78 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



February. 1920 



elation. ' ' In my humble opiuioii other 

 means are cheaper and better. 



Others have recommended using the regu- 

 lar horizontal-wiring scheme, but pulling the 

 two top wires downward when imbedding 

 the foundation, thus taking out the stretch, 

 and at the same time putting an upward 

 strain on the sheet. This, to a large degree, 

 overcomes the tendency to stretch, and is 

 vastly better than the four wires imbedded 

 in the usual way. Good as the plan is, it 

 does not go quite far enough. 



Along in the 90 's a man by the name of 

 Keeny recommended what is known as the 

 Keeny method of wiring. He drove a nail 

 in each of both end-bars about % inch from 

 each end. The nail-points were then bent 

 in the form of a hook, making one hook in 



Fig. 3. — The Keeny method of wiring, used in the 



90's, permitted a bulging of the foundation between 



the wires. _ 



each corner of the frame. The frames were 

 then wired over the hook as shown in Fig. 3. 

 The objection to this plan was that the foun- 

 dation bulged between the wires, and it did 

 not altogether stop the stretching near the 

 top-bar. 



Some three of four years ago I called on 

 Mr. Southworth and Mr. Brown, of the West- 

 ern Honey Producers, in northwest Iowa. 

 Mr. Brown called my attention to their 

 method of wiring shown in Fig. 4. This, 

 he said, eliminated all stretching, and was 

 very much superior to the usual scheme of 

 using four horizontal wires. The plan is 

 good, but there is considerable work in put- 



Fig. 4. — Brown and Southworth's method, which is 

 good but involves considerable work. 



ting the wires; and, moreover, it .does not, in 

 my opinion, give all the support it should 

 near the top -bar. 



Now, then, for the new old trick of the 

 trade which I think is better than any of 

 the methods just described. It is no new 

 and untried experiment, because it has been 

 used for several years all over California, 

 and with most gratifying results. It was in- 

 troduced, if I am correct, by C. F. M. Stone, 

 Lamanda Park, Cal., of whom photos have 

 been shown in Gleanings several times of 

 late. Well, here is the trick; 



He used nothing but regular standard fac- 

 tory-made brood-frames — that is to say, 

 Hoffman thick-top frames with four holes 

 equally distant in the end-bars. He puts 

 in four horizontal wires as shown in Fig. 2. 

 Then he goes just one step further. After 

 he has put in the four horizontal wires and 



Fig. 5. — The Stone method of wiring, which is un- 

 usually good. 



fastened them he drives in two more tacks 

 close to the bottom hole in each end-bar. 

 Then he threads another wire from the bot- 

 tom wire on one side diagonally up over the 

 top wire, then diagonally to the bottom hole 

 on the other side; draws the two diagonal 

 wires taut, and fastens. That is all. See 

 Fig. 5. You will note that the top wire is 

 drawn down a little as shown at B. You will 

 also observe where the diagonal wires inter- 

 sect the horizontal wires B, C, C, D, D, that 

 the foundation will be reinforced at those 

 points. Point B will be stiffened on account 

 of the tension, so that it can not sag. The 

 second horizontal wire is reinforced at two 

 points, C and C; the third horizontal wire is 

 likewise reinforced at two points, much as 

 concrete is reinforced by means of cross- 

 rods. 



How I Discovered the Trick. 

 I noticed that Mr. Stone, when I looked 

 over his bees, had brood clear to the top- 

 bars, but I supposed that this was due to 

 climate. Later on, after going thru a num- 

 ber of apiaries in southern California I 

 noticed that brood would be clear up to the 

 top-bars in some cases, and in others two 

 inches down. This excited my curiosity, 

 especially when I saw in one hive a comb 

 with brood clear up to the top-bar, and the 

 very next comb, perhaps, with brood no 

 nearer than two inches. Then I held the 

 combs up to the light, and, presto! I caught 



Fig. 6. — Ventura method of wiring is n good one. 

 on to the trick. I found invariably that 

 when there was two inches of honey above 

 the brood there were the usual four hori- 



