1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



155 



OPENING BOXES. 



ALSO A WORD IN REGARD TO THE CARE OF EMPTY 



BOXES. 



^p|,NE of the worst troubles I have in onr 

 ijl establishment is to lind boys who will 

 ^-^ open a box carefully, put the cover 

 back in place, and go and put it back in the 

 box-house. It sometimes seems as if they 

 had been instructed at home to smash every 

 thing in the shape of a box they got their 

 eyes on. If they don't do that," almost the 

 best of them will take the cover and lay it 

 down somewhere, and somebody will come 

 and take it for something else ; and then 

 when the box is wanted, a cover has to be 

 made of unsuitable lumber, and it goes to 

 our customer looking so cheap and patched 

 up that I am ashamed of the workmen 1 em- 

 ploy. " Please don't break the covers, boys," 

 and ''• Please don't forget to put the cover on 

 nicely, and put the box away where it be- 

 longs," I urge and plead and implore and 

 entreat ; and after working 

 hours, when the poor fellows 

 are gone, and may be sound 

 asleep, on my knees I pray that 

 God may help them to be more 

 careful, and learn wisdom's 

 ways. Notwithstanding all these 

 pleadings, 1 have oftentimes 

 said to myself, '' Oh for a boy, 

 just one boy, who would love to 

 open boxes carefully, and to put 

 the cover back carefully, and 

 then to pile them up in the box- 

 house carefully, until some- 

 body wanted just such a box I " 

 So much for my trials. Mow 

 comes the question, llow shall 

 this imaginary boy get the top 

 off without breaking or splitting 

 it y I once saw Gen. Leggett 

 open a pine box with a hatchet. 

 The great man was careful, but 

 it took him a long while, and 1 

 was wondering at the lime 

 whether he thought as I did, 

 about box-covers. Well, we 

 have tried a good many tools for 

 opening boxes, and "for many 

 purposes we like the one figured 

 alongside of these re- 

 marks best of any. 

 T h e manufacturers 

 call it the Pelican nail- 

 puller. To use it, you 

 ■put the claw just before 

 the nail-head, and 

 strike it on the back 

 with the hammer till it catches the head, 

 and then tip it back. They are nicely tem- 

 pered, and we used one a long while before 

 anybody could break it. If you will take a 

 look at a box you will almost always discov- 

 er that, to get out the contents, you do not 

 need to take the whole cover otL If it is a 

 large box, and the cover is made of three 

 pieces, just get out the end nails of the mid- 

 dle piece, and very likely your goods will all 

 come out very easily through this opening. 

 If the cover is made of tAvo pieces, draw the 

 nails from just one only. Don't pull the 

 nails clear out, but leave them sticking in 



the cover ; then when you have removed the 

 contents, put the cover right back, and set 

 the nails down just where they went before. 

 If the goods are packed in straw, have a bas- 

 ket near for the straw, but don"t scatter it 

 on the floor. If you know just where the 

 goods are to be put, carry the box to that 

 place, and put them away with one handling. 

 If they go on a shelf, set the box on a high 

 stool, tight up to this shelf. Then you will 

 get the goods where you want them, with 

 no waste handling; for every time you han- 

 dle goods, it takes time, if it does not dam- 

 age the goods by breakages. 



The price of this Pelican nail-puller is 75 

 cts., and it can be sent by mail forlBcts. 

 That convention in York State objected to 

 Gleaxixgs. because I used its pages to ad- 

 vertise so many things. Now, friends, I ex- 

 pect to advertise goods that I find handy, as 

 ; long as I live; and when I describe them, I 

 ' expect to give prices, and you can tell wheth- 

 er you can get your blacksmith to m;ike them 

 ' cheaper, or whether you can get them cheap- 

 er at tlie hardware store. If you can, by all 

 means do so ; and if you can't, I shall be 

 happy to assist you. 



CONCERNING FRAIYIES. 



SHALLOW ERAMES; THE NEW PLAN OF WIRING 

 I frames; ALSO A Sl.MPLE AND PRACTICAL WAY 

 j TO REVERSE BROOD-FRAMES, AS AVELL AS 



] WIDE FRAMES, AT THE WILL OF THE 



I OPERATOR. 



! sjnpjijRiEND ROOT:--Herewith I send you by ex- 

 j jifi"' press the styje of brood-frame I prefer fox* 

 I — ' my own use, and the one I have been using 

 more or less since 1876. The frame,a9 you will no- 

 tice, is more shallow than the standard Langstroth, 

 I being only 7 inches deep and IC's inches long, inside 

 ; measure; 7 i'^ inches deep and 17 ?b inches long, out- 

 j side measure. The frame being rei'ersi'We, I make 

 the top and bottom pieces, as you will see, of the 

 same thickness. I prefer to make my frames now, 

 \ top, bottom, and end pieces, all of one thickness; 

 to-wit, ?8 inch. This enables me to dispense entlre- 

 1 ly with the diagonal wires when wiring the frames 

 ! for fdn. 1 use, as you will see, only 6 vertical wires, 

 No. 30, for wiring fdn. by hand. I have also used 

 live, seven, and eight such wires, but find six to be 

 1 just about the right number for frames as shallow 

 as mine. For the Given preFS 1 should use eight 

 vertical wires of No. 3fi. 



BALDRIDGE'S REVERSIBLE FRAME. 



I prefer, also, tine wire-nail loops for the wires in 

 place of the holes bored or punched through the top 

 and bottom pieces of the frame; nails U inch long, 

 and of No. 20 wire, are about the best I have tried 

 for wood ?a inch thick. Those with flat heads, or 

 moulding-nails with pin heads, will answer. You 

 will see both kinds in the frame sent you. You will 



