1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



505 



we had a good sliowor. and then anoth<'r the 

 next day. Then we had a day of sunshine with 

 drying winds again, and it seemed as if our two 

 good showers were gone. The gi'ound was 

 rapidly becoming as tliirsty as it had been be- 

 fore. Then, on the :iM of May. came one of our 

 tremendous rains: then came more on the night 

 of the :.'5th; then followed a steady rain on tiie 

 29th. More followed the night of the 1st inst. 

 Then at 11 o'clock on the forenoon of the 3d 

 came one of our tremendous rains, that came 

 down in such volume that tiie water poured 

 down the roadsides, and even commenced to 

 break througli the furrows that run crosswise 

 on the side-hill. It seemed for a time as if we 

 had almost too much; but in 34 hours more I 

 decided it was exactly what was needed. The 

 ground is now as thoroughly soaked as it was 

 last spring: and, oh how things do grow! Our 

 •,'()(K)-bai'rel cistern, under the united roofs of all 

 our buildings, for the Hrst time in its history is 

 filled, or was tilled, within an inch of the outlet. 

 And this is all r(tin water. With our hydrants 

 mentioned in our last issue, this immense vol- 

 ume of I'ain water in one sense hangs right over 

 our plant-gai'den: and if mor(^ is wanted, the 

 windmill tank on the hill is ready to pour out 

 its contents. What a blessing is water in abun- 

 dance! And now. fi'iend N.. we hope the big 

 rains have extended clear to your Wisconsin 

 home, as well as everywhere else.] 



FRAME TOP-BARS. 



WIKE, AND TIN BAKS. 



Friend Root:— On page 434, in your foot-notes 

 to ray article, you ask where I saw in the jour- 

 nals, three years ago, that top-bars J4 inch 

 square would pi'event burr-combs. The word 

 three in my article should have been two, as is 

 evident from the next sentence. On page 7.58, 

 Oct., 1888. you declare in favor of K inch as the 

 proper width of top- bars to prevent burr-combs; 

 and add, that "extra thickness up and down 

 will certainly help in the matter," referring, as 

 evidence, to Mr. Hall's experience with top- 

 bars over one inch thick. Yon did not give the 

 width of his top-bars; but the inference was, 

 that it was %. On page 669, 1889. and in other 



the folded tin bar and the extra thickness." 

 Good! but I must insist that, when properly 

 used, the tin bar has no objection worth con- 

 sideiing; but while it rendei's a thick top-bar 

 unnecessaiy. it insures a still more perfect bee- 

 spac(! by holding the middle of both top and 

 bottom bars exactly in line. 



You say. "In order to keep from dropping 

 out, the folded bar must be a little long." No, 

 sir. It must be just I'ight. and the top and bot- 

 tom bars must be drawn tight against the ends 

 of the tin bar by passing the wire through the 

 bar between the folds of the tin, which is quick- 

 ly and easily done. One s rious objection I 

 have to your'frame is, there is nothing to pre- 

 vent the bottom-bars from sagging. This, in 

 time, causes trouble, especially when the frames 

 are used in an upper story. Some of the un- 

 wired frames 1 have used from six to twelve 

 yeai's now have bottom -bars so bowed down 

 in the middle that they almost lock on the low- 

 er frames. The combs seem to have a tendency 

 to stretch and settle down after being built 

 down to the bottom-bar. I .imagine that the 

 tension of horizontal wires on end-bars will ag- 

 gravate this difliculty. I can't see why your 

 bees ever avoid the tin bars. Mine never do. 

 They build the ceiled honey and brood over 

 thein so pei-fectly that you could hardly tell 

 that a completed comb has a tin bar in it. I 

 coat the wire and tin bai'S with wax and rosin 

 just before imbedding them in the foundation, 

 and am careful to imbed the bar as well as the 

 wire. This makes the thin foundation which I 

 use adhere perfectly, and it is much cheaper 

 and better than the heavier foundation with 

 less wire. The accompanying sketch shows 

 my present method of wiring. The cleats A 

 and B are screwed to a board in such a position 

 as to hold the frame between them perfectly 

 true every way. The pin C holds that corner in 

 the notch in B. D is the spool of wire which 

 turns on a pin which is inserted in the board. 

 E is a wooden spring, bearing on the spool to 

 keep it from turning too easily while the wire 

 is being drawn off. FP ' are pulleys, with 

 flanges on their lower edges, around which the 

 wire passes as it is being drawn through the 

 holes in the end-bars. The end of the wire is 

 first passed through at G, then art H, around F 

 and through at I and J, around F ' and through 

 at K, and out at L. The wire is then fastened to 



FOSTER S METHOD OF WIRING FRAMES WITH TIN BARS. 



places, friend Heddon is very positive in rec- 

 ommending ]4 as the width for all top-bars, in- 

 cluding thick ones; but will you not both please 

 pardon my hasty expression with reference to 

 "the testimony and advice of those who claim- 

 ed to know" ? 



I was. at the time, under a wrong impression, 

 but this is not sufficient excuse for a remark 

 which I now see looks like an unkind reflection; 

 for I think you were both sincere. You say,. 

 ■' We do dot disagree, unless it is in the use of 



a small nail-nead at G, and that from the spool 

 is cut oflf. There should now be wire enough to 

 finish the frame. Draw on the end that comes 

 through at L while the loops ai'e slipped off 

 from F and F ' and taken up. Now pass the 

 end of the wire down through M. N. and O. and 

 stretch it tight across over P. Now with the 

 other hand place one end of the tin bar at O, 

 and lay the wire in the groove in the bar be- 

 tween the folds of the tin. Now crowd the top 

 end of the bar in place at P, just above the 



