1440 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



ward y?. inch all around. 

 To use with the divisi- 

 ble-brood-chamber hive, 

 after removing the cover 

 from the hive drive a 

 few puffs of smoke over 

 and into the upper brood- 

 case, which will usually 

 drive the queen and the 

 bulk of the bees into the 

 lowercase. Quickly lift 

 off the upper case and set 

 it aside. Pick up the 

 lower case and place it 

 on the queen-finder. 

 Smoke the bees down, 

 when a quick jar will 

 send them into the find- 

 er. Many of the bees 

 will at once pass down 

 through the zinc, while 

 the others will spread 

 out over it and climb the 

 sides of the box, where 

 their progress is inter- 

 rupted by the strip of tin. 



Keep a sharp lookout, 

 and jar or shake the 



finder to prevent the bees from passing over 

 the upper edges, and to keep them from moving 

 down through the zinc. The queen is usually 

 seen in a moment. 



With standard frames I prefer to find the 

 queen by looking over the combs for her; but if 

 she is not readily found, all the bees may be 

 shaken into the finder, where the well-known 

 "stride" of the queen makes her easily seen. 



Meridian, Idaho. 



[This is a very serviceable device. It has 

 been described in these columns before, and we 

 wonder that it is not more generally used by the 

 shallow-hive men. This is one of the handy 

 things that can be made up during the winter 

 for next season's use. — Ed.] 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



A Discussion of its Use in Frames; the 



Cause of Buckling; Thinner Top-bars 



and Vertical Wiring Preferred. 



BY R. S. PENNELL. 



We have always been dissatisfied with the top- 

 bars of the frames. On account of the groove- 

 and-wedge plan, they have to be made too thick, 

 or at least this is the reason we assign. In our 

 opinion the theory thai this extra thickness hin- 

 ders the formation of burr and brace combs is a 

 fallacy; for as soon as the bees get the bars stain- 

 ed and propolized, they are no better than the 

 thinner and narrower top-bars. The wedge and 

 groove is the biggest nuisance that we have to 

 contend with. It is not reliable if the frames are 

 hauled to an outyard, in this climate at least, un- 

 less the wedge is secured with at least three nails. 

 In forcing in the wedge the foundation is flatten- 

 ed so that all traces of the cell-base are pressed 

 out. Now, the effects of this flattening on the 

 foundation are just the same as if one edge of a 



ATWATER S QUEEN-FINDER. 



piece of tin were drawn out with a hammer — the 

 drawn part is wavy, thereby causing a strain on 

 the tin that is undrawn. 



The effects of the wedge on the foundation are 

 just the same as the hammering on the edge of 

 the tin; and the tighter the wedge fits, and the 

 hotter the foundation, the greater the damage. 



Then if the spur-imbedder is run across this 

 three or four times, and if the foundation is hot 

 and soft, it is necessary to get the frames in a 

 hive containing a good strong colony of bees 

 immediately, or a slight change in the tempera- 

 ture will make the foundation look like the bent 

 and twisted irons of a burned building. 



We have taken particular notice of the effects 

 of working hot or cool foundation, and we find 

 that we get better results from the latter as to 

 buckling and sagging in this climate. During 

 the summer we have found that the foundation is 

 generally just right the first thing in the morning. 



We don't want our foundation cut when im- 

 bedding. We want the wire forced into the cell 

 wall with as little damage to the cell base as pos- 

 sible, and with an even pressure. If the founda- 

 tion is too warm and soft, and the pressure too 

 great, the foundation is flattened, and the effects 

 are the same as those from the wedge, but on both 

 sides. 



The frame which suits us best is one with a 

 ■'2-inch top-bar, with or without a saw-kerf as a 

 guide for the foundation in waxing. The frame 

 is wired vertically with a splint of wood or a 

 piece of wire or tin in the center, parallel with 

 the wires, to support the top-bar. By using such 

 a splint a much thinner top-bar can be used, like 

 those in the old Simplicity frames, which areonly 

 y\ inch thick. With this plan of wiring and fas- 

 tening the foundation we think there will be 

 scarcely any sagging or buckling. 



We are indebted to the old bimplicity frames 

 we have for some of these ideas, as we always no- 

 ticed that these frames are invariably extra fine 

 on account of the vertical wiring, tin splints in 



