New Inventions in England. 



Just as the Journal is ready to be 

 printed, Mr. D. A. Jones has sent us a 

 sample of the Abbott foundation, made 

 on a board 1-16 of an inch thick, for ex- 

 tracting ; and, also, a sample of Mr. F. 

 Cheshire's wires to prevent the comb 

 from sagging. We have placed the wood 

 foundation in a strong colony, and will 

 report in our next. Mr. Jones, in his 

 accompanying letter, says : 



1 wish to call the attention of American 

 bee-keepers to two inventions which I deem 

 of considerable importance. Mr. C. N. Ab- 

 bott, editor of the British Bee Journal, has 

 made comb foundation on wood a success. 

 He made his own machine, and I saw his 

 frames (Langstroth size) rilled with his 

 wood foundation, all drawn out in splendid 

 shape ; no warping, sagging nor breaking 

 down, and you could not have nicer combs, 

 with brood in all stages, from the egg to the 

 hatching bees. He kindly gave me a few 

 samples, and I send you one of Langstroth 

 size. It is necessary to put them close un- 

 til the bees get started, then push them the 

 usual distance apart ; if so put at first, they 

 may build pieces between them. 



The day I left London, Mr. Cheshire ex- 

 plained to me a very simple and easy 

 method of putting comb toundation in 

 frames, and prevent it from sagging. The 

 bottom of the wire must be bent to fit the 

 depth of the frame, the same as the top. 

 Cut a board that will just fit into the inside 

 of the frame, and just thick enough, so that 

 the foundation will rest in the center, drop 

 in the foundation the full size ; hook the 

 wire over the top and bottom bars, then 

 press it with your hand to push the pins 

 through the wax ; put the frames, thus pre- 

 pared about 3 inches apart, say 5 to a Lang- 

 stroth hive ; it can be done very quickly. 

 Mr. Cheshire put in one in 5 seconds, and I 

 tried my best to shake or jerk it out, but I 

 could not ; I could scarcely believe it, even 

 after I saw it. One set of wires will last a 

 lifetime. The way to make them is to cut 

 several creases in a board with a saw % 

 inch deep, for the long wires ; cut cross 

 creases for the pins ; the creases hold them 

 in the places while soldering, which is done 

 as fast as you can touch them ; bore holes 

 through a board, the right distance apart, to 

 let the pins go through ; place the wire on 

 the board by pushing the pins through, and 

 cut them off close to the board. That is a 

 guide to make them all of one length. In 

 12 hours after they are put in the bees will 

 fasten the combs all around, and have the 

 cells drawn out, so that no sagging or warp- 

 ing will occur. They can be removed and 

 used again for others ; the wires form a 

 complete ladder for the bees. This beats 

 wires in the foundation, and one can put 

 it in, in half the time. 1 have received many 

 valuable hints, and I will give them to the 

 readers of the Bee .Journal as fast as I 

 can find time to do so. 



Seasonable Hints. 



A writer in the Rural New-Yorker has 

 given the following appropriate hints : 



The first and great care of the apia- 

 rist should be to see that each colony 

 is provided with a laying prolific queen. 

 An old queen, or one that, for any rea- 

 son, has become less vital and has de- 

 teriorated in her laying propensity, 

 should never be tolerated. In the honey 

 season, when the workers live but a few 

 weeks before they wear out, it is of im- 

 portance that the colonies should be re- 

 enforced with a constant and copious 

 supply of young bees. Where such re- 

 enforcement is lacking there will be a 

 corresponding deficiency in the store 

 of surplus honey, as well as in swarms. 

 It is well to keep a few queens on hand 

 in nuclei, so that if any accident should 

 happen to a laying queen, a new one 

 can be substituted without delay. 

 Should a queen be killed by accident 

 and a new one not be introduced, the 

 workers will go to work and rear a 

 queen from a worker egg, or young 

 larva; but this process takes 16 days, 

 and 5 or 6 days more elapse before the 

 young queen is fertilized and begins 

 laying; hence 3 weeks, in all, are lost. 

 A prolific queen is estimated to lay over 

 2,000 eggs a day when at her best. The 

 total loss of bees to the colony would, 

 therefore, be nearly 50,000 by a three 

 week's absence of a queen. Those who 

 take no warning from these figures do 

 not deserve to succeed in apiculture. 



Having prolific queens in the colo- 

 nies, it next becomes important to see 

 that there is room for them to lay. When 

 honey is plentiful the bees will store 

 rapidly ; use the extractor freely, there- 

 fore, and let no more honey be stored in 

 the brood nest than necessary. This 

 extracted honey can be stored in bar- 

 rels, if the quantity is large, and 

 shipped to commission men ; but it is 

 much preferable to endeavor to develop 

 a home market for the article, and there 

 sell it at retail. To this end, put it up 

 in as attractive a form as possible. 



Keep, also, a watchful eye on the sec- 

 tions for storing surplus honey. The 

 queen should never be allowed to lay 

 eggs in these"; but if there is sufficient 

 room for her in the brood nest, there is 

 but little danger that she will enter the 

 upper story for the purpose of laying. 



gg=Mr. L. J. Diehl has sent us one of 

 his block queen cages, which fully com- 

 plies with the postal law. It is good 

 and strong. 



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