328 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May L 



97 booming colonies, and they are getting pol- 

 len quite freely. I use a sui>pori over the 

 frames similar to Hill's device, and a crate 

 with cloth bottom, filled with chaff and saw- 

 dust, instead of chatf cushions. Your sealed 

 covers may be all right. I do not say they are 

 not; but as long as I can winter bees with ab- 

 sorbents with a loss of only 3 per cent, just so 

 long I am going to have upward ventilatiion. 

 W. G. Larrabee. 

 Larrabee's Point, Vt.. April 8. 



— — I ^ 



WIRING FRAMES. 



J. A. golden's pi>an. 



Friend R<jot:— With your permission I should 

 be pleased to present through Gleanings, to 

 the bee- fraternity, my method of putting foun- 



GOI.DEN'S .MKlllOD OF JTTTING FoUMiATlON JX WIUKD KKAMKS. 



dation in wired frames. To understand fully 

 my method 1 send you a photograph, with ex- 

 planation (how to do it. and be happy while 

 doing it). I am aware that sevenil devices'linve 

 been invented, and some of t^eni have\\nvked 

 fairly well: yet a tedious task and dissnlisfac- 

 tion is tbe result generally: while, if my mode 

 is followi d as herein explained, it will undoubt- 

 edly give the best satisfaction of any device 

 ever presented to tl'e bee-fratei'nily for the 

 above purpose. AVe therefore take it for grant- 



ed that the successful apiarists have sy.stems all 

 along the line of the various manipulations. 

 By this class my device will be greatly appre- 

 ciated; and now. friends, after you have looked 

 at the accompanying picture of my device, 

 don't think that you can perform perfect work 

 on your first or second trial. You will soon 

 learn that the press-board, or die, must not be 

 too hot, howevei'. A little practice is requisite 

 as with all other devices, after which success 

 will be the result. 



If Dr. C. C. Miller adapts his diagonal perpen- 

 dicular style of wiring to my method he will 

 make each frami' a duplicate of each other. 

 Thus, a board half an inch thick is cut out 

 to tit your frame inside; cleats are nailed on 

 one side to keep it fi'om warping. Place this 

 board in one of your wired frames, and, with 

 pencil, mark each wire of your frame. With 

 a saw, make inci>ions an eighth of an inch 

 deep, and the same in 

 width. Get a strip of iron 

 one eighth by one inch 

 wide, and, with a sharp 

 cold -chisel, split it into 

 three strips: then with a 

 tile dress them to one 

 width. Cut them to suit 

 the kerfs of your board; 

 file notches at suitable 

 places in each piece, so a 

 medium small wire will 

 lie in the notch. Place 

 each piece in place, and. 

 with a slim awl. make a 

 hole on each side. At the 

 notch a wiif is put through, 

 then with pliers twist the 

 two ends, making the dies 

 '.-olid. See board A. 



The heater. B, is a box 

 12x18 inches at bottom, 9x17 

 inches at top, and two feet 

 high. All the above is 

 outside measure. Several 

 fourth-inch holes are made 

 at top and bottom for ven- 

 tilation. A sheet-iron top 

 is made similar to a drip- 

 ping-pan. 1,1.2 inches deep, 

 with a flange to nail on top 

 of box B. The iron is per- 

 forated t h o !• o u g h 1 y to 

 avoid warping when heat- 

 ed by a lamp which is used 

 for this purpose. See box 



B. The foundation-stand, 



C, is a box six inches high. 

 It tits the inside of your 

 frame, with a gioove cut 

 at one top edge for the 

 comb-guide to rest in when 

 the frame is placed on the 

 stand or box. Insets are 

 cut where each wire-nail 

 hook comes, so the wire 

 will strike its full surface, 

 and evenly over the foun- 

 dation comb. This stand 

 should be covered with a 

 piece of oilcloth, with can- 

 vas side out, tacked on and kept quite damp, 

 to keep the foundation from sticking, as it often 

 does. 



The comb-guide fastener, D, is a cog-wheel 

 about an inch in diameter, molded of babbitt 

 metal, or it can be filed out. The cogs are made 

 beveling: the wheel is fastened to a metal 

 handle, the beveled side of the wheel next to 

 the wired sheet of foundation when in use, thus 

 leaving the edge of foundation, after fastening, 

 cell-shaped, and perfectly fastened. Please 



