GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



\. C. Miller's frame-wiring clamp. 



wire, and baiidliiig- it. Be sure that the wire 

 you buy is new and bright. If it is brown 

 or rough, send it back, for it has begun to 

 rust and will be rotten, and break. Wipe 

 machine oil or vaseline over the wire on the 

 spool when received, then it will keep until 

 you need it. I keep mine wrapped in an 

 oily paper when not in use. In reeling it, 

 the oily cloth keeps the salty moisture of 

 the fingers oE, assures a greasy coating to 

 the wire, and also prevents sore fingers. 

 Take pains to avoid kinks at all times. A 

 kinked wire will break, and a broken wire 

 costs heavily in time. 



When enough wire is on the reel — fifty or 

 sixty wires are all that stretch rapidly and 

 easily — stretching begins. 



A table-knife or putty-knife is slid under 

 the wires on one side, the wires lifted slight- 

 ly, and a stick pushed under — I use a frame 

 end — and the operation is repeated on the 

 other side. Then the sticks are turned on 

 edge, banjo-bridge fashion, other sticks in- 

 serted nearer the ends of the board and 

 turned up, and wider sticks used until the 

 wires are as tight as safe. Try until you 

 find the limit. In a few moments the sticks 

 can be turned down and removed, and the 

 wires will be found to lie nearly straight 

 with little or no tendency to curl when cut. 

 Soft string is wound twice around the board 

 near each end, and also at each side of the 



center, where the pivot is, and tied tightly. 

 The wires are cut by slipping the scissors in 

 the recess at one end, as shown in illustra- 

 tion No. 4. 



The L-shajJed hooks remaining on the 

 wire ends are then all cut off, leaving the 

 wires as straight as needles for threading 

 through frames. The slight amount of wire 

 wasted is too small to consider, particulaily 

 when we view the results. I use rubber 

 bands to hold the wire instead of soft string, 

 but either will do. 



The stretching-board is made of two half- 

 inch boards, four inches wide, nailed to 

 blocks as shown. The ends are covered with 

 tin to prevent the wires cutting in. Head- 

 less nails or conical-headed tacks (see No. 

 3) are driven in the ends to prevent the 

 wire slipping off while reeling. The board 

 is 43 inches long, and the wires, after cut- 

 ting and trimming, are 87 inches long — just 

 long enough for easy work. Don't try to 

 save on wire by using shorter pieces. You 

 will lose in time and temper, and get poor 

 results. With the wires straight, and the 

 " spring " and much of the stretch out of 

 them, we are ready to begin threading them 

 into the frames. To do this rapidly, and to 

 make the wires so tight they will " sing," we 

 must have a good jig to hold the frames 

 firmly. Mine is shown in illustration No. 5. 

 It consists of a piece of heavy plank, old, 



