118 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



very sore, and the poisoning is very 

 slow to heal. My bees came through 

 winter and spring in the best of shape; 

 all have east good large swarms. We 

 have 67 colonies. 



Yours truly, 



E. P. Cranston. 



Keating, Ore. 



[We have never personally known 

 of a case of poisoning from propolis, 

 and do not know of any remedy for 

 it. If any of our readers have had 

 any experience in propolis poisoning 

 we shall be glad to hear from them.] 

 — Ed. 



W. T. Falconer Mfg Co., Dear 

 Sirs: You no doubt remember the 

 many articles published in Gleanings, 

 pro and con, on closed end bars and 

 fixed distances. The matter has been 

 finally settled in favor of the V-shap- 

 ed Hoff nan end bar which is the best 

 up to date that has ever appeared. I 

 do not wish to review this discussion, 

 but I think I have improved the 

 Hoffman frame so much that it de- 

 serves a place among modern bee ap- 

 pliances. 1 send you sample end bar 

 by this mail; you will readily see its 

 many advantages, a few of which are 

 as follows : 



The end bar is made substantially 

 as Root makes tne V Hoffman end 

 bar, except the part that isV'd, which 

 is entirely removed, and a saw cut 

 made, into which a piece of zinc is 

 slipped. Now this zinc bears against 

 the projecting edge of the neighbor- 

 ing end bar, and forms a bearing that 

 is clean, and one that the bees will 

 propolsze very little, and if a little 

 propolis is placed along the bearing, 

 when the wedge is placed behind the 

 follower it will cause the zinc to cut 



through the propolis and bear on the 

 wood, thereby always preserving the 

 distance between the frames. The 

 top bar is made 1 l-16xg, which prac- 

 tically does away wish burr combs, 

 etc. The end of same can be extend- 

 ed, as shown on page 21, Root's Cata- 

 logue for September, 1891, where a 

 tin rabbet is used. In this case the 

 end bar should be made \ inch shorter 

 than in Root's Catalogue, and the up- 

 per staple used as per sample I send 



you. 



If the nail (see sample) is used for 

 a bearing on the rabbet, then the up- 

 per staple can be dispensed with, the 

 nail being driven in just far enough 

 to preserve the space between the end 

 bar and end of hive (£ inch). This 

 space is preserved at bottom of frame 

 by a staple also, and the greatest good 

 to lie obtatined from this staple is the 

 prevention of smashing of bees be- 

 tween end bar and hive, thereby fa- 

 cilitating the rapid handling of 

 frames. 



I like the nail better for a bearing 

 on the rabbet than the extended top 

 bar, as it is cheaper, t the tin rabbet 

 being dispensed with, > propolis is re- 

 duced to a minimum, and less bees 

 will be killed. 



The great objection to the V'd Hoff- 

 man frame is the placing of propolis 

 in the corner where the V touches the 

 adjoining frame, which will cause the 

 corner of the V'd side to split off un- 

 ery hard wood. ' 



1 have over 100 frames with the 

 metal bearing, and it surely is a great 

 pleasure to handle these, compared 

 with any other frame. I can handle 

 a hive full of these frames— that is 

 so full of bees they will pour over the 

 sides, and fill the rabbets full, and by 



