402 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



dinary -wooden rake-tooth, whittles and sand- 

 papers the end down to the shape and size of 

 a queen-cell cup as made by the bees when 

 about half built. This stick is dipped into 

 water, then dipped into melted wax a little 

 more than half an inch. It is twirled in the 

 air, to permit of even cooling, and to prevent 

 a drop of wax from forming on the end. It is 

 then dipped again, but to a less depth, or to 

 within ^ig inch of the former dipping ; and 

 each time the stick is twirled between the fin- 

 gers so the wax will cool evenly ; and when 

 the cell-cup is finished the stick will look like 

 a small drumstick, the head being the cell. 



An improvement on this method of making 

 is to take a dozen or so such sticks and mount 

 them in a cross-stick, about an inch apart or 

 what would make when completed practically 

 the head of a wooden lawn-rake. Mr. W. H. 

 Pridgen, of Creek, N. C, told us it was not 

 necessary, as we had supposed, to have the 



use two dozen or any number. W. H. Pridgen 

 writes that with twenty pegs in his arrange- 

 ment he can dip at the rate of 2000 an hour ; 

 and as Mr. Pridgen is one of the best-posted 

 and most expert queen-breeders in the coun- 

 try he might be prevailed on to sell queen- 

 cups. I have no doubt many would prefer to 

 buy them rather than make the apparatus as 

 above shown. I do not know that the device 

 illustrated is the same as that used by Mr. 

 Pridgen ; but it is one we evolved from some 

 things that Mr. P. said. 



"bee-keeping eor pleasure;" see 

 PAGE 385. 

 In our last issue I promised to give a picture 

 of an ideal shade, and on page 385 will be 

 found the one I had in mind. 



Some of the shade - board advocates will 

 claim at once that there is altogether too much 

 shade — trees are too large, and foliage too 



sticks revolve, each one simultaneously with 

 the others. The teeth of this rake-head are to 

 be dipped into a pan of wax, about j-'g inch ; 

 that is, each head or cell-forming stick will 

 be plunged into the melted material that 

 depth. It is then drawn out, when immedi- 

 ately the surplus will run down and form in a 

 bubble or drop at the end of each stick. The 

 whole rake-head is then given a quick jerk, 

 dislodging each drop. 



The device that we have used is shown in 

 the accompanying diagram or sketch. CC 

 represents the back of the rake ; A A the rake 

 teeth ; B B B the finished cell-cups at the last 

 dipping. E is the pan of melted wax kept 

 hot by two oil-stoves. D D are two pieces of 

 tin, notched like a pair of steps. At the first 

 dipping, strip C C rests down in the lowest 

 notch on each side at D and D. When in this 

 position the ends of the sticks are submerged 

 -^^ of an inch in the wax. The whole rake- 

 head is then withdrawn, held a moment while 

 the films of wax cool; and as the bubble forms 

 on the bottom, the whole head is given a 

 quick jerk as explained. At the next dipping 

 the stick C C is set down on the steps next 

 higher up. This leaves the cups dipped to 

 within i^g as deep as they were before. In 

 this way the dipping is continued, each time 

 the stick C C resting in the steps next higher 

 of D and D. When the rake, so to speak, 

 reaches the top step, the work is complete. 

 The cell-cups are removed by immersing the 

 heads in water, after which they may be easily 

 pulled off with the fingers. Any one with or- 

 dinary ingenuity can make one of these ; and 

 if twelve sticks do not make enough he can 



dense. I have another photo showing a dif- 

 ferent view of the yard, and in this it is shown 

 that the hives are not under the big trees in 

 the rear, but under smaller ones in the fore- 

 ground — fruit-trees of modest height, and a 

 moderate density of foliage. 



My ideal location for an apiary, as I have 

 before stated in these columns, is an orchard 

 or a young grove having trees with foliage not 

 too dense. In either case the limbs should be 

 trimmed high enough so the sun's rays may 

 strike the hives till about nine o'clock, and 

 again at three. As the leaves of all deciduous 

 trees fall every year, there will be practically 

 no shade on the hives during at least six 

 months of the year, when the sun's rays are 

 most needed. When they are not desired, na- 

 ture automatically throws a beautiful mantle 

 over the entire apiary. 



And yet there are some, I suspect, having 

 the best kind of shade-trees, ideal in every 

 way, who will set their hives out in the open, 

 where the apiarist and the colonies under so- 

 called shade-boards will be subjected to the 

 influence of a "boiling hot sun." Notwith- 

 standing that these artificial make-shifts pro- 

 ject at front and rear, only partly protecting 

 the hive during the day, and require to be 

 held down by a stone weighing 15 or 20 pounds, 

 those same apiarists probably will insist that 

 this form of shade, in spite of its disadvan- 

 tages, permits of earlier breeding, and more 

 honey than those shaded by nature in the man- 

 ner I have described. 



One who will scan the picture closely will 

 see that the hives stand on cement bottoms or 

 foundation. While this will effectually pre- 



