842 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Dec. 7, 1905 



starter. I want to call the attention of the reader to this 

 point, because it has not been suflSciently emphasized yet. 



Wiring Frames. 



The frames should be wired. The two faces of a sheet 

 of foundation are seldom worked equally on both sides. The 

 side toward the center of the cluster is usually in advance of 

 the other. The result is that the sheet curves outside be- 

 cause the weight of comb honey and brood on the inner side 

 is greater. Nothing but complete wiring prevents this. 



Wiring vertically would be a little the best, but it would 

 require a larger number of holes, and therefore more time 

 to make them and pass the wire through. Furthermore, 

 boring holes through a thick top bar would be quite a job. 

 A shoemaker's awl is sufficient to make the necessary holes 

 in a thin end-bar. 



It is not necessary to fasten the foundation to the top- 

 bar — it is sufficient to have the top-wire near to it, not more 

 than a quarter of an inch from it. 



The wiring is done with thin tinned wire— I think No. 

 30 is the one advised and sold for the purpose by the sup- 

 ply dealers. In the factories the wire is wrapped around a 

 board of sufficient length (the wrapping being done length- 

 wise) ; then the whole is tied at two or three places to keep 

 the wire in place. All the turns of wire are cut in two at 

 one end of the board, and the separate pieces pulled out 

 from the other end and threaded through the holes of the 

 frames. That process does very well when the wire used is 

 in very large coils, because then it does not kink, or not 

 enough to cause trouble. But it is impracticable with wire 

 wound on small spools. No sooner would the piece of wire 

 be drawn that it would assume a shape something like this : 



The ordinary apiarist will never need a large coil of 

 wire. A half-pound spool has enough wire to fill several 

 hundred frames. I use something like the figure shown 



V^ 



r 



^ 



GI 



IDp 



Bi 



herewith. On a table, bench, or even a board, I drive a 

 number of nails, as shown. Some are placed so as to hold 

 the frame in place. Three of the others hold the pulleys (P) 

 around which the wire passes. They must be small enough 

 to permit the pulleys to revolve freely. It is better to put a 

 washer under each pulley. I use sash pulleys from which 

 the stems have been taken out. I just happened to have 

 them. Some other apiarists who use a similar apparatus 

 use, instead, empty thread-spools, probably also because 

 they happened to have them. 



Another nail holdS the spool of wire (W). This spool 

 has a crank which permits revolving it with the hand. The 

 crank is made by nailing a small piece of wood to the pul- 

 ley ; and a nail at the other end of the piece completes the 

 crank. The end of the wire is pulled through the succes- 

 sive holes and around the pulleys, as shown in the foregoing 

 figure, and finally fastened at the last hole (H). The opera- 



A< 



-^o 



oat 



B 



O 



-:-\<ix then holds' the crank (W)with one hand, and with the 

 ^^'m^*^^''"'^^ releases the wird Jrdm the different puU^Vs in sue- 

 •^iafee%sioB,-^as Shown" in' inihi" above' fig:uV^;tyriling fhe crank 

 I. 



(W) so as to take up the surplus wire as fast as released. 

 The wire is finally cut and fastened at A. 



Looking at the figures and reading the above descrip- 

 tion impresses the mind as if the process were rather cum- 

 bersome. Practically it is not so. A frame is wired in less 

 than a minute. 



Fastening the Comb Foundation. 



Now comes the fastening of the wax to the wire. The 

 Spur imbedder and Easterday fastener will do in a measure, 

 provided the wax is rather soft. I prefer using a lamp, as 

 per Dr. C. C. Miller's method. At least I think the process 

 is his invention. 



A string with four hooks is hung to the ceiling. A lamp 

 is placed so that its glass chimney comes within about 2 

 inches of the foundation. A frame is hung to the hooks, 

 and a piece of foundation placed in on the wires. The 

 frame is then moved slowly over the lamp so as to follow 

 the wire. The heat softens the wax and causes it to stick 

 to the wire. A finger is held on the foundation so as to 

 press it on the wire as it passes over the lamp. The light 

 and wire can easily be seen through the sheet of wax. 



Folding Sections. 



Don't try to fold the sections dry. Too many would 

 break in spite of all the care one might take. The joints 

 must be wet so as to be damp when folded. If the work is 

 done at home, the method of wetting given by Dr. C. C. 

 Miller is the best. Take out of the crate the few side- 

 pieces that hide the joints of the sections — that is, the edges 

 of the sections — and pour hot water in the joints. As the 



c 



T 



joints of every row of sections correspond, the water will 

 go clear through and wet all of the sections properly. 



I sometimes do the work in the apiary because I can 

 easily take the crate of sections and the box of foundation 

 on my wheel and do the work there under the shade of a 



tree. As I have not the facilities necessary for hot-water 

 proceedings, I follow another process. Three small sponges 

 are fastened to a small, flat piece of wood. This constitutes 

 the instrument to wet the three grooves at a time. The 

 wetting must be done on the back of the sections, as shown 

 in the figure. Forty or SO .sections are wet and then folded 

 ■before they get dry. The process is cjuicke'r thaiii one would 

 think'when reading the above. ■-,,-.► 



