284 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEt/k. 



tested for swarms and comb honey, and I 

 shall be surprised if they do not winter well 

 and give first class results. After the combs 

 are all finished in these hives I will bore a 

 % inch hole in the hive side a little above 

 the center. A % round bar of iron will be 

 sharpened square at one end like a solder- 

 ing iron. We will put this in a milk can of 

 hot water to keep it warm, and we will then 

 insert it in the hole and slowly bore a hole 

 through all the combs for a winter passage. 

 We have practiced this in our movable combs 

 with good results. One of the worst features 

 of movable combs is the cutting of the hive 

 into many narrow rooms completely separ- 

 ate from each other unless passages are 

 made. For extracted honey, movable 

 combs are a necessity, but full sheets of 

 foundation in wired frames are the only 

 sensible way to make them. 



In writing about foundation there has 

 been much stress laid upon high side-walls. 

 Last year I experimented by making lifjO 

 sheets of brood foundation with no side 

 walls. I made the sheets thin, then set the 

 rolls so as to just shape the cell bottoms, 

 leaving all the wax in the septum. These 

 sheets were put in wired frames and waxed 

 firmly to the top bars, and I have a lot of the 

 nicest straightest brood combs I ever owned, 

 the cost being only 35 cts. per hive. 



We would despair of raising comb honey 

 now if it were not for finished combs in the 

 sections for white honey, and to have these 

 right we must use sections filled with foun- 

 dation to be drawn out the previous season. 

 Yes, our apiarian house must be built upon 

 a solid base of comb foundation, so that no 

 roaring army of drones can ever reach it. 

 We will leave the other important inven- 

 tions for a future article, and close this by 

 saying that we are only cultivating one half 

 of that acre of land on which we proposed, 

 in the introductory article, to raise food 

 sufficient to feed bounteously a family of 

 five persons, with something to sell to buy 

 shoes and bonnets for the .children. We 

 now have a great crop of corn, potatoes, 

 beans, peas, squashes, tomatoes, salsify, 

 melons, and the nicest strawberry patch 

 yon ever saw. When the crop of all these 

 things are gathered they will be carefully 

 weighed and the ground on which each 

 variety grew carefully measured and the re- 

 sults given to our Review readers. Friends, 

 I warned you in that opening article that 

 bees alone were not a safe means to depend 



on to feed a family. I was in serious 

 earnest, for I have learned recently how 

 uncertain is a honey crop, or, in fact, any 

 crop except the crops of interest on Shy- 

 lock's mortages and bonds. The honey crop 

 is short with us again this year but not be- 

 ing in bonds and haviag the splendid crop 

 of good things we have raised on our }4 

 acre we are not castdjwu, but rejoice con- 

 tinually in present safety and hope for the 

 future. Next year we will caltivate the en- 

 tire acre. 



FOBESTVILLE, MiNN. Aug. 19, 18%. 



Fastening Foundation in Sections. 



C. W. DAYTON. 



/;aN page 241 of 

 W August Review 

 Friend Hasty says 

 my " intention is 

 to have the slip of 

 foundation sweep 

 quite an amount 

 of rhelted wax in 

 front of it as the 

 hot plate is with- 

 drawn, so much 

 that waiting for it 

 to cool or set would 

 be a waste of time. He (Dayton) saves 

 the time by having three section blocks to 

 alternately use the same hot plate. " 



The more melted wax the longer time 

 needed. That is so, but the quantity of wax 

 is not the main object. The wax which 

 comes in contact with the section should be 

 smoking hot so as to penetrate into the 

 wood. In order to be thus hot it must be 

 melted from the preceding slip and remain 

 some length of time upon the heated plate. 

 In the case of all the foundation fasteners 

 in the market the previously melted wax 

 runs toward the rear end of the plate and 

 drops off. This is owing to the slope of the 

 plate. It should run toward the edge and 

 drop off into the section. When the plate 

 slopes rearward the front part of the plate 

 remains almost dry of melted wax. What 

 wax melts from the sheet remains upon the 

 plate and takes a backward course. Nearly 

 all of the melted wax is carried away by 

 the plate so that what remains on the sheet 



