172 THE BEE-KEEPERS* REVIEW 



must be gently si)read over her l)ack-])late, so as to liecome, as it 

 were, part and parcel of her back plate itself, llien up with the net 

 quickly or the queen in moving- about might wipe the paint olT, or 



smear it. Easy — is it not? Just the same, a beginner is most 

 earnestly advised to practice on common bees first merelv to find out 



how little paint will do. 



RETURNING THE QUEEN TO THE HIVE. 



After the operation it is best to put the cpieen into a circular 

 introducing cage where she may trot about while the paint is dry- 

 ing. She must not get cold, and to prevent that she may be put 

 into a mating — or a nucleus box — the open end of the cage having 

 been first stopped up with good candy. 



To paint a queen running about free is not advised; it is so 

 easy to smear her face and eyes or her wings. But a queen may be 

 painted on a brood comb if found (mi one. Fix three long pins for 

 legs into the rim of the net ; thus put it over the queen and mark 

 her as descriljed. But when you come to lift the net do not take 

 it ofif altogether until the queen walks out from under it herself, 

 then sprinkle the whole comb with a fine spray. Sprinkle it well. 

 Waitete, Amodeo Bay, Auckland, Xew Zealand. 



(To the subscribers who have followed the recent writings on marking 

 queens, this article from first hands will be read with interest. It not only gives 

 the advantages of the marking system but points out the dangers as well. It is a 

 splendid addition to what has already been said. ) 



A Punch for Piercing End-Bars. 



E. F. ATWATER. 



'^'^^\ FEiW years ago, Mr. llutchinson illustrated a punch which 

 ^,.^^\ he used to punch at once the four holes in each frame end- 

 bar. 



No doubt this machine was quite satisfactory with good soft- 

 pine but after trial of a similar tho improved machine, with our pine, 

 which is often quite hard and grainy, we found several dififictilties. 



Some end-bars would split, while a diagonal grain in others 

 would bend the awls, as well as getting the holes out of alignment. 



Then there was often a burr-edge left on one side of each hole, 

 making the insertion of the wire difficult or impossible. 



As we have an engine to run our extractor, it seems the logical 

 thing to use it for as much t)ther work as possible, so we built the 

 machine shown in the cut. \\'e use only three wires in standard 

 frames, so we had three spindles turned as shown, with pulleys key- 

 seated on one end of each, while in each opposite end a hole was 

 drilled to take a ^-inch "Yankee" 1)it, secured with a set-screw. 



