

 out, and leaves so thin a base that no "fish bone" is 

 discernable. I speak from an experience with over 

 400 colonies; with 101 hives of fdn. pressed onto 

 wires by hand, and closely watched, and some 21"> 

 hives of Given's pressed fdn. frames, and several 

 thousand sections of Root, Dunham, and Given 

 foundation now in operation. AVe are making close 

 inspection of their comparative merits a specialty. 



I am free to confess that there is much more in 

 pure beeswax fdn. properly made than I had sup- 

 posed. James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., July 6, 1830. 



Many thanks, friend II. I am all the more 

 glad to get a favorable report of the Given 

 press, because it was a partial failure in our 

 hands. I had no trouble in getting a small 

 piece with thin bases, like the sample you 

 send, but I could never make a whole L. 

 sheet with walls anything like it, nor were 

 there any such in the whole frame that Mr. 

 Given sent us as a sample. The bees use 

 them, it is true, but not as readily, with us, 

 as the fdn. more perfectly stamped.— The 

 9 inch rolls, as you returned them, would not 

 make any fdn. at all, for the reason that the 

 gear-wheels had been separated, and not re- 

 placed according to the marks. — There is 

 certainly some misunderstanding about the 

 queen's avoiding the wired cells. We have 

 wired combs in "all the hives in our apiary, 

 but I have never been able to find one where 

 the queen had skipped our small tinned 

 wires, and the brood is capped evenly right 

 over the wires. In fact, we often lind eggs 

 attached to the naked wire.— I am glad to 

 know, friend II., that you have withdrawn 

 your objections to fdn. , and also glad that you 

 have been convinced through the Given 

 press. Our girls work considerably faster 

 than 100 an hour ; but still, that will do very 

 well. 



I sent a proof of the above to friend II., 

 and he adds as follows: 



I want to say that we did not use the die book that 

 y.u had, but, on our own, we made sheet after 

 sheet, all as perfect as the piece sent you, as many 

 who have been here and bought pounds of it will 

 testify. We made 1(0 wired frames per hour, but 

 we can make the plain sheets, not wired, and not in 

 frames, much faster; we believe faster than the 



roller mill can be made to do it, so long as the ends 

 have to be picked up. There is where we gained on 

 the roller mill. James Heddon. 



July 22, 1880. 



This explains the mattermuch better. The 

 press was certainly good enough, and nice 

 enough, but it was the copper dies that 

 would not make a nice even sheet, nor let 

 loose the sheets we did make. Please tell us, 

 friend IT., who made your dies and what 

 they cost. 



A "GOOD" LETTER FROM FRIEND GOOD. 



Good morning, friend Koot. I thought 1 would 

 drop in this morning and have a little chat, as I can 

 not work at taking off honey. There are 500 or more 

 robbers ready to pitch into the hive the moment it 

 is opened, Smoke will not keep them out. Surplus 

 honey was nearly an entire failure here. It was too 

 wet and cold through white-clover bloom. Bass- 

 wood lasted but a short time, but yielded well while 

 it did last. Those bees that were strong and in good 

 condition when basswood opened made considerable 

 honey. Mine made from 10 to 00 lbs. to the colony. 

 In this neighborhood, not one-half of the bees work- 

 ed in surplus boxes. The Italians are far ahead of 

 the blacks in early swarming and in honey. 



I am glad to hear that you are going to enlarge 

 your shop. Your pocket-book must have grown 

 wonderfully in the last two seasons. You should not 

 be too free to pay out your money for worthless in- 

 ventions. 



THE OIVEN PRESS. 



I believe Given's fdn. press is the best machine 

 made for making fdn. I have one of them, and my 

 experience with it is just the reverse of yours. I 

 have never purchased a machine of any kind that 

 gave better satisfaction than it does. I can make 

 thin or thick fdn., and have no trouble with the wax 

 sticking to the dies. I can put fdn. that will go five 

 square ft. to the pound in wired frames, and not cut 

 one wire in filling 50 frames. I use none but wired 

 frames in my apiary. I would not give my Given's 

 fdn. press for any of your $100 machines. I will ad- 

 mit you can make more fdn. in one day on your ma- 

 chine than can be made on the Given press. • 



Those all-wood frames purchased of you are a nice 

 and neat frame, but I would not use any more of 

 them, if they were furnished to me for nothing. 

 Bees will fasten them, even where metal rabbets are 

 used. Give me metal-cornered frames every time. 

 I have about 1500 of them in use now, and never ex- 

 pect to use any other kind after this. 



HARRISON'S DIPPING MACHINE. 



W r hen I made the first fdn. on the Harrison ma- 

 chine, I thought it would answer every purpose; 

 but on trial it proved a nuisance. The bees would 

 work but one side in most cases. I will send you the 

 machine free of charge, if you would like to try it. 

 It is of no use to me. I think more and more of the 

 Given press every time I use it. I would not take 

 $100 for mine if I could not get another one like it. 

 It is my opinion you have done friend Given an in- 

 justice by condemning his press as you have. I find 

 the more it is used, the less the wax will stick. Try 

 your press again, and have a little patience at first, 

 and I think you will pronounce it one of the greatest 

 inventions of the day for making fdn. in wired 

 frames. I. R. Good. 



S.mthwest, Elkhart Co., bid., July 12, 1880. 



Many thanks, friend G. After such 

 testimony, I suppose I must give up that my 



