256 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



[November 



frame is not sufficiently heavy to hold 

 the wire tight. The frame gives in 

 time, the wire sags and becomes loose, 

 making a nuisance instead of a sup- 

 port. 



Wood splints have been used some 

 and I have experimented along this 

 line and with me the method has 

 proven satisfactory. I have put them 

 in horizontal and perpendicular, but of 

 late I put them in at angles or oblique 

 with the frame. These brace the 

 frame to a wonderful extent and as 

 the pull on the wax is at different 

 angles there is no slipping in hot 

 weather as it often does with wire. 



These, for extracting, are ideal, for 

 we all know when a comb is set upon 

 the corner the frame often is wrench- 

 ed in uncapping and the comb is 

 broken before it goes into the extract- 

 or. In conclusion I would say it pays 

 and pays well to have worker comb 

 in the brood frame, and if you have 

 combs built in the old way it will pay 

 to go over the comb and cut out 

 all the drone and graft in worker 

 comb in its place. 



This can be best done in the spring 

 when the hives are light in stores and 

 brood. The bits of drone comb cut 

 out are very rich in wax and will al- 

 most make wax enough to buy worker 

 foundation for the drone comb re- 

 placed. 



By paying attention along these 

 lines the profit of the apiary will be 

 enhanced and the work will be done 

 with greater pleasure. 



Mr. H. Rauchfuss: This is some- 

 thing similar to the way we used to 

 wire frames on all four corners and 

 turn them over to a hive. They were 

 the most imperfect combs we ever 

 had. It will have to gag, and does 

 sag, it ought to sag all the way 

 through, as soon as it will strike bot- 

 tom it will sag another way. I have 

 tried wires where they would cross 

 each other. We used to wire our 

 frames up and down. We also used 

 tin, and wherever that piece of tin 

 was there was an imperfect space 1-2 

 inch wide. There was a streak of black 

 through the center. In regard to 

 stretching of the foundation, the bees 

 will hammer foundation until it gives 

 and when foundation gets bigger 

 where are they going to put it? The 

 actual work of bees hammers it down. 



Mr. Porter: I wish I had some of 

 the combs that had been built this 

 summer. Those combs for brood 



raising and extracting stood a great 

 deal of usage and very satisfactory. 



Mr. Foster: I would like to know 

 why the foundation is left for opening 

 at the bottom if it does not sag. The 

 stretch should be more in the middle, 

 I think. 



Mr. Gill: There is something in 

 regard to getting perfect combs made 

 as stated. They make it larger and 

 it gives them that sag, if you give 

 starters to a natural swarm and the 

 swarm of bees fill their combs they 

 will carry that down from 90 to 95 

 per cent worker combs. All the comb 

 they build is worker combs. I do 

 claim that with absolutely certain con- 

 ditions we can get a good worker 

 comb with starters. 



Some Negrlected Points Where We Can 

 Improve to Best Advantaere. 



Paper by Mr. R. C. Aikin. 



Man is a bundle of habits. We are 

 continually prone to do things — not 

 in the light of reason but from force 

 of habit. Habit taught us to say 

 "Sweep the home out," for "Sweep 

 the floor;" "Wipe your feet off," for 

 "Clean your shoes," "Gather up" for 

 gather, etc. Just the other day a 

 man who was doing some painting 

 for me, asked for a broom, to "sweep 

 the roof off," I told him I wanted the 

 roof to remain on, and be painted 

 vvherft it was. 



Now, in like manner we do most 

 of our business just as we have be- 

 come accustomed to doing, we even 

 gjo so far as to make ourselves be- 

 lieve ours the only way. Custom — 

 habit — governs in methods and man- 

 ners. We keep bees and market their 

 products according to custom or habit. 

 It may be a habit of our own, or the 

 habit of others after whom we copy. 

 If a certain firm or company do thus 

 and so, recommending certain hives 

 or methods as the right and only way, 

 do not take up their habit, and do 

 likewise because they do it so, weigh 

 the evidence and form your conclu- 

 sions in a reasonable manner. It is 

 said that not one in ten of the people 

 do their own thinking, the leaders in 

 politics, in the church, in the press, 

 etc., do our thinking for us, and we, 

 like the unsuspecting lamb, imnocent- 

 ly slip our heads into the noose. 



No, I am not advocating that every 

 man be a sceptic. We have a honey 

 marketing association — a co-operative 

 company. There is an opportunity 



