May 24, 1906 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



443 



may I say ecclesiastical? His was naturally and easily 

 scientific. In traditionalism, metaphysics, ecclesiasticism, 

 and in romance, there is room for mental jugglery ; but to 

 know Science the mind must act honestly with itself and 

 with the facts. So science cultivates honest habits of 

 thought, and will have nothing to do with dishonesty, or 

 with tricky thinking. Mr. Wood was naturally adapted to 

 hear and heed her voice, and she loved to speak her secret 

 thoughts to him. 



He loved the fields and loved the woods — everything 

 that was Nature — and his open mind absorbed ; he knew 

 much more than his friends were aware, imbibing every- 

 where, and eagerly, new thought. He would listen care- 

 fully to those he modestly thought wiser than himself, and 

 learned a thousand times when others would have drawn 

 nothing from the presence of intelligence. It is much to be 

 a good listener, and to winnow well what we hear. This 

 not only stores the mind, but it makes friends. And Mr. 

 Wood made many friends. They crowded his house at the 

 funeral. 



He was liberal and progressive in politics and in re- 

 ligion, differing as generously as he did honestly with the 

 more conservative in both. As to the future, he believed 

 no force is lost, it continues in the world, whether in the 

 identical individual or not is less certain, while some say 

 certainly not. The following poem I have written with him 

 in mind : 



The flrmanent of life may be obscured, 

 Its stars be hidden by the damp of death ; 



Malarial mists, by time too long endured, 

 Shall change and flee before Night's changing breath. 



Cloud6 may eclipse the splendor of man's skie6, 



But life and love are not extinguished so; 

 Their beauty not with pause and sunset dies, 



Though wide diffused in evening's after-glow. 



The stars of thought to their high places climb. 



The mightier orbs of love, by night or day, 

 Do beam through all the phases of dark time. 



By clouds obscured, but passing not away. 



Cloud-shadows fleeing o'er the moon-lit snow, 

 Untracked by searching morn their noiseless feet, 



Or by unfettered winds, which seem to know 

 The scent of shadow-steps unseen and Meet, 



Will pass away with the all-passing dark and night ; 



Love walks upon the wind above the storms, in light. 

 New Salem, Mass. Perry Marshall. 



^ (£ontrtbuteb -f 

 Special Ctrttclcs 



J 



Plain and Chaff Division-Boards 



BY G. C. GRE1NER. 



THE easiest and cheapest way to make a division-board 

 is to take a plain board, put a cleat on each end to 

 keep it from warping, and nail a strip of proper di- 

 mensions with the necessary projections to rest on the 

 rabbet on top, and it is done. I have quite a number of this 

 kind in use, and for certain purposes they are all that is 

 necessary. But their undesirable features are as follows: 



They are hard to remove when once glued fast by the 

 bees ; when trying to loosen them, they always detach with 

 a hive-jarring crack; as a rule, they do not fit the hive per- 

 fectly ; if they fit close, they do not go into the hive freelj . 

 but bind and crowd, and if they go in easily, they 

 do not fit tight enough, and in this case, if not handled very 

 carefully, they go down with that detestable "kerchuck" (if 

 I am allowed the expression) which always irritates bees, 

 even the most gentle colonies; and they are not of the right 

 thickness for the purpose a division-board is often used, 

 unless it is made of thick lumber, which is not desirable for 

 various reasons. 



To overcome all these objections, I have used for many 

 years, what I call a "Main-frame-chaff-division-board." A 

 the name indicates, its foundation is the main-frame. The 

 bee-spaces on each side are taken up by cushioning the out- 

 side of the end-bars. This is done by tacking two or three 

 strips of some thick material (felt-cloth of some worn-out 

 couch-cover is excellent for this purpose), lengthwise on the 



outside, the first strip being the width of the bar — I inch; 

 the next a little narrower, say -34 ; and the last about V 2 inch. 

 The whole is covered with bed-ticking; a strip the length of 

 the end-bar and wide enough to reach around, being wrapped 



Fiij. 1. — Frame GuiMened. 



around it and sewed on the inside with a darning-needle and 

 wrapping-twine, as shown in Fig. I. The sides of the frame 

 are then covered with lumber of such thickness that the 

 aggregate thickness is equal or nearly so (a little scant is 

 better), to the distance of the brood-combs from center to 

 center. I use separator-stuff on one side and J4-inch lumber 

 on the other, making ifjj inches in all. 



To prevent bending or springing out of this thin lum- 

 ber when the frame is being filled, an extra end-bar is nailed 

 between the top and bottom-bar, about half way between the 

 end-bars. Before the lumber is nailed to the second side of 

 the frame, the bottom-bar is taken off, which is necessary 

 to leave an opening for the filling. For the latter I use oat 

 or clover chaff, if available; saw-dust will answer, but I 

 think cither of the former is better. After the filling is com- 

 pleted, replacing and nailing the bottom-bar finishes the job. 



It may seem like a tedious job to make division-boards 

 of this kind, but the advantages in using them are so many, 

 and the satisfaction so enjoyable, that I would not keep 

 bees without them. If the cushioning is made of just the 

 right thickness, the division-board will slide into the hive 

 with verv little pressure, and fit perfectly tight. If it should 

 be desirable to move it, alter the bees have glued it to the 

 ends of the hive, it does not snap and crack when loosened, 

 like a solid board. The flexibility of the cloth will cause 

 it to loosen gradually with very little prying, and when 

 drawn out of the hive or moved sidewise, as is the case 

 when used as a follower, it does not jar the hive to speak of. 



In reducing the capacity of the hive it is more than 

 convenient. Any number of brood-combs can be taken 



Fig. 2. — Division- li ird Finished. 



from a hive, and the same number of division-boa n 1 

 just fill that space again. It is sometimes desirable to re- 

 duce a hive one or more combs for wintering; to substi- 

 tute one of these division-boards on each side has the same 



