288 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUIvTURE. 



Apr. 1 



"That's so, Mr. Fray ; but, by the .way, I 

 have a camera on my wheel, and I should 

 really like to get a photo of your house and 

 apiary." 



"All right, sir; that is just what I want. I 

 have been wishing some one would come along 



AI<BERTI'S WANDER-WAGON.— SEE STRAWS 



that could take a photo. But, say " (and he 

 sort o' froze his eyes on me); "blamed if I 

 don't believe jo?^ are the Rambler." 



This suspicion and discovery had happened 

 several times before in my travels, and we all 

 had a little jollying over the matter, and after 

 that the photo. 



Mr. Fray owns some 400 colonies of bees in 

 four or five apiaries, and he thinks he could 

 not manage them without the use of his por- 

 table honey-house. All through the extract- 

 ing season he moves his house from apiary to 

 apiary, and extracts the honey as the bees 



other parties, and the bees were being trans- 

 ferred to nice new painted ten-frame hives. 

 The ordinary flat cover is used, and no rags, 

 and upon this point Mr. Fray and I were in 

 perfect accord. He was inclined to think that 

 a cover made of two pieces of inch board, 

 with grooves and strip painted, in 

 the center, is less liable to warp 

 than when made of a whole board. 

 As before stated, this climate is 

 trying upon covers and the cor- 

 ners of the hive. In order to 

 hold the latter from twisting out, 

 Mr. Fray uses a little clamp made 

 of hoop iron, extensively used on 

 fruit-boxes, which is nailed to 

 each corner to advantage. 



I afterward called at Mr. Fray's 

 headquarters, and found his ap- 

 pliances all in the order of genius 

 and convenience. His frames were 

 all wired, and with a little differ- 

 ent kink from the ordinary. 



When the frame is nailed to- 

 gether, fine wire nails are driven 

 through the bottom and end bars, 

 as shown by the diagram No. 1. 

 Afterward the points of the nails 

 are turned up in the form of hooks. 

 The first operation in wiring a frame is to 

 form a loop on the end of the wire. Hold 

 said loop in the jaws of a pair of pliers, and 

 give it a neat twisting, with the simple little 

 tool shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 1 shows how the 

 wire is applied. 



WAY OF WIRING FRAMES AND TWISTING 

 LOOPS. 



gather it. Two persons can usually take care 

 of the above number of colonies in this valley. 

 For wheeling honey from the apiary to the 

 house Mr. Fray uses a large two wheeled cart 

 shown in the photo, and upon which he can 

 pile several supers, greatly facilitating the 

 work. 



From the appearance of the apiary shown, 

 one would think that Mr. Fray was sparing of 

 the paint-brush ; but it is not so, for the hives 

 shown were eight frame hives purchased from 



REVOIvVING STAND FOR PAINTING HIVES. 



Another new idea I found at this busy head- 

 quarters was in the economical painting of 

 hives. The hive is mounted upon a revolving 

 platform. The paint-pail rests on a little 

 shelf in front, and all sides of the hive can 

 be painted without moving from the one po- 

 sition. 



