1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



2C,1 



run for comb hojicy. ami one of them never saw 

 more than six frames. vSiicli bees are apparent- 

 ly of more contented disposition, less aggressive 

 and enterprising, and therefore, perhaps, if the 

 truth must be told, of less account than the 

 b(M's of the opposite kind. Gko. F. Robhixs. 

 Mechanicsburg, 111., Mar. 10. 



[You have given us a good article, and I hope 

 youi' position is right. Still, it does not seem to 

 ine that the two factors of race of bees and the 

 giving of empty combs at the right time would 

 account entirely for the non-swarming of the 

 Dadant and France bees. You know, that, 

 where bees have unlimited capacity in garrets, 

 they do not swarm much. 



I "should like to have the Dadants and Mr. 

 Fi'ance enlighten us further as to their meth- 

 ods, and how much of ii figure their large hives 

 cut in the matter.] H R. 



PHILO'S SECTION-GLUING MACHINE. 



A MACHINE THAT PUTS TOGETHER AND GLUES 

 SECTIONS AT THE SAME OPERATION. 



I inclose a description of my automatic glu- 

 ing-machine. for gluing and putting together 

 sections, which I hope will be of enough inter- 

 est to you and the bee-keeping fraternity to 

 jmblish in Gleanings. 



About foui- years ago. in the spring. I found, 

 by the condition of my bees, that it would prob- 

 ably be necessary to use quite a number of sec- 

 tions: and after putting some of them together 

 by hand I thought it would be wise to look up a 

 machine for that purpose: and the only thing I 

 could lind was a "Manum machine." which I 

 found in my nearest bee-keeper's shop. After 

 using it a short time I could readily see the im- 

 provement over the formei' way of putting them 

 together with a mallet. 



MACHINE FOR GLUING SECTIONS. 



The Manum machine did its work verv nicely 

 indeed: and the thought struck me. if I could 

 devise some plan whereby I could place some 

 glue right in the little grooves of the dovetailed 

 part of the section, without making any extra 

 motions, the machine would come nearer per- 

 fection: and in order to do this I found it would 

 be necessary to change the plan and woi'kings 

 of the machine throughout. I soon had the 

 thing figured out in my mind, and went to work 

 to make a temporary machine of pine, which 

 did its work perfectly: and the same little ma- 



chine made of pine has worked for the past four 

 years for three different bee-keepers, to their 

 entire satisfaction. 



A year ago last spi'ing I bought 1000 V-groove 

 one-piece sections for a neighbor, and. after 

 looking the-in ov(>r, he concluded he would rath- 

 er have tiie four-piece sections: so I had the 

 one-piece sections left: and when I went to put 

 them together I found my machine was not yet 

 perfect— liecause I had nothing to glue the "V- 

 groove with. The next thing in order was to 

 make an attachment that would glue the V- 

 grooves with the same motion of the foot that 

 presses the box togeth(u-. I did this by placing 

 a rack in front of the machine that will hold 

 forty or fifty sti'ips with the grooves downwai'd. 



Under the strips is a glue-pot with a roller in, 

 and three little beveled-edged wheels on it that 

 turn in the glue: and when the dovetailed cor- 

 ner of the box is pressed together, the bottom 

 one of the section strips is pushed over the 

 wheels, causing them to turn in the glue and in 

 the V-grooves at the same time, thus gluing 

 them perfectly. 



The machine from which tiie photo was ta- 

 ken which 1 send you was nearly all made of 

 wood. I am now making all the small working 

 parts of the machine of metal. 



Half-Moon. N. Y.. .Jan. 30. E. W. Philo. 



[While I uas in attendance at the Albany 

 convention last December, my attention was 

 called to the fact that there was a man theie 

 who had got one of the nicest machines ever in- 

 vented by a bee-keeper. I have heard this so 

 many times on other occasions before than I did 

 not think much about it. But shortly afterward 

 I was shown the machine, and was introduced 

 to the inventor, Mr. E. W. Philo. as above. In 

 his hands it certainly worked beautifully. He 

 is a cabinet-maker, and a real genius. Well, I 

 have not tried the machine myself, and it is 

 possible that others could not make it work. 

 Mr. Philo is going to send us a machine, and we 

 hone then to trv i't.l E. R. 



THE NONPAREIL BEE -HIVE. 



ITS MANAtiEMENT. 



It has become an axiom among bee-keepers 

 of experience, that, the more bees a colony lias 

 at the beginning of a honey-flow, the more sur- 

 plus it will make. So true is the axiom, that 

 the best hive ever made is worth little without 

 plenty of bees at the right time: and it can 

 hardly be the best hive unless it affords facili- 

 ties for extensive broud-rearing in spring, and 

 the early development of large colonies. And 

 next, after successful wintering, the most prof- 

 itable bee-keeping will ever turn upon these 

 points. The flowers nuiv bloom, and the nectar 

 flow never so freely : l)ut it will avail the api- 

 arist little profit unless his hives are overflow- 

 ing with bei'S at the opening of the harvest. 



To get these large colonies, we must not onlj- 

 have protection for the brood against the cold 

 nights and days of spring, but we can utilize 

 the heat of the sun's rays to very great advan- 

 tage. The heat absoi-bed from" the sun by an 

 uncovered, well-protected hive, upon a few 

 hours of exposure at midday, will sensibly affect 

 a colony for days afterward. Heat has been 

 said to be life, and the sun's rays do certainly 

 stimulate the life energies of both the queen 

 and bees when applied in the manner stated. 



Thus, we may promote extensive brood-rear- 

 ing as well as the economical use of the stores, 

 which will go much further where proper pro- 

 tection and care are given. I have estimated 

 that a third more brood and bees can be obtain- 



