260 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1917 



up, the diameter becomes less, hence there 

 is less pressure of the spring. This is just 

 as it should be ; for when the wire is nearly 

 all gone it unwinds harder, hence the de- 

 creased pressure evens it up very nicely. 



The wire from the spool passes first un- 

 der a staple, B. The end of the wire is 

 passed thru the hole C and enough wire 

 pulled thru to reach six or eight inches be- 

 yond the other end-bar. Then it is thread- 

 ed thru D, passed around the smooth half- 

 round block K, and thru E. Again enough 

 wire is pulled thru to reach eight inches or 

 so beyond the first end-bar, then the wire is 

 passed thru F, around the curved block L, 

 and thru G. About three feet more of wire 

 is then pulled tlnru, the end passed thru H, 

 all the slack pulled out, then thru I and 

 finally thru J, where the end is secured firm- 

 ly by being wound around a tack, and the 

 tack driven home. With the right hand on 

 the crank of the spool the slack may be all 

 pulled out, then the wire slipped up over^ 

 the half-round blocks K and L, By keep- 

 ing a constant pressure on the crank while 

 "picking" the middle two wires with the 

 left hand the proper tension may be secured 

 with little or no effort. The Avive is then 

 fastened by winding around a tack in the 

 upper edge of the end-bar over the hole C. 



The diameter of the half-round blocks K 

 and L must be equal to the distance between 

 the holes in the end-bars, and these blocks 

 must be made of hard wood so that the wire 

 will pull around them smoothly. 



The block M is so located that the bottom- 

 bar is pushed up out of line. This serves 

 the purpose of holding the frame firmly; 

 and then when the frame is taken off the 

 board, by reason of the fact that the bot- 

 tom-bar springs back to its usual position 



Fig. 9. — Foundation secured by a three-cornered 

 wedge nailed in. 



the wires are tightened slightly. The vari- 

 ous blocks, as shown, are located with the 

 idea of holding the frame firmly, and yet 

 being out of the way for the threading of 

 the wire back and forth. With this board 

 it is an easy matter to wire ten frames in 

 ten minutes, and keep it up right along. 



IMBEDDING THE FOUNDATION. 



Where one has access to an electric-light- 

 ing current an ideal way to imbed the Avires 

 in the foundation is to utilize the current 

 for heating all four strands at one time so 



Continued on page 304 



Fig. 10. — Imbedding 

 strand at a timg; 



>vjres in foundation by means of four ordinary dry cells which heat one 



