440 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



the die L very accurately to do nice work. It may 

 be more easily made of a thin steel plate 's inch 

 thick, 1 inch wide, and 3i4 inches long, filed with 

 beveled edg:es so it will fit firm when let in the 

 table top, and a countersunk screw-hole in each 

 end to keep it in place. To make the oblonfr holes 

 in the die L, I use a Morse twist-drill bit, iV<. inch in 

 size; draw a straight line lengthwise through the 

 center of the plate L, then drill the holes along the 

 line, file out the spaces, and square up the corners. 

 The die should be let in a hard-wood board 16 to 18 

 inches wide, and :.'4 inches long; also the parallel 

 guide K should be attached to this board, and the 

 whole thing adjusted under the punch A, and 

 screwed fast to the law J. The loop, or shoe, D, 

 made of hoop iron, plays an important part, as it 

 frees the punch from the zinc, and leaves it clear 

 to be moved forward under the punch. The width 

 of the lines between the perforations may be regu- 

 lated by the guide K, to as wide or narrow, as any 

 one may desire. The size and shape of the per- 

 forations may be varied according to each one's 

 ideas or fancy as to what they think right. The 

 engraving below shows a sample of the zinc made 

 on the machine. 



QUEEN-EXCLUDING HONEY-BOAKDS. 



now TO M.iKE THEM ; FURTHER SUGGESTIONS ON 

 THE WOOD-BOUND HONEY-BOARD. 



The spring (J, foot-pedal H, hole I, and short piece 

 of stiff wire connecting the punch and lever, are 

 all so vivid in the cut that any one will understand 

 at a glance. 



This seems an opportune time to mention that I 

 have been experimenting with a variety of all-met- 

 al honey-boards set in wood frames with a half 

 bee-space on both sides, and perforated so as to 

 embrace the break-joint principle; that is, one or 

 more rows of perforations to come over the center 

 of each top-bar of the brood-frames, and the space 

 between the row or rows of perforations left solid 

 zinc. I claim this method will obviate the expense 

 of wood slats, as I can undoubtedly make this 

 board so It will not sag in the center. 



John S. Reese. 



Winchester, Ky., May 1, 1888. 



Friend 11., I am sure we owe you a vote of 

 thanks for telling us how simply such a 

 machine may be constructed. Your guide 

 for the bar A is exceedingly ingenious. I 

 think, however, I would have a different ar- 

 rangement where the lever E acts with the 

 plunger. It makes a good deal of friction 

 by crowding the bar A so much to one side. 

 If, however, the press is so arranged that, 

 when the metal is to be cut, your toggle- 

 joint, as such arrangements are called, at E, 

 is almost straightened out, it may perhaps 

 work with great power, and with l)ut little 

 friction. I am inclined to think it would 

 take quite a mechanic to make such a 

 machine work nicely. But many of our best 

 bee-men are mechanics, and we shall there- 

 fore have considerable home-made perforat- 

 ed zinc. 



N running over a lot of matter the other 

 day, awaiting insertion, we ran across 

 the following article. You will see 

 that it is dated Jan. IH. While we have 

 been studying on this honey-board for 

 the past year or so, friend Reese has been 

 working on the same problem tor at least 

 half of that time, and probably longer. We 

 will say to some of our readers, that we do 

 not claim that the honey-board which we il- 

 lustrated in our last issue was an invention 

 —simply a combination of old principles. 

 Such honey-boards as we illustrated (at any 

 rate not differing in important features) we 

 made as much as a year and a half ago ; but 

 for various reasons during tliat time we did 

 not see fit to give it to the public. These 

 latter remarks are not made for the benefit 

 of friend Reese, but for the information of 

 one of our correspoudents who seems to 

 think we appropriated the idea from an ar- 

 ticle of his in the last issue. 



Editor Gleaninos:— 



By far the best and cheapest way to make a 

 queen-excluding honey-board is by making a 

 wooden rim or frame just the size of the top of 

 your hive, thickness of frame to be governed by 

 the beespace each one may desire, as well as the 

 style of hive used, corners of frame halved, or 

 Simplicity style, like Mr. Root's 5cent rim illus- 

 trated in his catalogue, page 33. I use, on my 

 square-joint hive, a frame % inch thick, which 

 gives me H bee-space above and below the zinc, 

 which fits into a narrow saw-kerf put half way 

 through the wooden frame from the inside, and is 

 nailed securely with small wire nails which pass 

 through the wood and zinc. You will understand 

 there are no wood slats or narrow strips of zinc 

 (they are fussy, expensive, and unnecessary) about 

 this board, but a single sheet of zinc such as Mr. 

 Root advertises on page 33 of his catalogue, except 

 it is cut the proper size to fit in the wood frame. 

 The zinc can be put in so it will not sag, by laying 

 a piece of thin board under the zinc to keep it on 

 a level with the saw-kerf in the frame; and when 

 nailing the zinc into the frame, press the two sides 

 together slightly as you nail, and the zinc will al- 

 ways be as tight as a drumhead. The zinc may al- 

 so be nailed on the outside (top or bottom) of the 

 frame in the same manner, instead of in the saw- 

 kerf, which will give the full bee-space on one side 

 only. 



Now, the great advantage of this solid zinc honey- 

 board over the slats and strijis is, that they can be 

 thoroughly cleansed very rapidly of all propolis, 

 wax, etc., and is much more rapidly and cheaply 

 made than the slatted board. A good way to clean 

 the board is to lay the zinc on a smooth surface, 

 and scrape it off with an old case or butcher knife, 

 or one of Mr. Root's ten-cent honey-knives. The 

 5-inch saw I use for making the narrow kerfs in the 

 wood frame is made of heavy tin, and stands up 

 to the work on my foot-power saw wonderfully. 

 Do not let some one try to persuade you that this 

 zinc honey-board will be too cold or too warm, as, 

 when the weather is warm enough for surplus hon- 

 ey, the bees wjU take care of the temperatvu'e in- 



