1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



223 



Now, if there is one thing I am good at it is 

 being able to sell any good article I have at a 

 good price, and hold uiy customers ; and one 

 thing I have found out is, don't bother your 

 customers much in making change. Take 

 whole coin, not cents. It is easier to get |1.00 

 for honey from one man than 50 cts. from two. 

 I can sell a good many more cucumbers or 

 cabbage at 3 for 25 cts. than I can at 8 cts. 

 each. I do not mean to say that any stranger 

 can go in and sell on these lines anywhere ; 

 but a good man with good goods, if he is a 

 good salesman, can do it. You must have the 

 confidence of your customers. It takes fair 

 and square dealing, and time to get that, and 

 when you have it, keep it, as you will find it 

 profitable, both for your pocket and your soul 

 — for your pocket, for it enables you to sell ; 

 for your soul, for, to keep their confidence, you 

 must have clean hands and a straight tongue, 

 and so a good conscience. 

 Waterloo, P. O., Dec. 26. 



[There is a great deal of sound truth in 

 what you say, friend Slack ; and, by the way, 

 you are not so slack a man as your name would 

 seem to indicate, for apparently }OU have giv- 

 en attention to even the small details. 



But a policy that would be ad- 

 visable for your locality might 

 not be a good one to follow in 

 another. If you were to move to 

 Oberlin, Ohio, you would find a 

 very large class of customers who 

 would buy in small " dribs," but 

 who would not take any honey if 

 it were put up in pails requiring 

 the expenditure of a whole dollar. 

 Some of the poor people of that 

 town, I fancy, would look at the 

 dollar, and then look at the pail 

 of honey ; and if they could not 

 buy a dime's worth of your goods 

 put up in glass they would go 

 away with the shining dollar and 

 leave you in possession of the honey. — Ed] 



of wire. The frames are the staple-spaced, 

 groove and wedge, thick top-bar. The only 

 difficulty experienced was in two or three in- 

 stances where the wedges were too thin to fas- 

 ten the foundation securely, which, by inad- 

 vertence, were overlooked. 



You will find on the next page a diagram 

 marked No. 4, showing the method of wiring. 

 The hooks are made of slim nails, or brads, of 

 the proper length, driven from the outside, ex- 

 cepting in the top-bar, where they are driven 

 from the under side at the outer edge of the 

 foundation groove. After the nailing is done, 

 the hooks are made with a pair of small round 

 pliers. The wire is run from the spool, placed 

 upon a spindle to hold it stationary, com- 

 mencing at No. 1. and following the course of 

 the arrows as shown in the drawing, the whole 

 work being done more rapidly than I've been 

 able to do it in any other way. 



The method of wiring is not new with me, 

 but was obtained from my very dear friend 

 Henry Bosworth, of Newbury, Geauga Co., O., 

 who always produced most perfect comb, and 

 did all his work about his apiary in the neat- 

 est and most approved manner. In his death, 

 which occurred several months ago, the frater- 

 nity lost one of the most practical bee-keepers 



THIN FOUNDATION FOR BROOD-FRAMES, 



A Scheme of Wiring; the Economy of Using Thin 



Foundation in Place of the Ordinary Heavier 



Standard Grades in the Brood-nest; Square 



v. Tall Sections; Greasy Sections. 



BY WM. M. WHITNEY. 



Mr. Root : — U^st year I commenced experi- 

 menting with extra-thin surplus foundation 

 for brood comb, and promised to give an ac- 

 count of results as soon as my experiments 

 warranted doing so, which promise, I believe, 

 may now be redeemed. 



I hand you a photo of sample of brood comb 

 marie from such foundation, using 13 sheets 

 to the pound, Uangstroth size. Truer, better- 

 built comb I've never seen. No. 1 is a frame 

 of solid honey from top to bottom, taken from 

 the brood-chamber. No. 2 are frames of 

 comb from which the honey has been extract- 

 ed, and have been used for brood. No. 3 is 

 simply a frame of foundation showing the line 



I have ever known. I always felt doubly 

 paid whenever it was my good fortune to visit 

 his place and observe his work. 



Other methods of wiring may be as good, 

 perhaps, but this suits me. After the wiring 

 is done, the manner of putting in the founda- 

 tion is as follows : 



Set the frame top down, with foundation- 

 groove next to you. Hook the wire from the 

 center of the top-bar, aided by a slight pres- 

 sure upon the bottom-bar to loosen the wire. 

 Slip the foundat'"'^.! into the groove, and hook 

 the wire, at the same time turning the hook 

 so that the side and wire shall press against 

 the foundation, thus making a smooth surface. 

 Turn the frame around and press the wedge 

 in place, and the work is done. 



You will notice that by this operation there 

 is a pair of diagonal or bracing wires on either 

 side of the foundation. Now, if these wires 

 are drawn taut, and the foundation securely 

 wedged, there will be little or no need of im- 

 bedding the wire, as the bees will build over 

 it all right. The spur-wheel often pricks too 

 deep, and leaves a ragged line along the wire, 

 which is a cause of the tearing-down of foun- 



