542 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Sept. 1 



with rabbet on one long edge of end pieces, 

 y& wide and V'r deep, Fig. 2. 



For %-in. lumber the bill would read: 

 Two pieces ^X5^X20. 



}iX5ysXl2}i; 

 and in the drawing one must substitute J4 

 for U ; and instead of H there would be writ- 

 ten j\. 



Then you will need two rabbet-tins ^ inch 

 wide and 12 long. 



It is very important that this box be exact- 

 ly square at the corners, and to ensure this 

 1 nail the parts together while they are 

 around a box whose outside measurements 

 are the same as the inside dimensions of the 

 hive, 12>^xl8,'4. The one I use is made of 

 ^-inch lumber, and is a trifle less than four 

 inches deep. The specifications are: 

 Two pieces ^'X4X18X; 

 3^X4X105^. 



To keep the box in exact shape, and at 

 the same time act as a guide while the hives 

 are being nailed together, one of the open 

 ends is closed with the same weight of lum- 

 ber (bottomed, in fact) , but with this differ- 

 ence — the bottom projects exactly '4 inch all 

 round, so that when the lumber of the hive 

 is placed in position every thing is flush. 

 These bottom pieces will necessarily be 19% 

 inches long, and have a total width of 13>8 

 inches. 



Now, it is important that this jig-box be 

 exactly square at the corners; and the easi- 

 est way to secure accuracy is by an arrange- 

 ment of cleats on the bench. Begin by 

 drawing pencil-lines on the bench, making 

 an oblong 12>^Xl8X- Use an ordinary 



Eacking-box for drawing these lines, first 

 aving tested its squareness by measuring 

 the distances from the diagonal corners. If 

 both are the same length, the box is true. 

 Your lines drawn, nail cleats on three sides, 

 not necessarily the full length. 



Now, exactly as you can, put the sides of 

 the box together, using only two l><-inch 

 finishing nails at each corner. You are not 

 trying to get rigidity yet; in fact, you want 

 flexibility. This done, slip the box between 

 the cleats on the bench and add the fourth, 

 and your box will be exactly square at the 

 corners. 



One of the bottom-boards should have a 

 pencil-line drawn on three sides, U inch 

 from the edge. Adjust these Unes to the 

 edges of the box, and 

 nau with 2j^-inch 

 nails. Add the re- 

 mainder of the bottom 

 pieces, remove the 

 box from the cleats 

 and nail the corners, 

 "G. 3. and you are ready to 



make a first-class job of your first hive. Here 

 is how the jig-box will look — Fig. 3. 



It is just fun to nail hives together around 

 this box, provided it is of exact shape. 

 Should you, however, in cutting out the 

 pieces, get the end ones a trifle short or a 

 trifle oft square, do not worry, but pack them 

 with strips of brown paper until you get the 

 exact dimensions. 



Fig. 4 



Ordinary nails, I find, even with fir, do 

 not hold the hives true, and so I would ad- 

 vise that cement-coated nails at least 2ji 

 inches long be used. 

 Add the rabbet tins to protect the edges of 

 the rabbet, and your 

 hive is ready for paint- 

 ing. 



For a stronger con- 

 struction I would rec- 

 ommend a check joint 

 as shown in the draw- 

 ing, Fig. 4. 

 Then our specifica- 

 tions will read: 



Two pieces ^{XbVsXld; 



34'X5%X1358, 



the end pieces being rabbeted on one long 

 side -/s inch wide and ^% deep, on both short 

 sides 4/g inch wide, and V inch deep. 

 Victoria, B. C, Canada. 



[We do not give dimensions of anj^ of the 

 standard hives in our text-books, for the 

 simple reason that the great majority of peo- 

 ple can not work by rule and figure. In our 

 A B C and X Y Z of Bee Culture, under the 

 head of "Hive-making," we advise every 

 one who contemplates building his own hives 

 to send to some factory and get a sample of 

 such a hive as he proposes building. With 

 the several parts of the hive before him he 

 can scarcely go wrong, for all he has to do is 

 to make duplicates of each part of the hive. 



In the older editions of our work we gave 

 dimensions; but we found that those who at- 

 tempted to follow them would make mis- 

 takes. They would get the rabbets in the 

 hive in the wrong place too deep or not deep 

 enough; whereas if they had had exact pat- 

 terns all this confusion would have been 

 avoided. In our later editions we gave the 

 dimensions of standard frames. When one 

 takes into consideration the ■4'-inch bee- 

 space, and adds double this space to the 

 length and depth of the frame he will get 

 the correspondino; inside measurements of 

 the hive. The other dimensions will be de- 

 termined by the number of frames used. 

 Figuring that the frames should be spaced 

 1 ys inches from center to center, with a bee- 

 space of '4 inch on each outside frame, we 

 get the inside width of the hive. But we 

 would not advise one to make hives on this 

 way of figuring. He should, rather, work 

 from a pattern. — Ed.] 



DEE-KEEPING IN CUBA. 



Cattle-Raising is Responsible for 

 Poorer Bee Pasturage. 



the 



BY FRANK REIMAN. 



I believe there is no other country in the 

 world where the output of honey has de- 

 creased as it has in Cuba. When the Span- 

 iards and Cubans alike were depredating 

 Cuba and eating up the cattle, it was a glori- 

 ous time for the bee-keeper; but now Cuba is 

 being again well stocked with cattle, and the 



