366 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



able when full. This is, perhaps, an extreme 

 example, but nevertheless many sections are 

 given to the bees in just this condition. 



One of my acquaintances kept a pair of 

 shears near by; and when he lound a full 

 sheet of foundation striking the wood near 

 the bottom he sprang the piece out far 

 enough to clip off enough so that it could 

 hang straight. This will prevent irregular 

 combs, but it is a makeshift, and should be 

 adopted only until one acquires the knack of 

 putting up the sections and full sheets of 

 foundation so that they are square in the 

 first place. 



A section can not be filled too full of foun- 

 dation at the sides, and good results will al- 

 ways be attained providing the sheet does 

 not touch the wood. However, as mention- 

 ed before, there should be at least a X-inch 

 space between the bottom of the foundation 

 and the bottom of the section. This is to al- 

 low for the sagging of the extra-thin founda- 

 tion used. Foundation must not sag enough 

 to touch the bottom of the section until quite 

 well drawn out by the bees, or there will 

 probably be trouble because of buckling, 

 and buckling is just as bad as the condition 

 which makes the foundation swing over to 

 one side against the separator. 



If the beginner will bear in mind the fact 

 that the foundation must hang true in the 

 center of the section, no matter whether fas- 

 tened by a hot plate or by melted wax, much 

 of his trouble in putting in foundation will 

 disappear. With either method the founda- 

 tion can be made to hang in the center pro- 

 viding time enough is spent on the work. 



THE MELTED-WAX PLAN OF FASTENING FOUN- 

 DATION. 



I am very sure of one thing, and that is, 

 that better work can be done with the melt- 

 ed-wax plan of fastening foundation into sec- 

 tions than with the hot-plate machines. One 

 bad feature about the melted-wax plan, how- 

 ever, is having the melted wax around. We 

 have never put in enough foundation on the 

 melted-wax plan to acquire the dexterity that 

 we should. I presume some will always use 

 one plan and others the other. 



Last summer we put in some foundation 

 on the Yoder plan described in the April 1st 

 issue of 1908. As will be remembered, the 

 Yoder plan consists in fastening the founda- 

 tion with melted wax, not only across the 

 top of the section but also one-third of the 

 way down the sides from the top. Every 

 section put up in this way produced a perfect 

 section of honey so far as the foundation was 

 concerned. With foundation fastened one- 

 third of the way down the side of the sec- 

 tion, most of it is apt to be a little curved, 

 due to the expansion when it is warmed up 

 by the bees. Some of the sheets were curved 

 perhaps half an inch; but when the honey was 

 linished, there was nothing to indicate that 

 the foundation had not been in the center of 

 the section. Somehow I can not help think- 

 ing that there would have been a little more 

 work done in the supers if the foundation 

 could have been kept true in the center. 



About the only tools needed for putting in 

 foundation on the Yoder plan is a wax-tube. 

 There should be a square block a trifle less 

 than half the thickness of the section, and 

 just large enough to fit inside. This block 

 should be perfectly square, as the section 

 must be held square when putting in the 

 foundation. The block should be nailed to 

 a thin board a little larger, and, for conven- 

 ience, a handle should oe nailed to the back 

 of it. The foundation must be accurately 

 cut just the size of the inside of the section, 

 less the >(-inch space at the bottom. To put 

 in the foundation, the section should be 

 placed over the block before mentioned, and 

 the sheet of foundation put in place pushed 

 close to the top. The block should be held 

 in such position as to form a trough made by 

 the sheet of foundation and the side of the 

 section, and then some melted wax dropped 

 at a point one-third of the distance from the 

 top of the section now held at the bottom. 

 By turning the block around, the wax can 

 be made to run down and around to the oth- 

 er side, and finally to a point one-third of 

 the distance from the top. To work to good 

 advantage, two or three of these blocks are 

 necessary, as the wax should cool before the 

 sections are removed. 



Remus, Mich. 



NEW JERSEY FAILED IN SECURING A FOUL- 

 BROOD LAW. 



Our foul-brood bill was introduced into the 

 Senate by Senator Gebhardt, of Hunterdon 

 Co., and was defeated on its third reading by 

 the narrow margin of one vote. Of course, 

 it did not get to the Assembly,' so we do not 

 know how that stood. It was supported by 

 the senators from the agricultural counties, 

 and objected to by the senators from the 

 cities. 



We asked for an appropriation of $500, and 

 that was the chief objection to the bill. There 

 is a threatened deficit in the State treasury 

 of over $500,000, consequently all new legis- 

 lation that included appropriations was ob- 

 jected to. All the regular State appropria- 

 tions were cut down to economize. 



We are disappointed but not discouraged. 

 We will try again next year. The finances 

 of the State whI be in better shape, and the 

 matter will be better understood; hence we 

 will stand a better chance to get our law. 



In the meantime we should like to be kept 

 informed as to the extent of and loss from 

 foul brood in various parts of the State, and 

 to have more bee-keepers join our associa- 

 tion. The better informed we are, and the 

 stronger our association, the more effective- 

 ly we can argue with the legislature. 



Pittstown, N. J. Albert G. Hann, Sec. 



[We are glad that the fight will be kept up 

 to get the law. In the mean time bee-keep- 

 ers should take means to inform their Sen- 

 ators and Representatives from all over the 

 State of the importance of the law. See 

 them personally when they come home; and 

 if that is impracticable, write them. — Ed.] 



