206 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15. 



for a few cents we do not ship Ibem, on account of 

 their being- bulky and heavj', and liable to break 

 the delicate carbons in the package during ship- 

 ment. , , 

 Into each of these gallon crocks pour an equal 

 quantity of the solution. Place them on the bench 

 near where you expect to work. Into each jar set a 

 plateiFig. 3»with its set of carbons, leitiufrthe plate 

 Itself re>t on the top tdges of the jar. Now insert 

 the two zinc platep (as at Fig. 3). By means of one 

 of the wires, connect the zinc (A Fig. 2) of one of 

 the jure to the cast iron plate of the oiher (at B Fig. 

 2). Next fasten the terminals of the imtaedding- 

 fork (Fig 4) to the two remaining screw connec- 

 tions-one wire at B Fig. 2 In one of the plates and 

 one at A of the other. If you have done your work 

 right, one wire of the fork will be attached to one 

 zinc and the other to one ca.st-iron plate, and one 

 wire will connect the two bitteries. In the cut the 

 wires are not connected rierlit, although as there 

 connected the batteries will work. 



You are now ready for work. Lay 

 a wired frame on the bench; over 

 this a Ihin sheet of foundation, letiing 

 it come directly in contact with the 

 wires. Now press the two feet of the 

 fork (just in-ide of the end-bars. Fig. 

 4) down on two opposite ends of one 

 of the wires or strands as sliown in 

 Fig. 1. This will cause a curr nt to 

 pass through that strand, and heat it. 

 The miinient the contact is made, 

 press the fingers of the other hand 

 along the wire until i' begins to sliow 

 through. Lift the fork up, and in the 

 same way imbed the next wire. A 

 mere stroke of the fingers back and 

 forth once ought to cause the wire to 

 sink into the foundation. Proceed 

 thus with all the frames you have, 

 after which lifi the zincs out, as they 

 corrode and waste away. 



When one set of zincs is used up, 

 take the others out and fasten them 

 bet%veen wooden cleats, as the first 

 set was, and connect on the binding- 

 posts. When these are used up, ask 

 your tinner to cut some pieces from 

 hlB scrap zinc, same size. About once 

 In 100 or 300 frames it may be neces- 

 sary to pour in a little more sulpliurie 

 acid to "tone up" the solution. Some- 

 times a little stirring of the liquid 

 will answer the same purpose. 



We send along a few extra carbons 

 (black sticks), so that, if any are 

 broken in shipment, they can be re- 

 placed. A little melted wax or par- 

 aflBne should be painted around 

 the carbon next to the iron, to 

 prevent the salts from creeping up after the bat- 

 tery stands. 



The zincs will work better if coated over with 

 mercury. To do this, get a little muriatic acid; 

 moisten a rag in it, rub it in mercury (a few cents' 

 worth), and then rub it on the face of the zinc. 

 This will give the zinc a coating that will make it 

 last longer. 



The accompanying imbedding-fork (Fig. 4) is made 

 to fit a Langstroth frame with the wire strung as 

 shown in the accompanying frame (Fig. 6). If your 

 frame is odd sized, or if you use the L. frame and 

 wire perpendicularly, it will be necessary to change 

 the distance between the feet of the imbedding- 

 fork* 



Keep all wires and battery connections clean, and 

 be sure the zincs do not touch the iron or the car- 

 bons. 



If the wire heats up quick enough to melt through 

 the foundation, lift the forks ofl the wire quicker. 



Some of our readers of an electrical turn of 

 mind may prefer to make their own outfits. 

 The carbon sticks are the ordinary electric- 

 light carbons, and are fitted Into holes in a 

 ' cast-iron plate, and held secure by set-screws — 

 see Fig. 2. There Is a slot in the plate between 

 and parallel to the carbon sticks. This is to 

 admit the sheet of zinc. A piece of inch board 



having a parallel row of holes for the carbons 

 may be used instead of the cast iron; but the 

 carbons must all be connected together by a 

 naked copper wire wound around each carbon 

 at the top. But this home-made affair is not 

 nearly as efifective as the cast-iron plate with 

 its set-screws, for the latter make what is known 

 as " good electrical contact." 



Fig. 4 is the imbedding-fork. H is a strip of 

 wood as long as the brood-frames. In each end 

 is fastened two heavy iron wires flattened at 

 the ends. To these wires are attached the 

 battery-wires running along the groove J, 

 uniting and passing through a hole near H. 



The zinc plate is made of ordinary sheet zinc 

 cut as shown in Fig. 3. Two strips of wood, as 

 at D, are held in place by shellac or glue. It 

 won't do to use nails, as the heads and points 

 might stick through and touch the carbon, and 

 so " short circuit " the battery — that is, spoil it. 

 The theory and practice is, to send a sufficient 

 current through the wire to heat it. Once 

 heated, it is an easy matter to imbed it into the 

 foundation. 



MK. E. B. WEED, THE INVENTOR AND EXPERT 

 WAX-WORKER. 



It would be a revelation to some of you if you 

 could see the improvements that have been 

 made in making comb foundation. The old 

 way was to dip a thin board into a deep vessel 

 of wax enough times to secure a sheet on both 

 sides. It was then cooled in water, and the 

 film stripped off. It was next run through the 

 mills piece by piece, and each time it was 

 necessary to " pick " and " claw " at the ends 



