138 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



forced on again, no nails are required and 

 you have the result shown at fig. 4. 



Fig. 4. 



We will next deal with Messrs. Neigh- 

 bour's method. They run tiie patent of Mr. 

 James Lee who has brought out many of 

 the notions used among British beekeep- 

 ers. Lee's frames are put together witli- 

 out nails or screws; the top and bottom- 

 bars are both split and the frame is held 

 together by " dovetails " as a glance at 

 flg. 5 will show. 



Fig. 5. 



The " metnl ends" keep the top-bar to- 

 gether and hold the sheet of foundation 

 firm, and the saw-cut in the bottom-bar 

 is large enough to allow the foundation 

 to hang loose in it. Should the founda- 

 tion "sag" as it sometimes will in hot 

 Aveather while the bees are working it out 

 into combs, this large slit allows the 

 "sag" to drop through tiie bottom bar and 

 when the beos work down to the bottom- 

 bar they make tlie cells fast. You then have 

 tiie frame Idled completely wilh comb 

 without "inverting," and any "sag" there 

 might have been caused can be cleaned off 

 level with the bottom of the bottom-bar. 

 This plan allows of perfect combs without 

 a bee-passage; moreover, the combs are 

 Avorked as level as a board. Lee's frames 

 are also easy to ship, with cheap freights 



as a consequence, as they pack into a very 

 small compass and can be put together by 

 the beekeeper without nails or screws. 



SECTIONS. 



I Avill now tell you how we apply simi- 

 lar ideas to sections. We mostly use one- 

 piece sections; many of us have split one 

 quarter and put the foundation in as we 

 fold them as shown at fi". 6. 



Fig. 6. 



But the difficulty in folding Avas, that as 

 you pressed down the cap you drove the 

 foundation before it without getting a 

 grip. Messrs. Abbott have overcome this 

 difficulty by making the slit on the bevel, 

 and also l)y making it larger on the out- 

 side than the inside as shown at fig. 7. 



Fig. 7. 



This slit forms a "dovetail" to hold the 

 foundation which is gripped so tight that 

 it will tear asunder rather than the slit 

 Avill let go its liold. 



Mr. Blow makes a groove -,\- inch deep 

 and ^ inch wide all round the centre of 

 the inner walls of the section as sh»wu at 

 fig. 8. 



Fig. 8, 



