600 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



the Langstroth frame, tiiey use a dipping- 

 board about 12x17 or 18 inches. This is 

 immersed with one edge down three or four 

 times in the melted wax, allowing it to cool 

 each time. It is then dipped into the tub, 

 simply to cool the lower edge enough to 

 handle, tlieii reversed and dipped three or 

 four times with the other edge down. It is 

 then placed in the tei)id- water tank No. o. 

 The wax sheets are then peeled off the board 

 and pihd up until they have a pile about a. 

 foot and a lialf to two feet high. Then with 

 a huge knife about the size of a hay-knife, 

 with aliandle on each end, the sheets are 

 cut down through the middle, like the sheets 

 shown in No. H in the engraving. Tlie ta- 

 ble there has two piles of these sheets. The 

 pile at the right hand is cut into large 

 pieces of about U x V2 inches, the right size 

 for a sheet of foundation for the L. frame, 

 after passing through the rollers. 



For thin foundation the sheets are not 

 dipped so thick, and are cut into four strips 

 instead of into two, as at the left of ta- 

 ble. These sheets of wax are now stored 

 away in tlie cellar below the rolling-room, 

 and allowed to " season,"' as they will work 

 much better on the foundation-machine aft- 

 er having been dipped several days, than if 

 put through the machine at once. Of 

 course, they have several sizes of dipping- 

 boards, and the sheets are cut into different 

 sizes to suit the different frames in use. 



We next enter the room where the sheets 

 are run through the foundation-mills. In 

 this room are 15 of these mills. Of course, 

 these machines are not all nsed at one time, 

 but they have a good supply, so that, in case 



horn comb, about 8 or 9 inches long, is used 

 to start the end of the sheet from the roll as 

 it comes through ; and as soon as it has been 

 turned through far enough, the operator 

 sitting on the stool grabs the end of the 

 sheet with the gripper shown under No. 4 in 

 tlie engraving. This is a very convenient 

 tool, and consists of two pieces of wood 

 about 2 x 9 X ^ thick, with a coiled spring at 

 either end like those used on the Clark smo- 

 kers, but of lighter wire, so as to be more 

 e.isily worked. The springs keep the pieces 

 apart ready to grab the end of the sheet. 

 The sheets of foundation, after passing 

 through the mill, are piled up carefully 

 jigaiust the uprights on bench No. 2, and 

 from this are taken to the trimming-bench. 

 If a sheet of wax in passing through ad- 

 heres partly to one of the rollers and partly 

 to the other, it is thrown out and not used ; 

 or if there is any imperfection in the sheet, 

 so that a perfect sheet of foundation can 

 not l)e cut from it, it is also thrown out. So 

 great care is taken in this respect, that Mr. 

 Dadant told me that, out of 180(1 lbs. of wax 

 dipped, only 1000 are used, the rest going 

 back to be melted over again, (ireat care 

 is also taken to have the rigiit number of 

 feet to the pound. A table is written out 

 and posted in front of the trimming-bench, 

 giving tlie number of sheets of each size re- 

 quired to make so many feet to the pound, 

 and three or four times a day a pile of sheets 

 is taken from the mill, trimmed and tested ; 

 and if not of the proper thickness to make 

 the required number of feet to the pound, 

 they have to go back and be worked over 

 again. It is no wonder that the Dadant 



THE WAY IN WHICH OUR FRIENDS THE DADANTS MAKE COMB FOUNDATION. 



of accident, their work may not stop until a 

 new machine can be obtained. All but one 

 of these machines are Vandervorfs make, 

 and are made especially for the Messrs. Da- 

 dant. The process of rolling is about as 

 follows: 



No. 4 in the picture is to represent a tin 

 tank sntficiently large to contain two piles 

 of wax sheets. After the sheets are in, the 

 tank is tilled with water of about 110 de- 

 grees temperature. One of the operators 

 sits on a stool in front of No. :>, and before 

 him is a cii'cular tin trough to cntch all the 

 drip, the bottom depressing toward one 

 point, from which a tin spout carries the 

 water into a vessel beneath. This man 

 starts the sheets of wax into the rollers, 

 while the man who turns the crank applies 

 the lubricant, which is soap dissolved into a 

 jelly, and is applied with a brush to the up- 

 per roll after each sheet has passed through. 

 There is also a trough under the lower roll, 

 containing the same lubricant. A common 



foundation is celebrated, from the cai"e tak- 

 en in its production. 



After the foundation is trimmed it is 

 stored away in piles, and each grade prop- 

 erly labeled, ready for orders. The boxing 

 is done in a separate room, so as to exclude 

 all dust and liability of nails and slivers 

 getting into the foundation-machines. Aft- 

 er a plea>ant noon-day repist with the fam- 

 ily, we proceeded in a wagon to Hamilton. 

 As Mr. Dadant was leaving that day for an- 

 other part of the State, I had the pleasure 

 of his company back on my way home as 

 far as the station. This wagon usually 

 makes one trip daily from the factory to the 

 village, but in busy seasons two trips. In 

 it the mail, freight, and express are carried 

 back and forth. 1 got acquainted with a 

 couple of Mr. Dadant's faithful helpers who 

 have been with him many years, and it re- 

 minded me of the many faithful helpers at 

 the home of the honey-bees, who have been 

 with us quite a length of time, and I thought 



