GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1920 



tacks. This works niueli better than usiii^ 

 a hammer. The best pincers I have found 

 are those with adjustable jaws, using them 

 with the widest opening. ' ' 



In connection with the use of pliers, A. 

 A. Clarke of LeMars, la., says: "After 

 the frames are wired and lying on the board 

 ready for imbedding, place th£ foundation 

 in the saw-kerf. With both hands jilacc the 

 wedge in place, take the frame in the left 

 hand, with the pliers in the right, press in 

 the wedge. Only a few motions and the 

 wedge is firmly set even with the top-bar. ' ' 

 Uses Only One Wire. 



John D. Dietrich, Middleville, Mich., after 

 trying Mr. Boot's plan of wiring, says he 

 can wire more quickly with one wire. He 

 says: "I begin at the top hole and wire 

 horizontally in the regular way until I come 

 to the last hole. Then I drive a nail in the 

 center of this hole; pass the wire around this 

 nail and then wire diagonally. I think this 

 is a good deal quicker than wiring the frame 

 in the regular way and then wiring the 

 frame over the new way. ' ' 

 Vertical Wiring. 



The A. I. Eoot vertical wiring, used so 

 long ago, has been sanctioned by a number 

 who seem to agree with A. W. Lindsay of 

 Detroit, Mich., who says: "We must all 

 take off our hats to A. I. Eoot, and acknowl- 

 edge he was a long way ahead of his time. ' ' 



Four vertical wires and four horizontal 

 is the plan of J. E. Thompson, Medina. He 

 puts in the vertical wires very rapidly. 



He first pierces four holes equally spaced 

 in the middle six inches of the bottom-bar, 

 then puts in the horizontal wires in the 



A B C D 



Vertical wiring may he done rapidly by J. E. 



Thompson's plan. The foundation which is placed 



botAvceii the vertical and horizontal wires is not 



shown in the cut. 



usual way, and places the foundation on 

 the wires. In the top-bar, just- opposite each 

 hole in tlie bottom-bar, h'e uses an awl and 

 pierces a hole thru the top edge of the 

 foundation into the side of the saw-kerf as 

 shown above, and into this hole he 

 forces a %-inch tack. The tack is not 

 forced clear in, but is left projecting slight- 

 ly. To wire vertically he threads the wire 

 down thru the bottom-bar at b, up thru 

 the hole at c and down thru at d, and 

 there secures the end by a tack driven in at 

 one side of d. The loop of wire (i) is 



then di'awn to the top-bar and slipped 

 around the heads of the tacks at h and 

 g. The wire at b is then passed around 

 the heads of the tacks at f and e and 

 attached at a. The tacks in the top-bar 

 are next forced clear in, and the wedge 

 nailed in place. Each set of wires in turn 

 is then imbedded either electrically or by 

 hand. 



Dr. Miller's Contribution. 



Of all the letters received, the one that 

 may interest our readers the most is one by 

 Dr. Miller concerning "splints and vertical 

 wiring." (See page 228.) The letter is ad- 

 dressed to E. E. Eoot and is as follows: 



' ' It needs no argument to show that wired 

 combs are ahead of splinted ones for ex- 

 tracting; but when you laid yourself open 

 to attack by practically saying that a thing 

 couldn 't be done that I 'd been doing 

 straight along, do you think I'd miss the 

 fun of having a whack at you? The more 

 firmly the comb is held in the frame, the 

 greater the speed that can be reached; and 

 the greater the speed, the better. I 'm none 

 too sure that the splints do anything what- 

 ever to keep combs from breaking out of 

 the frame. They are a little shorter than 

 the distance between the top-bar and the 

 bottom-liar, and do not, as you seem to 

 think, go down between the two parts of the 

 bottom-bar. Yet I think you would be no 

 little surprised to know how satisfactorily 

 splinted combs work as extracting-combs. 

 You picture to yourself a feeble old man 

 running a two-frame extractor at a slow 

 rate. Instead of that, the extractor is an 

 up-to-date one with four pockets, the oper- 

 ator hired having an arm stronger than 

 yours, and the extractor would not be run 

 so very much faster if there were no dan- 

 ger of breaking. But even a little difference 

 is worth considering when it comes to run- 

 ning an extractor by power. 



"It would not surprise me if any day 

 something might turn up that will revo- 

 lutionize this whole matter of extracting. 

 Indeed, it may well be that the whole of 

 beekeeping is yet in its infancy; and there 

 never was a time when a better brand of 

 brains could be found at work on its prob- 

 lems. The Government never was so inter- 

 ested as now, and beekeepers may well feel 

 proud to have as a leader such a man as 

 Dr. E. F. Phillips. 



"In one respect, Mr. Editor, you give me 

 credit I don 't deserve, and I must climb 

 down to a lower seat. You think I devised 

 foundation splints with the view of having 

 the queen extend her laying clear to the to})- 

 bar. Instead of that my aim was to get 

 combs built down to the bottom-bar, and I 

 did not know till later that there was any 

 stretching at the top, for I had none, my 

 wires all being vertical. 



' ' It wouldn 't surprise me to hear A. I. 

 Eoot chuckling and saying, ' With all your 

 new plans, wliat have you any better than 

 the old, simple, vertical wiring?' " 



C. C. Miller. 



