1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



235 



COMPARATIVE VALUE OF WAX AND HONEY. 



On page 1177 you speak of the comparative 

 value of wax and honey. As I am situated 

 I want to produce the maximum of wax and 

 the minimum of honey, and I shall be great- 

 ly obliged for any information as to your 

 methods of producing wax or the best known 

 method of producing the most wax possible. 



Cibola, Ariz., Dec. 14. R. M. Swain. 



[You will find an article on this subject 

 by W. K. Morrison, on page 336 for April 

 15th, 1903, that covers the ground very ex- 

 haustively.— Ed.] 



CONTINUED FROM LAST ISSUE. 



During the wgrk Mr. Shumard said some- 

 body told him, years ago, that taking meas- 

 urement on a stick was much safer and 

 quicker than using a square or rule, and that 

 the idea had been worth a great deal to him 

 in carpenter work. When I began to laugh 

 he said: 



"Why, sure enough, that was something 

 you wrote in Gleanings years ago, was it 

 not?" 



The work of the past two weeks has 

 brought to mind my father's teachings, of 

 more than fifty years ago, so vividly it has 

 almost seemed some days as if I could hear 

 his voice When I was only about sixteen I 

 did most of the work on the frame house 

 that replaced the log one in which I was 

 bom. Of course, I worked slowly, and I 

 now realize that father was more anxious to 

 have me learn correct principles in the car- 

 penter's and joiner's business than to get 

 along fast. He gave me the reasons for go- 

 ing slowly, and explained how time is lost 

 in not cutting exactly to a mark made with 

 a "sharp knife," having the work square 

 and every thing level, having the tools al- 

 ways in the best of order, etc. 



The Phantom was delayed by bad weather, 

 and all hands were waiting anxiously for 

 "our ship to come in," for almost a week. 

 Every morning I would say: 



"Now, friends, are you sure all your tools 

 are in tiptop order? Have you good sharp 

 cut-off and rip saws? Are the hatchets, 

 chisels, etc., all sharp? Have we plenty 

 of good hammers? Are there any tools 

 loose on the handle?" 



As the boat didn't come I went over the 

 tools again next day, and every time I found 

 something that could be bettered. Some 

 tools had been borrowed and not returned. 

 Hammer-handles broke, and no timber was 

 ready to make another one quickly. When I 

 offered to pay for time of getting tools in 



readiness, I was kindly reminded of my old 

 father again. He used to say, ' ' A carpenter 

 who comes on a new job and begins to grind 

 up his tools on his employer's time is usually 

 'docked,' as he certainly ought to be." 



By all means go and pick out your lumber. 

 Get exactly what you want, even if you pay 

 extra for it, and see that culls are not sprin- 

 kled in, when you pay for No. 1. This will 

 take time, but it is time well invested. 



Be sure your foundation is good as well as 

 your roof. Doors that stick are apt to be 

 wrenched out of shape or pulled to pieces; 

 and sticky doors are the result of a building 

 that settles out of shape. Of course, a car- 

 penter can plane them off; but it is so often 

 neglected that "prevention is much better 

 than cure. ' ' Be sure every thing is thorough- 

 ly nailed. A few more nails will often en- 

 able a building to resist a severe wind-storm. 



Furniture is very expensive down here be- 

 cause of freights from the distant factories 

 in the North, and the danger of damage in 

 transit. The $150 mentioned included over 

 a day's work in making "home-made" fur- 

 niture. I bought at the near-by store four 

 dry goods- boxes at five cents each. The store- 

 keeper wanted them out of the way. One 

 of them made a "kitchen table" in this 

 way: The top was removed, the box turn- 

 ed on its side, and some legs nailed on so as 

 to raise the table to the proper height. 

 Then the boards taken from the top were 

 put in half way down, on cleats so as to 

 make a shelf, and there you have a very 

 handy table with top, and two shelves under- 

 neath, and a place under all to put things 

 out of the way. The rough boards can be 

 covered with newspapers, to be replaced 

 when soiled. 



Another box, with shelf in as above, 

 makes a handy safe in the back shed. Things 

 can be set in while standing in the back door, 

 for it is so high up, fastened against the 

 wall, that one can walk under it. It is also 

 too high for cats and dogs to be likely to 

 trouble it if the wood-shed door is left open. 

 Our dining- table top is made of bits of floor- 

 ing that was left, with legs of inch lumber, 

 tapered, and two pieces nailed together eave- 

 trough fashion. The stand on which I am 

 writing these notes was made this afternoon 

 of bits of board and the drygoods-boxes. I 

 think it quite pretty, and it cost even less 

 than you could buy it of Montgomery Ward, 

 and no freight to pay. Eave-spouting here 

 costs 10 cts. per foot, and the salt spray 

 rusts it so quickly that almost everybody 

 uses wooden ones made of strips put togeth- 

 er with paint. Ours are nicely put up, and 

 ready for rain. 



HEALTH HINTS— EXTREME SIMPLICITY IN 

 DIET. 



During all the fall months, and until I 

 came to Florida, I kept up my fashion of eat- 

 ing apples regularly about 7 p. M. As my sys- 

 tem became accustomed to this regular even- 

 ing fruit meal I felt lost without it; and after 

 the few apples were gone that we brought here 

 with us I began to use oranges instead; and 

 now after using them right along for nearly 



