1888 



GLEANINGS IN liEE CULTURE. 



573 



take off a little from each edge, which makes them 

 all smooth and even, and of the desired width, and 

 does not affect the bee-space in the least. 

 Grandville, Mich., June 13, 1S88. J. S. Wakner. 



milleh's foundation-fastener. 



In the comments made on my foundation-fasten- 

 er, described in Gleanings lor .Tune 1, it is asked 

 if the plate does not become overheated. When T 

 notice it is getting- too warm I remove the lamp, 

 and continue working until the plate is sufficiently 

 cooled. There is one point of importance in con- 

 structing the fastener. When adjusting the iron 

 plate, set it so that it will press on the section at 

 least }i inch from the center, and slide along on 

 the wood the rest of the way. It thereby heats the 

 wood where the melted edge of the foundation 

 strikes, insuring a firm adhesion. This is the best 

 machine for the work I have seen in nine years' 

 experience. It takes but a few minutes to get the 

 knack of using it, and, once underway, it makes 

 things fairly fly. Trj' one, and see for yourself. 



Drownville, K. 1., June 1.5, 1888. A. C. Miller. 



Very likely your arrangement, friend M., 

 is a better one than the ( ne I brought from 

 Utica; but we certainly did not lay that one 

 aside after trying it for only a few minutes. 

 Our hands used it at different times, day 

 after day, until tliey were not only disgust- 

 ed with the machine itself, but, I fear, with 

 myself also, because I told them I felt sure 

 that it would work nicely when they got 

 acquainted with it. 



BLEACHING BEESWAX. 



What is the best method for bleaching beeswa.v, 

 in a sort of wholesale way? What is the best meth- 

 od for removing all dirt or settlings that may be in 

 beeswa.v, so that it may be perfectly free from all 

 impurltiesV J. Lingenpelter. 



Akin, N. Y., May 9, 1888. 



Friend L., we can not tell you very much 

 about the bleaching of beeswax, for it has 

 been decided by abundant experiments that 

 the bee-keeper who uses it for making 

 foundation does not want it bleached, even 

 if it could be done for nothing. The best 

 way, I believe, to remove its impurities is to 

 keep it melted for some time in oblong 

 tanks so the dirt can quietly settle to the 

 bottom. The old-fashioned way of bleach- 

 ing beeswax was to expose it to the light of 

 the sun. in thin sheets or ribbons. The 

 modern way, 1 am sorry to say, has been by 

 putting in parathne. Nobody wants any 

 paratiine in foundation, however, especially 

 after he has tried using the combs made 

 therefrom duiing our hot summer weather. 



THE NAMKLESS BEE-DISEASE, PROBABLY. 



Many bees with me, fully grown, are dying, with- 

 out apparent cause. Many, as they emerge from 

 the cells, are dragged out, and thus lie around till 

 death relieves them. A quivering, or shaking, as 

 if from exti'eme weakness, is one of the most strik- 

 ing symptoms. Several colonies thus waste away 

 just about as fast as they increase in numbers. 

 Pasture could hardly be better. About one-half, 

 say 50 out of 120 colonies, are storing surplus rap- 

 idly, while the others, with full and great abund- 

 ance of flora, drag on just al)Out "so so." I have 

 changed boxes, always scalding out clean, many 

 times, those worst affected; but this gives no relief 



that I can perceive. With this disheartening state 

 of my little companions and fellow-workers, and the 

 continuous attacks upon the whole place, and es- 

 pecially the honey in the hives, of multitudes of 

 ants, leaves me at times well nigh subdued or 

 whipped out. The most effective remedy with the 

 ants I find is coal oil, applied upon them wherever 

 found in numbers or scattered, and also in their 

 dens. I apply this with an atomizer, so that many 

 ants may be dosed with a small quantity of oil. 

 Prescribe for the ills of my bees, if a remedy is 

 known. B. C. Vandall. 



Montei-ey, Cal., May 30, 1888. 



From your description I should say your 

 bees have the nameless bee-disease, describ- 

 ed in the A 1} (' book; and the only remedy 

 we have discovered so far is to give the col- 

 ony ant)ther queen. When the new bees 

 hatch, so far as my experience goes, there 

 will be no more of the quivering or shaking. 

 It seems strange, however, to think that 

 tiiere can be tifty colonies in your ai>iary, 

 thus affected. I would advise you to try 

 getting queens from some locality where the 

 trouble has never been known. 



ANOTHER SECTION-FORMER. 



As there are so many patents being applied for 

 on section-folders, I want to tell you how I make 

 one, before somebody gets a patent on 

 It and compels me to pay for a right to 

 use it. 



Take a box, such as you pack .500 sec- 

 tions in; turn it uj) edgewise and sit 

 down astride. Fasten a board or plank, 

 1 'i thick, to the front end, so as to come 

 high enough to be convenient to work. 

 .Make a sort of bootjack in the top at an 

 exact right angle, thus. Tack a piece of 



I board on the back side, high enough so 



that the upper corner of the section when folded 

 will come a little above it. Now put a handful of 

 sections in your lap; take one in the left hand, and 

 press the middle joint firmly into the bootjack (1 

 can't think of any better name). Bend one end in 

 before lifting the left hand, then the other. A few 

 light raps with a mallet or hammer will give as 

 square a section as can can be made with any fold- 

 er. For small children to use, I would put a small 

 block at the ujjper corner, so that the ends could 

 not be bent in too far. I have not broken a section 

 in using mine. This might be improved by having 

 a bench and foot pressure to fasten the ends. 

 Saybrook, ()., June 5, 1888. S. H. Hough. 



WHY IT PAYS TO HAVE HIVES MADE BY THOSE 

 WHO MAKE IT THEIR BUSINESS. 



Mr. William Ostrander has been having ten Sim- 

 plicity hives nuide at our sash and blind factory, in 

 this place— not got out as true and conjplote as 

 yours; and when put up they don't look nuich like 

 yours, true and nice. Yes. it pays to do things well, 

 therefore 1 don't want them, and shall send to you 

 for more goods when 1 can. Do you like the Alley 

 drone and queen trap? and is it all they claim it is? 

 Will it jirevent swarms getting away? 



I'nadilla, N. Y., June 1.5, 1888. I. K. Gween. 



No, friend G., it does not pay to have 

 hives made at an ordinary planing-mill, 

 where the macliinery is ill adapted to the 

 work, and the men are not properly school- 

 ed as to the importance of certain hive-fit- 



