162 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 



the family can go to church with it, 

 when so arranged. In hauling full 

 loads of honey one extra set of side- 

 boards is sufficient. When hauling 

 loads of supers full of drawn combs, 

 honey containers, packing for winter- 

 ing, etc., all three sets of side-boards 

 can be used to advantage. It is only 

 the work of a few minutes to disman- 

 tle the truck, and at the outyards it 

 is only the work of half a minute to 

 slip in the end gates after the truck is 

 loaded and one is on the way. There 

 are no ropes to tie — no fuss, no wor- 

 ries about the load being lost on the 

 road. 



The side-boards should be made of 

 light lumber, such as white pine. 

 However, the supporting braces 

 should be of hard wood, such as oak 

 or birch. These supports need not be 

 over 25^2 inches wide. The end gates 

 are prevented from falling out by a 

 series of cleats, and at the top an iron 

 rod, provided with threads and a wing 

 nut, as commonly used in every farm- 

 er's wagon box. Possibly such an ar- 

 rangement as this will weigh a trifle 

 more than an arrangement whereby 

 the boards are slatted. However, 

 when using slats, the extra braces, 

 bolts and screws to hold them to- 

 gether will almost make up this small 

 extra weight. But even though it 

 does weigh a few pounds more, it is 

 well worth the extra load that must 

 be carried. 



It is well to make the box of such a 

 size that it will accommodate a given 

 load of supers without any shifting 

 around. Mine is 66x82 inches inside 

 measurements, which allows a load of 

 112 shallow supers or a load of 64 

 Langstroth supers to be taken. Of 

 course, when full of honey such a 

 large load is not possible. 



Such a truck body can easily be 

 built by the beekeeper, and the total 

 cost of the material need not exceed 

 $30 to $35, based on present prices. 



Wisconsin. 



How Shall We Wire Frames? 



By W. S. Pangburn 

 The wiring of frames has been in 

 vogue for some time, and it would 

 seem long enough that some method 

 should be adopted as considered best. 

 However, this is not the case, if one 

 is to judge from the different meth- 

 ods that have appeared, and are still 

 appearing in the bee magazines, and 

 from the matiy imperfect combs found 

 in use by beekeepers. 



Some beekeepers seem to think that 

 because they have wired their frames 

 and used full sheets of foundation, 

 they have solved the problem, when, 

 as a matter of fact they may have 

 very few perfect combs. 



The extracted honey producer has 

 a much better chance to discover a 

 poor brood-comb than the average 

 comb-honey producer, who has per- 

 haps little chance to see his combs 

 entirely empty. A very poor brood- 

 comb when filled with honey and 

 capped, may put up a very good bluff 

 for a good comb, but when uncapped 

 and extracted, may be a very poor 

 comb, and remind one of the saying 

 that "little smears of powder, and lit- 

 tle dabs of paint, make a very pretty 

 thing of a thing that ain't." 



Sometimes one is almost forced to 

 believe every beekeeper has a method 

 of wiring of his own, and all give 

 perfect combs, and this is an unfor- 

 tunate thing for the beginner, who 

 has not had experience enough to 

 sift the good points from the bad. 



Some seem to think the more com- 

 plicated the wiring the better the re- 

 sults ; others the fewer wires the 

 better, and both may be wrong, while 

 the beginner, who foljows either, 

 may spoil several hundred combs be- 

 fore finding it out. 



Some of the methods that have ap- 

 peared as solving, the problem of 

 getting perfect combs through the 

 wiring alone, have been purely im- 

 aginary on the part of the intro- 

 ducer, and such things should not be 

 permitted to pass without the proper 

 comment. 



It does not matter to the beekeep- 

 ers who have spoiled enough combs 

 by some of the poor methods given, 

 and have learned enough to reason 

 for themselves, but for the benefit of 

 the beginner, who is looking for some 

 best way to wire his combs, and wish- 

 ing to make no more mistakes than 

 necessary, something should be done. 

 All we ever see advocated in the 

 supply catalogs, and most of the bee 

 books is the 4 horizontal wires. 



That this system has been weighed 

 in the balance and found wanting, is 

 proven very conclusively from the 

 following facts. That grand old bee- 

 keeper, Dr. Miller, realized years ago 

 that the system was faulty, and in- 

 vented and used little wooden splints. 

 Many beekeepers paint the upper 

 part of the foundation with wax just 

 below the top bar, to give the added 

 support, and last, but not least, use 



ZS 



the many different methods of wir- 

 ing. 



What we need to do is to select one 

 of the best, and forget the rest. 



Any young beekeeper who reads 

 both Gleanings and the American Bee 

 Journal for February would be like 

 the editor of Gleanings, "between the 

 Devil and the deep sea," when it 

 comes to wiring combs. 



To be frank, Fig. 7, in Gleanings, re- 

 produced herewith, is, in my opinion, 

 the best system of wiring that has 

 come to light. Any beekeeper who 

 has examined combs for defects, and 

 knows where the defects usually 

 come, and has studied the cause, can 

 see at a glance this plan has some 

 excellent points in its favor. The 

 added support is given where needed, 

 just below the top bar, and in the 

 center. 



The loose wiring that was once ad- 

 vocated spoiled more combs for us 

 than any one thing, and I can do no 

 better than quote Morley Pettit in 

 the American Bee Journal: "This at 

 one stroke did away with any benefit 

 the wires might be." 



Apples fall to the ground through 

 force of gravitation, and combs from 

 too much weight when too tender to 

 bear it. We know they never go up, 

 and we also know they have no other 

 support, usually, than wires, in being 

 drawn. Why, then, do away with the 

 support by using slack wires? 



If we were to make any suggestions 

 as to improving the wiring of Fig. 

 7 it would only be to add a fifth wire. 

 However, this may not be necessary 

 with this system of diagonal wiring, 

 but we have never thought 4 wires 

 enough with the regular horizontal 

 wiring. Not enough support where 

 sagging occurs, and too much buck- 

 ling between wires aL times. 



Some beekeepers will, with this 

 method, like some of the others, think 

 it "too much bother." These three 

 words, along with too light a founda- 

 tion, have spoiled lots of combs. 

 Some beekeepers are proud to tell 

 that they use no wires, and that they 

 are not necessary, and one is remind- 

 ed of the old adage that "fools rush 

 in where angels fear to tread." 



Far too many beekeepers are trying 

 to get along with too little work, and 

 too light foundation, at the expense 

 of the finished product. 



Next to a good location and a pro- 

 lific queen, perfect combs are the 

 beekeeper's greatest asset. A good 

 brood-comb, barring American foul- 

 brood and accident, will last the av- 

 erage beekeeper a lifetime. Can we 

 afford to take chances in some minor 

 matter of wiring, or a slight cost in 

 foundation when so much is at stake? 



After the beginner has been given 

 the proper method of wiring he 

 should have equally good instructions 

 as to the proper handling of the 

 frames while being drawn, and after- 

 wards until filled to top bar with 

 brood. Without this precaution they 

 might spoil their combs with most 

 any method of wiring, but this is an- 

 other subject. 



Center Junction, Iowa. 



