102 



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wid:e frames. 



Sectioii-Ca§es, or Wide Frames ? 

 — IIo-iv Made aud Used. 



Written fur the American Bee Journal 

 BV G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I am asked by a correspondent to 

 tell the readers of the American Bee 

 Journal what kind of a section-case 

 or wide frame I prefer, and use, in 

 ■wprking for comb honej'. As it is 

 now the time of year when all bee- 

 keepers sliould be preparing for the 

 next honej- harvest, perhaps I cannot 

 do better than to give an outline of 

 what I use, so that any one who de- 

 sires to try this style of surplus ar- 

 rangement, can make a few at this 

 season of the year. 



While I use and recommend these 

 wide frames, and they are applicable 

 to an}- bee-hive now in use, I do not 

 expect tliat all will like just what I do; 

 therefore I would suggest that those 

 who wish to try tliem, can make only 

 a few at first, then, if after a trial of a 

 year or two they conclude that they 

 like them, they can make more ; but if, 

 on the contrary, they do not like them, 

 thej- have been to no great expense in 

 finding out what they want. 



All that is necessary, is to make the 

 sections and wide frames so that they 

 will tit the top of the hive used. Get 

 all the pieces out true and square, after 

 ■which nail them over a true, square 

 form, so that each wide frame will fit 

 exactly against its neighbor, for one 

 section-case is to be made out of a 

 number of wide frames. 



I also use separators on these wide 

 frames, if I want universally nice 

 honey. If to be used on the tiering-up 

 plan, the tops and bottoms are to be 

 made J of an inch narrower than the 

 ends ; if onl}- one tier high, as 1 pre- 

 fer to use them, then have the tops the 

 thickness of the tin wider than the 

 sides or ends, for the separators are to 

 be nailed to the ends. 



FASTENING ON TIN SEPARATORS. 



After using several kinds of ma- 

 terials for separators, I prefer tin to 

 anything else. The nailing on of this 

 tin has much to do with our liking, or 

 disliking, wide frames ; for if nailed 

 on loosely, so as to kink and bulge, 

 the operator will become disgusted 

 with them. When I first made them, 

 I used a hand-vise to draw the tin 

 tight, having things so arranged that I 

 could pry over one end of the wide 

 frame, thus stretching the tin so tightly 



tliat it would fairly ring when hit a 

 little. While thus working one day, I 

 noticed that in drawing the tin very 

 taut, I often sprung the top and bot- 

 tom of the frame, out or in, as the case 

 might be, and from this I soon had a 

 way of putting on the tin perfectly, 

 every time. 



I made a form a trifle shorter than 

 the frame was long, outside measure ; 

 this form being perfectly true and 

 square, which gave advantage over the 

 vise method, for with that the frame 

 was sometimes drawn out of true. 



Next, I made a block the size of the 

 frame (except a little shorter), and of 

 the same thickness as the ends of the 

 frames, whicli was tacked to the form. 

 To use it, I sprung or bent the top and 

 bottom bar of the frame a little, thus 

 shortening it, until it bent into the 

 form, when I laid on the tin separator, 

 placing a straight edge on top of the 

 tin, and a weight on this. 1 then had 

 the tin just where I wanted it, with all 

 the bulging taken out of it, when it 

 was nailed fast to the wide frame. 

 Upon removing it from the form, the 

 top and bottom sprung back into place 

 again, thus drawing the separator as 

 tight as a drum- head. 



After the wide frames are all made, 

 and the sepaiators put on, they are to 

 be tilled witli sections, when they are 

 ready to be ke3'ed together so as to 

 form the section-case. 



I have tried all ways of keying these 

 wide frames together, using in a clamp, 

 etc., all of which I did not like, as I 

 wshed a plan that would allow of 

 using as few or as many wide frames 

 on a hive as I pleased — from two up to 

 twelve, according to the strength of 

 the colony ; for often, with the old 

 plans, we are obliged to give too much 

 surplus room to start with. Finally, I 

 accomplished what I was after, by pro- 

 curing some rubber bands about I of 

 an inch wide. These I cut into pieces 

 23 inches long. To one end I attached 

 a fine, stout string (by means of a 

 slip-knot) about 5 inches long, and to 

 the other end, one about 18 inches 

 long. The short string was firmly 

 tied to a nail driven into the end of the 

 board which comes against the outside 

 of the outer wide frame ; another be- 

 ing attached to the opposite end of 

 this board in the same way. 



Lately, I have used coil-wire springs 

 (such as are used on hanging lamps to 

 keep the shades up) in place of the 

 rubber bands, and I find them superior 

 to the rubber, in that they give a 

 stronger tension, and will last a life- 

 time, while the rubber has to be re- 

 newed every few yeai's. Still, the rub- 

 ber bands answer a good purpose, and 

 can be renewed as often as necssary, 

 where it is not easy to find the springs. 



In each end of the board which 

 goes on the outside of the opposite 

 outside wide frame, is driven a large- 

 headed, steel-wire carpet-tack. The 

 tack is driven in within about one 

 thirty-second of an inch of its large 

 head, so that when a string is wound 

 around it a little more than once, it is 

 clamped as securely as if tied. 



The wide frames of sections are now 

 placed on the hive, two, three, five, 

 eight, or twelve, as the colony requires; 

 putting on the little outside board to 

 close all, draw the rubber till a sti'ong 

 tension is made, and wind the string 

 around the tack. In this way the wide 

 frames are held as In a vise, yet they 

 give all the lateral movement required, 

 so as to use the right number which 

 the apiarist may desire, and can be 

 taken off as one case, or separately, 

 tiered up, reversed, interchanged, etc., 

 according to the views of the most 

 exacting. 



With this arrangement, there is no 

 need of a honey-board to keep the 

 brace-combs oft" the sections, for they 

 are fully protected by the wide frames. 

 Where contraction of the brood-cham- 

 ber is jiracticed, so that there is dan- 

 ger of the queen entering the sections, 

 then it is well to use the wood-zinc, 

 queen-excluding honey-board, which 

 keeps her below, no matter how small 

 the brood-nest. 



For new swarms, I like the contrac- 

 tion principle, and use it largely on 

 such ; but for all other colonies, I use 

 nothing over the frames except this 

 section-case of wide frames, only 

 where there are not enough wide 

 frames put on a hive to fully cover 

 the brood-frames below, then the bee- 

 quilt, or enameled cloth covering, used 

 before the sections were put on, is 

 folded back over these frames, thus 

 making all tight, so that no bees can 

 come above. 



During the height of the season, the 

 whole top of the hive is covered, as a 

 natural consequence ; but as the season 

 draws to a close, the wide frames are 

 again contracted, so as to have as few 

 unfinished sections in the fall as pos- 

 sible, when the enameled cloth is again 

 brought into play, spreading it out 

 fui'ther and further, as the wide frames 

 filled with honey are taken off, so that 

 at the end of the season, there will 

 only be the two or three wide frames 

 on the hive, which there were to start 

 with. 



There may possibly be a little more 

 labor in this way of securing honey, 

 than there is by some other plans, but 

 as it conforms perfectly with the wants 

 of the bees, enough more honey is 

 secured to more than pay for the extra 

 labor. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



