144 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mar. 1 





DRONE, QUEEN, AND WORKER. 



and, while she did not speak English, she 

 had many of the English ways of looking 

 at a proposition, and I had a very interest- 

 ing talk with her in Spanish. According 

 to her the bees make a dark honey at Oaxa- 

 ca, but it can be eaten, and the bees are 

 kept for honey as well as wax. The bees 

 were kept mostly in box hives without the 

 extra box as a super, and she thought that 

 an average yield would not be over fifty or 

 sixty pounds. She spoke of two kinds of 

 bees — the common honey-bee and a native 

 bee which stings very little, and which lives 

 in the ground, but stores quite a quantity 

 of honey which is about like that of the 

 common bee in that locality. 

 Mesilla Park, New Mexico. 



AN ADJUSTABLE FOUNDATION-CUTTER. 



BY JAY SMITH. 



Ever since I went into the bee business I 

 have been looking for a satisfactory device 

 for cutting foundation. When one has a 

 lot to cut, time is an important factor: then, 

 may be, there is a sudden rush of nectar 

 when it is necessary for all hands to rush 

 accordingly. A miter-box has been usual- 

 ly recommended. This does very well, but 

 has its disadvantages. In the first place, 

 each miter-box will cut only one size of 

 foundation, and it is, therefore, necessary 

 to make a box for each size wanted. Then 

 no doubt there are many bee-keepers, like 

 myself, who are not handy with carpenter 

 tools, and make a bad job of it. My father- 

 in-law, Mr. Frey, made a miter-box for me; 

 and when I wanted another he suggested 



— Photographed by Dr. Bruennich. 



that he could make a machine that would 

 be adjustable. He went to work on it, and 

 the accompanying cuts show the result. 

 We have used this a good deal, and find it 

 all that one could wish. The arms may be 

 changed in an instant to any shape de- 

 sired. 



I prefer a bottom starter and full sheets 

 of foundation; but the principal objection 

 to full sheets in the 4X5 section is, if they 

 are cut square they are apt to touch the 

 side; and when the bees fasten this to the 

 side it will swing around and become fast- 

 ened to the fence, thereby spoiling a good 

 section. The remedy is to cut them slight- 

 ly tapering. The arms of the cutter are set 

 in that shape in the cut. 



Any number of sheets can be cut at a 

 time. When cutting a number it is neces- 

 sary to place washers on the bolts that hold 

 the arms so as to raise them up the thick- 

 ness of the foundation to be cut. 



Vincennes, Ind. 



BEE-KEEPING AS A HOBBY. 



The Bee People. 



BY F. DUNDAS TODD. 



Chapter IV. 



When Pope wrote that "The proper study 

 of mankind is man " we can not suppose he 

 meant mankind should learn the ways of 

 individual men, for, taken severally, they 

 are usually most uninteresting, their ways 

 and thoughts being pretty much like those 

 of their associates. He doubtless meant 

 that the proper study of individual men is 



