OCTOBER 1, 1913 



George Zautner and family, of Albanj', N. Y. Another view of Mr. Zautner's apiary is sliown on the 

 cover of this issue. See editorial. 



AN OLD BUT VERY EFFICIENT FRAME-NAIL- 

 ING DEVICE 



BY J. L. BYER 



While beekeeping has, no doubt, kept 

 pace with other industrial pursuits during' a 

 number of years, shown by the many new 

 things that are constantly brought to our 

 notice, yet every once in a while some old 

 device or plan will be found that, after all, 

 is better than the modern methods which 

 are supposed to supersede the more ancient 

 ones. The frame-nailing device illustrated 

 here is in this class; for while my grand- 

 father and his brother used this forty years 

 ago, I have yet to see a better plan, al- 

 though I have seen a great many other de- 

 vices for this purjDose during the past ten 

 years or so. Indeed, I doubt if there is an- 

 other one as good as this, all things con- 

 sidered, as frames nailed in this device are 

 absolutely on the square, and a good smart 

 operator can nail up quite a few hundred 

 frames in a day, and work in a position 

 that is not tiresome to him. 



Figure 1 shows the front of the device. 

 The only movable parts shown in this pic- 

 tnie are the lever at tlie bottom ris'lit-hand 



corner, and the two pieces about six inches 

 long at the top, marked each with the large 

 crosses. The block inside the four corners 

 designated a — a is the exact inside measure 

 of the frame. The foot lever at the bottom 

 is shown raised up, and the holder is ready 

 for the frame in the' flat to be placed ready 

 for nailing. The tojj-bar is laid flat in the 

 space at the bottom of the block marked a at 

 each corner, and the end-bars stand upright 

 in the grooves shown at the ends of said 

 block. The bottom-bar is placed in position 

 on top of this block ; the foot-lever is press- 

 ed down, and the two strips marked with 

 ./■ clamp the frame solidly for nailing. Tlie 

 frame is now nailed ; and then when the 

 foot lifts the lever at the bottom, the job is 

 done. It takes much more time to describe 

 tlie process than to do the work, as an 

 active nailer can at least run one a minute. 



The two smaller crosses, lower down, 

 show a shelf for nails which is divided into 

 two comiDartments, one for the small nails 

 and one for the larger ones for the top- 

 bars. The device should be constructed so 

 that the top leans away from the bottom at 

 least eight or ten inches out of perpendicu- 

 lar, and the front should be of inch lumber. 



I might add that the block referred to, 



