(520 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15. 



candle, lamp, or stove — over any thing, so as to 

 get a deposit of soot upon the paper. Smoke 

 evenly and not too thickly. Lay the paper on 

 a smooth surface, and gently drop a leaf, the 

 desired side down, on the black surface. Put 

 anothiT paper over the leaf, and gently press 

 and slightly rub over all portions of the object 

 underneath, being extremely careful that the 

 leaf does not move sidewise. Having prepared 

 a nice clean sheet of smooth white paper for 

 your finished picture, take the leaf with an up- 

 right motion, or with a pin, from the black 

 surface, and place the leaf on the fine paper. 

 Lay a very clean paper over the leaf as before, 

 and press and rub as before, using great care. 

 Remove the leaf as before, and a perfect copy 

 of the objects is before you, better than can be 

 drawn by hand. 



The picture as it is now will be injured with 

 the slightest rub or contact with any moving 

 surface; but it can be made as durable as need 

 be, or as any print, by spraying the same with 

 artists' crayon fixative, made as follows: 1 part 

 white gum shellac; 3 parts alcohol; or you can 

 fix the picture moderately fast by putting some 

 strong cofl'ee in a shallow dish and fioating for 

 a moment the picture, face down, upon it. The 

 coffee will give the paper a tint, but that is no 

 great objection. If it is, then use fresh milk; 

 but the fixative is a little the best. 



I have seen books of such collections that 

 hundreds of dollars could not buy. 



You may not do the best work at first; but 

 then, you can not expect that amount of suc- 

 cess at any thing any more than at this. You 

 will "get there" if you keep trying. The 

 process is adapted to all flat objects, but more 

 especially plant life. If the perusal of such a 

 collection will give you half the enjoyment 

 and serve but half the means of study and in- 

 struction it did the writer he will feel abundant- 

 ly repaid. A Gi-eanings Reader. 



LADIES' Conversazione. 



HOFFMAN FRAMES. 



MISS EMMA \VII.SON DISCOUKSES ON THE CON- 

 VENIENCE OF SEI.F-SI'ACING FRAMES. 



For many years Dr. Miller has been opposed 

 to having more than one kind of frames in his 

 hives. But of late the matter of fixed dis- 

 tances and thick top-bars having been dis- 

 cussed, he became convinced that something 

 else in the way of frames might be better; and 

 we have tried various ones until we now have 

 nine different kinds, and it has become no light 

 atfiiction. Fortunately we have kept our ex- 

 periments confined to the home apiary, the 

 out-apiaries having one kind of frame. 



We both agreed that we wanted thick top- 

 bars. That much we settled on. Dr. Miller 

 came to the conclusion that fixed distances 

 were a necessity, while I didn't object, provid- 

 imj they could be handled as easily. But I 

 felt quite inclined to rebel whenever I came to 

 handle a hive with fixed distances, because it 

 seemed to me it took more time. 



This spring it fell to my lot to do the first 

 overhauling of all the hives with the different 

 kinds of new frames. And what a sweet time 

 of it I did have ! I found the wedges very 

 tightly glued in. and. to add to the difficulty, 

 the excessive rains had swelled every thing 

 until they were wedged in, glued in. and swell- 

 ed in. We had been using two wedges to each 

 hive, pushing one down at each end of the 

 hive. They had been carelessly pushed so 



close to the end of the hive that there was not 

 room enough left to insert a chisel. That was 

 one reason they were so troublesome to get out. 

 In every case I had trouble in getting them out. 

 Finally I came to one I labored over in vain. 

 After getting pretty red in the face with my 

 exertions. I told Dr. Miller I didn't believe I 

 wanted any thing more to do with the Hoffman 

 frames. (You see, we had both agreed before 

 this that the Hoffman, all things considered, 

 was the best of the new frames). He laughed 

 a little, and said. "Don't be too hasty in your 

 conclusions. The fault may be in lis rather 

 than in the system. Perhaps our wedging is 

 not right. We will try the wedge we use in 

 supers, and see how it will work." Then he 

 came and dug out the wedges in pieces, and we 

 replaced them by one of the super wedges. 

 This wedge is simply a straight stick, about 17 

 inches by % by ^. We push it down between 

 the side of the hive and the dummy, nearly to 

 the bottom at one end, then push the top end 

 of the stick just below the surface at the other 

 end of the hive. This leaves the stick diago- 

 nally across the side of the hive. I think 

 instructions have been given to push the wedge 

 partly down and then twist it around to make 

 it tighter. Our hives will not admit of this. 



Well, after trying these wedges we found 

 they worked nicely. I have not had any trou- 

 ble getting wedges out since. And now after 

 getting more used to manipulating it I am in 

 love with the Hoffman. I am sure I can han- 

 dle them more rapidly than the old frames. It 

 took me a good while to believe it. but I can. 

 And I am very sure I do not kill nearly as many 

 bees with them either. With the old frames 

 we have so many brace-combs that it's almost 

 impossible to handle the frames without killing 

 bees. These brace-combs are generally filled 

 with honey; and every time they are pried 

 apart the bees will cluster on them to get the 

 honey; and when you go to replace your combs 

 it is almost impossible to dislodge them. Some 

 of them are sure to be killed— indeed, a good 

 many of them, unless the operator is very care- 

 ful and works very slowly. It is often a ques- 

 tion as to which is more valuable — your time or 

 the bees. Still, one dreadfully hates to kill a 

 bee unnecessarily, and you will be very apt to 

 take the time, much as you dislike to. 



With the Hoffman, by taking out the dummy 

 and one frame, you can push all the frames at 

 one time and take a frame out of the opposite 

 side, or you can part them and take one out 

 from the center — in fact, you can handle them 

 about as you please, and no danger from brace- 

 combs either. True, some bees may be killed 

 by being squeezed between the parts of the 

 frames that touch; but bees are not so likely 

 to stick to wood as they are to brace-combs 

 daubed with honey. 



With the old frames, each one must be care- 

 fully spaced; and, no matter how careful you 

 are, they will not all be spaced just at equal 

 distances. To be sure, the brace-combs will 

 help. If you do not change the order of your 

 combs you can push your brace-combs tightly 

 together and they will be spaced about as be- 

 fore. But this very help is a hindrance, as 

 here is where the killing of the bees comes in; 

 and to avoid this you must take just so much 

 time to get them out of your way. With the 

 Hoffman you can give the frames a quick push, 

 and push half a dozen of them in place at once, 

 and feel sure the spacing is all right. 



Then their being all ready to haul is another 

 item in their favor. The hive may be picked 

 up and placed in any position, and you are sure 

 there is no danger of queens being killed by 

 frames getting out of place, as every thing is 

 snug and firm. 



