618 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



if honey had been yielding; but this is a year 

 of dead failure here, and at such times bees are 

 liliely 10 gnaw where they should not. I con- 

 fidently expect such places to be lilled up when 

 the bees have something to do. 



Evidently, however, there was a difference 

 between the middle and the ends of the foun- 

 dation. Might I not take advantage of that? 

 Didn't it sag more in the middle than at the 

 ends? So I concluded to try having the foun- 

 dation continuous for about an inch at each 

 end. By doing this I could also get rid of the 

 wiggly performance of fastening the bottom 

 strip on the wire separately. The frame was 8 

 inches deep in the clear, and, adding to that 

 the depth of the saw-kerf, allowed foundation 

 to be put in that was 8>^ inches deep. I made 

 it tV, inch less than that— S^'^. The foundation 

 was cut about V inch shorter than the inside 

 length of the frame. The wires were imbedded, 

 and then the frame was laid on a board a little 

 smaller than the inside of the frame, and a 

 strip of foundation about 'n inch wide was cut 

 out about half an inch aht,ve the bottom wire, 

 cutting to about an inch of each end. This, of 

 course, left the foundation whole without any 

 space for an inch at each end. 



After submitting this to the bees it turned 

 out an entire success. The work was so per- 

 fect, that, without close examination, you 

 would say that a single sheet had been put in 

 without any cutting, true as a board, and com- 

 pletely fastened on all four sides. I had ac- 

 complished all I desired, having no space over 

 the bottom-bar, and at the same time no bag- 

 ging-out of the foundation, and it was done 

 with really no extra amount of work, for cut- 

 ting out the strip took no more time— yes, pos- 

 sibly it took a little more time than fastening 

 the foundation to the top-bar in the usual 

 manner. 



The next question was, whether it would act 

 in the same manner If a swarm were hived 

 upon a full set of such frames. I had no swarm 

 to try, but I did what amounted to about the 

 same thing. I went to one of my strongest col- 

 onies, set the hive ofT its stand, put on the 

 stand a hive having at one side a single frame 

 of brood, and lilled out with frames of founda- 

 tion, then brushed into the new hive all the 

 bees, and put on a feeder. 



I rather expected the weight of the bees 

 would pull the foundation down entirely out of 

 the saw-kerf (the thermometer was in the 

 nineties), so I didn't wait any 24 hours, but 

 made an inspection in two or three hours. My 

 expectations were realized, at least as to the 

 three frames next the brood. The foundation 

 was pulled entirely out of the kerf, and was 

 hanging over in a most dejected manner. 



It was evident that, in some way, the foun- 

 dation must be fastened to the top-bar. So I 

 replaced the three frames with three having 

 the foundation fastened to the top-bar, by 



means of the German way, with a beeswax 

 candle. The instructions are, to make a candle 

 with a very slender wick, the candle two inches 

 in diameter, and of uniform dimensions. I was 

 in a hurry, and didn't go through any such 

 formality. I picked up a string that had come 

 from Medina around some frame stuff, took a 

 single strand of it. and squeezed around it in 

 no regular order some of the little strips of 

 foundation I had cut from the sheets. Then I 

 lighted my candle, held it on one side, and, as 

 the drops of melted wax fell from it, I let them 

 fall here and there along the line where the 

 foundation touched the top-bar on one side. It 

 was very quickly and easily done, and I like 

 the plan very much. This time success was 

 achieved. The bees didn't pull the foundation 

 out of the kerf, but finished fastening it in. 



The foundation was about S feet to the 

 pound, and the frame next the brood saggf d 

 more than the eighth of an inch. Indeed, I 

 tried a frame with a space of X inch, and that 

 was not enough. But instead of bulging out, 

 as it would if the frame were filled entirely full 

 in the ordinary manner, there is simply a buck- 

 ling of the foundation upon itself — objection- 

 able, of course, but by no means so bad as the 

 bulging. 



I think whoever wants combs built solid upon 

 the bottom-bar will like the plan I have given. 

 Just how much space it is best to leave between 

 the two parts of the foundation depends on 

 circumstances, much more being allowed where 

 a swarm is thrown upon it than where a single 

 frame is put in an established colony; and in 

 the latter case there is no need to fasten the 

 foundation in the saw-kerf. Of course, the 

 manner of attaching the foundation to the top- 

 bar is a matter entirely independent of the 

 lower part of the frame, and I suppose the plan 

 I have used to get comb built down to the 

 bottom-bar can be used, no matter how the 

 top-bar attachment may be; but I earnestly 

 commend to the powers that be, at Medina, to 

 try one or more frames with the -Si\}4 saw-kerf; 

 also the plan of building to bottom -bar, and 

 report how it succeeds in that loeallty. 



Marengo, III. 



[Lest some of our readers, in going over the 

 above, may not clearly understand, as we did 

 not at lirst, the doctor's plan, we might add 

 that he cuts his foundation (by his last-men- 

 tioned plan) the full size of tlie inside of the 

 frame, and deeper by the depth of a saw-kerf in 

 the top- bar. Of course, such foundation would 

 sag when put on horizontal wires; but to pre- 

 vent this he cuts out a strij) of wax from I4 to 

 3o' in. wide, l^j in. above the bottom-bar up 

 \o within an inch of each end and parallel with 

 the bottom wire. In other words, to .make up 

 for what the foundation would sag, instead of 

 cutting the foundation a little short, so as to 

 leave '4 or,'..' inch space in the bottom of the 

 foundaiion and the bottom-bar, the doctor 

 takes out this space ri{iht in tlie founddtion 

 itself . inst above the bottom wire, leaving an 

 incli space at each end, however, not cut out. 



