510 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June; 15 



ly in the center of the top-bar, and is held 

 there by the piece over which the frame fits, 

 and the angle, or leaning way, at which the 

 long board is placed. A dish of melted wax 

 stands over a small lamp at one end of the ta- 

 ble. Some is taken up in the machine I have 

 described, the point held close to the edge of 

 the foundation where it rests on the top-bar. 

 As the dropper, or whatever one likes to call 

 it, is moved slowly along the top-bar, a very 

 small but continuous stream of melted wax is 

 dropped between the edge of the foundation 

 and top-bar. Then another frame is laid over 

 the next piece on the board, and so on until 

 the foundation has been fastened in the four 

 frames. 



By this time the melted wax on the first one 

 has set enough to allow the frame to be hung 

 in an empty hive near by ; then by the time 

 another frame is filled, the second frame on 

 the board can be removed, and so on as long 

 as there are frames to fill. After things are in 

 place, and the wax melted, either full sheets 

 or starters can be fastened in frames very rap- 

 idly by this method. But speed is not so 

 much the advantage of this plan as the fact 

 that the foundation is fastened so it hangs 

 perfectly true and straight in the frame, and 

 can be pulled in pieces without being loosen- 

 ed from the top-bar. Of course, this method 

 will work just as well if the frames were wired. 

 For fastening full sheets in sections I have a 

 board similar, except in size. 



The great superiority of the wax-dropper I 

 have described over any I have seen mention- 

 ed, is the absolute control it gives the operat- 

 or of the melted wax, which can either be 

 dropped slowly or rapidly, or a small continu- 

 ous stream can be forced out ; even the size of 

 the stream can be regulated by the pressure 

 on the rubber. It is very easy to operate it, 

 and the only difficulty one can have with it is 

 in drawing too much wax up into the tube so 

 some gets in the rubber. The rubber on mine 

 has too much suction ; and unless care is used 

 when the wax is drawn in, some may run up 

 into the rubber. When this is done the hot 

 wax does not, as one might think would be 

 the case, injure the rubber, for, after the wax 

 is removed, it works as well as ever. But if 

 care is used, or with a bulb the right size, no 

 wax will be drawn into it. 



In this connection I will describe a plan I 

 have practiced somewhat to prevent full sheets 

 in unwired frames from sagging. This sag- 

 ging or stretching of the foundation, as those 

 who have had trouble in this respect know, is 

 next to the top-bar, a strip two or three inches 

 wide. After foundation has been fastened in 

 a frame, and while it still remains in position 

 on the board, the point of this wax-dropper is 

 held close up to the foundation, two or three 

 inches above the top-bar ; then a small stream 

 of wax is forced out. As the point is lowered 

 to the top-bar, this adheres to the foundation ; 

 and if the operation is repeated at intervals 

 the whole length of the top-bar, it will pre- 

 vent the foundation stretching when the bees 

 first get on it ; and by the time they do, these 

 strips of wax off the foundation are usually 

 drawn out enough to hold it from sagging. 



This wax-dropper is also very handy in fas- 

 tening pieces of comb in sections, and in 

 patching up combs by cutting out patches of 

 drone comb, and replacing with pieces of 

 worker comb or foundation. But a board 

 such as I have described is essential when fas- 

 tening full sheets in brood or full-depth 

 frames. 



In reading this over I see that I forgot to 

 say that, if the wax is heated to only about 

 the melting point, when commencing to use 

 the dropper it may, unless one works fast, 

 harden and adhere to the sides of the tube, or 

 even clog it up. In this case, or if for any 

 reason work is suspended, and the wax is left 

 in the tube until it hardens, all that is neces- 

 sary is to hold the tube in the melted wax an 

 instant, then what is in the tube melts and 

 can be allowed to run out ; but with the wax 

 hot enough there will not, unless wax is left 

 in the tube, be any trouble in this respect. I 

 explain this matter in detail because, if one 

 tried a dropper of this kind with the wax at 

 only the melting-point, some might consider 

 it a failure. After the wax is heated quite hot 

 it remains liquid in the tube much longer than 

 is necessary. 



Southern Minnesota. 



[Your device is nothing more nor less, if I 

 understand you, than a large-sized medicine- 

 dropper, or what druggists call a pipette. A 

 device quite similar has been illustrated in 

 our columns, without the rubber bulb. It 

 was simply a tin tube Y-, or "^% of an inch in 

 diameter, tapered at the point to a small hole. 

 This was partially submerged in hot wax, and 

 allowed to fill. It was next removed, and 

 the point was then drawn along the edge of 

 the foundation, gravity forcing the wax out 

 in a fine stream, said stream forming a bond 

 of union, when cold, between the foundation 

 and the top-bar. But one difficulty with this 

 device was that it fed the wax too fast, and at 

 other times not fast enough. This rubber 

 bulb would overcome this difficulty, giving a 

 perfectly regular feed and stopping it at the 

 moment desired. These bulbs can be pur- 

 chased, probably, at the drugstores ; at any 

 event, they can be obtained of any of the 

 large rubber concerns ; for example, the Hart- 

 ford Rubber Works, Hartford, Ct. ; the Good- 

 rich Rubber Co., Akron, O.; the Diamond 

 Rubber Co., Akron, O. After getting the 

 bulb, make the tin tube, or get your tinner to 

 do it for you. To overcome the difficulty of 

 the wax being drawn up into the bulb spoken 

 of by Mr. Davenport, make the tube a half 

 longer, and then alwaj's hold the bulb "this 

 side up with care," or bulb upward. — Ec] 



SHALL WE WORK FOR COMB HONEY OR EX- 

 TRACTED, OR BOTH? 



BY WM. A. SELSER. 



The paper written a few weeks ago by our 

 good old friends in New York city has no 

 doubt been read very carefully by a large num- 

 ber of honey-producers. The writer having 

 had a large experience in the Eastern markets, 



