26 



GLEAXINGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



J AN. 



BOMIAITI'S mPROVED PROCESS OF 

 mAKINO COMB FOLNDATIOX. 



PATENTED NOV. 9TH, ISSfl. 



^T5]HE msichiae consists of two scmi-niolds, or 

 " *| " plates, made of best quality of dental plaster. 

 — ' The frames which hold the plates arc put to- 

 gether with strong butts, aud so hinged that the 

 frames are thrown half an inch apart when the 

 mold is closed. In this way the faces of the plates 

 are raised ^i inch above the wood. On the back of 

 each plate, a convenient and substantial handle is 

 firmly fastened, by which the machine is easily man- | 

 ipulated. To use the mold, open wide the plates so i 

 that the face of one is on a plane with the other. 

 Ilaviug- previously wet the mold, place the face of 

 the machine on the surface of the melted wax; raise 

 the plates and immediately close them, exerting 

 some pressure, but not slapping them. Dip the mold 

 then into a water bath, not too cold, to chill the wax; 

 open the mold, and your sheet thus molded will be 

 easily removed. You need wet the molds only oe- 

 casionaUij before dipping on the wax, as there will 

 be ?io trouble about shedding. After you have made 

 a few sheets, aud got things started up all right, it is 

 nice work to turn out the beautiful sheets of fdn. 

 If you want heavy fdn., do not have your wa.x very 

 hot; if light fdn. is desired, have your wax pretty 

 hot, and exert a little more pressure on the handles 

 of the mold. To make starters for section boxes, I 

 use a smaller mold. 

 The advantages of my process I claim to be these: 



1. There is necessarily no daubing of wax, as the 

 plates are raised so that no wax need touch the 

 wooden frame, unless dipped too deep into the wax. 



2. Its cheapness. With care it , will last a long 

 time. The handles give strength and support to the 

 plates. 



3. Less dipping in water to make shed. 



4. You can work up all your wax, thus enabling 

 you to conveniently work small lots of wax. Y'ou 

 can have your wax floating on hot water, If you 

 wish, so that you need never scorch it. 



o. Fewer boxes and vessels are required. All you 

 need is a tin basin about 21 or 22 inches square (for 

 L. frame), and i inches deep, to set on a common 

 tlat-top cooking-stove, in which to have your melted 

 wax, and a wash-tub, or any vessel that will answer 

 for a bath. 



IJ. Both sides of your fdn. sheet are made precise- 

 ly alike, unless your mold is wrong. Two semi- 

 sheets are molded ; i. c, their faces, and put togeth- 

 er back to back before chilling, not molding one 

 side and pressing the other, as in some machines, 

 thus having wax of different degrees of hardness or 

 density in the same sheet. 



7. The fdn. being molded, the wax is in its natur- 

 al state, and hence does not sag. Therefore, no 

 wires are needed to prevent sagging. 



8. It is the "machine for the million." 



A. F. BONHA.M. 



Seven Mile Ford, Va., Nov. 29, 1880. 



There is something quite ingenious about 

 your idea, friend B.; but the idea is not 

 new, it I am correct. It was the first »lan I 

 tried in dipping fdn.; but as I did not suc- 

 ceed, and you have. I shall have to presume 

 yo\i have got hold of some idea I did not 

 have. I do not like that about its being pat- 

 ented, friend B.; Imt as you have put it 

 there, we let it stand. It seems to me yon 

 have wasted just so mucli money. Friend 



Faris now writes he has succeeded with met- 

 al plates, and if that is the case, he is, most 

 assuredly, away ahead of all. May God 

 speed and bless yoti all. my friends, in your 

 experiments I but I hope you won't thiiik it 

 will pay to have the- ideas i»atented. even if 

 vou do succeed. 



GREAT \'IEL1» OF HONEV FRO:VI FIRE- 

 WEED, ETC. 



fAM almost a beginner, having kept bees only .i 

 years. When I began, I coiild get only 25 lbs. 

 ^"^ (or less) of surplus from a colony. I was the 

 seventh one in this town to try bee-keeping. The 

 other six had lost all of their bees when I com- 

 menced. Three years ago I began to study the hab- 

 its of my pets, and to take better care of them. 

 Since then I have received fi-om 100 to 125 lbs. sur- 

 plus per colony. 



I believe that we ha\e a fine bee country here. 

 There are thousands of acres of hard-wood timber, 

 consisting of rock maple, soft maple, birch, beech, 

 etc.. etc. The clover very seldom winter-kills. In 

 the spring the fields are yellow with dandelions, fol- 

 lowed immediately by honeysuckle or white clover. 

 But the greatest plant for honey is the flreweed, 

 called, by some, mooseweed, bloodweed, etc. It 

 springs up the next year after a forest fire, and con- 

 tinues about 3 years, when another fire is needed to 

 renew it. It grows from 4 to 7 feet high, and usual- 

 ly commences to blossom about the first of August, 

 and continues in blossom 8 or 10 weeks. It bears 

 a bright purple flower, and somewhat resembles 

 phlox. In September I had occasion to visit a l;ike 

 four miles from my place. The whole distance (af- 

 ter the first half-mile) lay through a perfect sea of 

 purple flowers, with the honey glistening in the 

 blossoms, and, in some cases, a drop hanging in the 

 center of the blossoms. There were thousands of 

 acres in one solid body, loaded with nectar, and only 

 a few bees around the outer edges. The honey from 

 this plant is a pure white, and has a fine flavor. I 

 have sent some to the cities of Massachusetts, and 

 it sells well, and my customers always praise it. I 

 presume that this plant grows in all of the northern 

 timbered States. Why has it not been mentioned 

 among the great honey-plants? There are some bee- 

 keepers in the neighboring towns who are produc- 

 ing honey by tons; but bee culture is in its infancy 

 here yet. E. Tarr. 



Castle Hill, Aroostook Co., Me., Nov. 18, 1880. 



Well, I declare, friend T.. I do not know 

 but that we shall have to drop the Spider 

 plant, and go for tireweed if that is the way 

 it does every season. Your statement will, 

 I fear, almost set some of the A B C class 

 crazy. When I was in ^Michigan I saw some 

 of the most beautiful white honey, and of 

 what I should call a most exquisite tlavor 

 too, that was said to be flreweed honey. 

 The woods Avere then full of it. but it had 

 gone to seed, and I was under the impres- 

 sion that it had a white instead of purple 

 blossom. Are there different varieties of 

 flreweed V and what is the color of the blos- 

 som? Hurrah: Graves Botany explains it 

 all. The kind you speak of. friend T.,is 

 (hold your breath) EpUohhnn augustifoUiun. 

 Don't you think it ought to bear honeyV 

 Give us some seeds, friend T., and don't 

 think of monopolizing all those miles of 

 honey away down there in Maine. 



