1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



in a kettle and in a sack, and is sqneezed out with 

 the simplest machinery possible. Mr. Derwish- 

 ian tried another day to open his nuclei; but 

 after having got the first sting on his forehead 

 in his lif(\ he jiut on a veil and took me to his 

 " lamblike '" Cyprians, and gave them a few ta- 

 blespoonfuls of syrup to quiet them down; but 

 even this sweet inducement would not do. They 

 went for us, all for the sake of Louis G.'s rough 

 handling thr(»e days ago. I could hardly look 

 at them, and we decided to have a turn about 

 the town, but we were soon done. Mi'. I), took 

 me to silkworm raisers. He indulges in this 

 branch, and believes he gets a better living 

 from this than by buying bee-fixtures from 

 England and comb-foundation machines from 

 A. I. Root, on which he got along nicely mak- 

 ing foundation, but ultimately he found it to be 

 like the friend and bee-keeper I met last year 

 in Malta, " a nice thing to put his money in, 

 and have the pleasure of raising bees." He 

 was told, years ago, of 30 to 50 lbs, average sur- 

 plus per hive, but believes he was humbugged. 

 He is almost too cautious, suspicious, and mis- 

 trusting of his fellow-creatures. What would 

 he say if he could read reports like friend Os- 

 born's from Cuba, or friend King's from Phoe- 

 nix, Arizona? I wonder, too, why American bee- 

 keepers have not established themselves long 

 before in such a paradise. Why! we over here 

 have none of the advantages of Arizona nor 

 what Mr. King calls Cuba's disadvantages, ex- 

 cepting the great heat. With us the thermom- 

 eter ranges only from 30° to 33° Celsius in the 

 summer months. But here, besides the duty 

 on l^ees and honey, the poor help we have to 

 put up with, and the poor market which we 

 have to' seek in Europe and Africa, we have no 

 forests to give us shade, but plejity of un- 

 healthy districts. The grip, malaria, intermit- 

 tent fevei's, etc.. have been hard on me for the 

 past two years and yet I have found time to 

 work bees and make them pay; and I freely in- 

 dorse Dr. C. C. Miller's answer to question 193, 

 Sept. 1 Gleaxings, concerning health. I think 

 I should not have stood all these; but outdoor 

 occupation, and a trip over the sea once in a 

 while, have kept me up. 



Cyprus being a little out of the way, steamers 

 only occasionally touch here; and having no 

 time to spare, and still no steamer here, I got 

 into a -lailing-vessel about to leave for Syria; 

 but the wind being calm we lay in the road till 

 night. After 34 hours of slow sailing we were 

 still in sight of Mt. Troodos, and could dream 

 of " the beautiful Cyprus," and think 



What dreams of 01d-Wt)rId tales flit o'er tliy l)row, 

 O Troodos, in thy calm rest to-day ? 



Vain visions of tlie future of the isle tiiou guardest 

 in thy lofty majesty? 



But next morning, 36 hours after we left, our 

 vessel was being idly thrown about by the 

 waves, witliout proceeding, from morning till 

 night. The loose masts were squeaking as if 

 to tease us and try our patience. The next 

 morning a tine breeze filled the sails and speed- 

 ily drove us forward. Just before night we 

 could distinguish, many miles away, Mt. Leba- 

 non. 



I close my article on Cyprus with the words 

 of an Englishman who says; 



And now tliat all tin- ancient gods are flown. 

 Do ye wlio've made the island all your own 

 Bless witli your ever civilizing care 

 Tliewoful wreck tlieTurk lias left you tliere! 



How glad I was to leave the poor little vessel, 

 in which my " tirst-cla.ss berth" was bare 

 I)lanks, after having been tossed about three 

 days and three nightsi I fancied the town of 

 Beyrouth could not stand still. 



Ph. J. Baldensperoer. 



Jaft'a, Syria, Oct. 1. 



HORIZONTAL WIRING. 



IT WORKI- 



perfectly; heavy vs. light 

 hrood foundation. 



Mr. Editor:— As Dr. Miller is desirous of hav- 

 ing some one tell him of a more easy way of 

 wiring frames than that described by him on 

 pages 809 and 810, Oct. 1.5th Gleanings. I will 

 give my plan, which 1 feel sure is both easier 

 and better. 



I have .5(X) or 6(X) combs, nearly all perfect, 

 wired as follows with four horizontal wires; I 

 make four holes in the middle of each end-bar, 

 at proper distances apart. The upper wire 

 should be about an inch below the top-bar. I 

 use a machine of my own construction, operat- 

 ed on the principle of a tobacco-knife, with a 

 lever. A pressure of the handle (lever), and the 

 four holes are made at once, all in line in the 

 center of the upright. This must, of course, 

 be done before the frames are nailed up. Now 

 nail the franu^s together. Nail two pieces, each 

 ^8x1x3 inches, on your workbench, at a distance 

 so that the erifZs, which should point toward 



each other (thus ), are ^^ or ^ inch 



nearer than the out.side length of your frame. 

 Now spring the end-bars in so the frame will 

 just slip down between the ends of the blocks, 

 when the frame will be held firmly, having the 

 frame so adjusted that the blocks press exactly 

 in the middle. To secure this, nail another piece 

 •^a X 1 X the length of the frame, at the right 

 point, for the bottom-bar to rest against, to 

 hold the frame square while wiring. Now you 

 are ready to commence wiring. 



Drive in, partly, two ?8 tacks in one end-bar, 

 one near the top hole, and the other near the 

 bottom hole, both in the edge of the bar. Com- 

 mence by putting the wire in through the bot- 

 tom hole fii-st, then across the frame and 

 through the lower hole in the other end-bar; 

 now back; and back and forth again; now 

 wind around the tack near the top-bar, and 

 drive it home. Now spring the frame between 

 the blocks and draw the wire all it ivill hear, 

 rubbing the wire with the thumb and finger of 

 the left hand to take out the little kinks while 

 drawing with the right; wind around the lower 

 tack, and drive it home and cut off the wire; 

 pull out the frame, and it is wired in the best 

 possible manner. You can almost play a tune 

 on the wires. The spring in the end-bars will 

 keep the wires taut. 



I \ise foundation about 5 square feet to the 

 pound; leave ^4 inch between the bottom-bar 

 and lower edge of the foundation to allow for 

 stretching; place in an upper story, and the 

 bees will fill the frame every time. If in the 

 brood-chamber, they may leave a space between 

 the lower edge of the comb and the bottom -bar. 

 I have never had any trouble with the founda- 

 tion bagging except when there was not enough 

 space left for stretching, when it will bag out 

 between the lower wire and the bottom -bar. 

 The wires will stretch and sag as much as the 

 foundation. Thomas Nichols. 



Di^ie, W. Va., Oct. 3<). 



[We could not understand why you did not 

 have bulged combs if you drew your wires taut, 

 until we came to the sentence where you said 

 you use foundation -5 /ect to the poim'd. With 

 such heavy sheets almost any wiring will work; 

 but the fact is, such foundation is rather too 

 expensive, especially if sheets from S to 9 feet 

 to the pound will work just as well and give as 

 good combs, providing that the horizontal wires 

 are not drawn taut or just tight enough to take 

 up the slack. When they are stretched, they 

 are not as strong; and, besides, they will of ne- 

 cessity bow in the end-bars; and, worse than all, 



