50 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1.5. 



It will bo instantly attached, and can be thrown 

 immediately into the basket, without danger of 

 the starter dropping out. It does not make any 

 difference whether the day is hot or cold, or 

 what the condition of the wax is. With this 

 machine about ICKX) starters can be put in in an 

 hour: and it is so far ahead of any thing else 

 we have ever seen or tried, it is with great 

 pleasure that we present it to the bee-keeping 

 public. 



WIIUNG FRAMES, AND FASTEXINCi FRAMES TO 

 TOP-BAKS. 



For some time back the Dadants have told 

 the bee-keeping public in their excellent work, 

 the Revised Langstroth, the best and most sat- 

 isfactory way of wiring frames and fastening 

 foundation to the top-bar. The writer person- 

 ally has been somewhat interested in the plan, 

 but never "got around " to put it into execu- 

 tion. From the test we made last summer we 

 were convinced that the JwrizonUil wiring as 

 described by the Dadants was tne simplest, and 

 most satisfactory in its results, of any plan we 

 have tried, and you know we have tried a good 

 many. We once thought that foundation would 

 buckle or bulge out between the horizontal 

 wires; but by observing the precaution of not 

 drawing the wires tight — just tight enough to 

 take up the slack, there will be no trouble with 

 buckling, even with the thinnest foundation. 

 Our experience, as well as that of the most 

 practical and extensive bee-keepers who have 

 tried it. say that it is so: and the bee-keeper 

 who won't try it is not doing himself justice. 



For the L. frame we place the wires '2}4 inches 

 apart. This makes three wires, the first wire 

 being 2^4 inches from the top-bar, and the bot- 

 tom wire % incli from the bottom-bar. Of 

 course, the end-bars should be pierced in the 

 first place by your supply-dealer: but if they 

 are not. you can do it with a brad -awl very 

 quickly if you use a little ingenuity. The wires 

 are imbedded in the regular way. with the 

 foundation-imbedder. While the Cai'lin tool 

 works very nicely, it is by no means equal to a 

 spur-wheel such as is shown in the accompany- 

 ing cut. 



Formerly we have rubbed the foundation on 

 the comb-guide — an operation which, while 

 satisfactory in its results, was too slow. We 



Fig. ;J. IMBKDDIXG FOUNDATION. 



The cut above shows the horizontal wiring 

 such as we have described, and how the wire is 

 pressed into the foundation. The special fea- 

 ture of this little notched-wluM'l tool over the 

 other is. that you do not have to lift it up to 

 take a " fresh bite:" and another thing, it will 

 run clear up to the end-bars, whih; with the 

 other tool you must "backup," as it were, mak- 

 ing an extra operation. We gave oui- girls who 

 imbed foundation for us the choice of the two 

 implements. As we had only one of th(\se 

 wheel tools, they almost quarreled, som(!tinies. 

 about it, especially when they were imbedding 

 by piece ivork. 



now TO FASTEN FOUNDATION TO THE TOI'-BAK. 



Our new top-bar, while it is a most perfect 

 comb-guide, is especially adapted to fastening 

 foundation. 



Fig. H. FASTKNlN(i FOUNDATION TO THE NEW 

 TOP-BAK. 



finally devised the tool after the Hambaugh 

 device, as described in Dadant's book. As 

 shown in Figs. 3 and 3. it is simply a wooden 

 handle notched out to receive a wood(>n wheel 

 1J-.2 inches in diameter. The edge of this wheel 

 is rounding, and V inch thick. The operation 

 of fastening foundation is simply to run the 

 wheel along the edge of the foundation against 

 the comb-guide. A couple of "sweeps " make 

 the fastening so perfect that the foundation 

 will tear off before it will pull off. Another 

 thing, it does not matter whether the wax is 

 cold or warm : and all that is necessary is to dip 

 the wheel into water occasionally, to prevent 

 sticking to the foundation. This is really cop- 

 ied after the Hambaugh device. We hesitated 

 to christen it by that name, as it might make 

 confusion with a different model of the same 

 device originally designed by " the gentleman 

 from Illinois." 



IMPROVEMENTS IN EXTRACTORS. 



Within the last two or three months Mr. 

 Washburn, the foreman of the machine-shop, 

 that expert mechanic who first perfected foun- 

 dation-rolls, has been asked to turn his atten- 

 tion to the construction of extractors. We have 

 had frequent complaints of the old Novice gear- 

 ing being too light, and accordingly ISIi'. Wash- 

 burn was asked to make drawings for a cast- 

 iron arm to reach clear across tlie can. We 

 furthei' stipulated in our instructions that the 

 gearing was to have the handle at the outer 

 edge of the can, so that there will be as little as 

 possible in the way of putting in and with- 

 drawing the combs in the baskets. The follow- 

 ine cut shows the result. 



Fig. 4. THE NEW HoKIZON'rAL EXTRACTOR- 

 GEARING. 



This gearing, as well as the cross-arm. is old 

 in principle: but it is new in connection with 

 the Novice extractor. We have been corres- 

 ponding, as well as asking the opinion, at con- 

 ventions, of large extracted-honey men. as to 



