648 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



about how they should be nailed, or follow- 

 ing any direction for nailing them whatever. 

 Consequently many bee-keepers have all the 

 V edges on the same side, and use the 

 frames in this way. Such frames, of course, 

 can not be reversed singly, end for end, 

 without being thrown out of gear with their 



FIG. 1. 

 neighbors Others, while they have the V 

 edges at the opposite sides, have them just 

 the reverse from the right way. While 

 these work all right in the same apiary they 

 will not in others. It is just through this 

 interchanging from one apiary to another, 

 resulting most largely through the buying of 

 bees, that a "variety" of these frames re- 

 sults. Such trouble should not accrue. 

 There should be a standi^rd, and all frames 

 should be nailed after that standard. It is 

 true that such a standard exists; but it has 



put into practice for a number of years, is 

 that shown in Fig. 1 at 7. Thousands of V- 

 edge Hoffman frames that have been nailed 

 by following these directions have been 

 nailed up right. In nailing the frames, all 

 the end- bars should be handled by the right 

 hand, holding each one so that the V edge 

 conforms to the V made in the hand by clos- 

 ing the fore finger, as in the cut. With the 

 top-bar in the left hand the end-bar is put in 

 the proper position and nailed. The top-bar, 

 still in the left hand, is reversed, and the 

 other end bar nailed on just as the first. 

 The V edges in this way always point away 

 from the nailer. If every end- bar is handled 

 in this way I will guarantee that the frames 

 will all be nailed right. When the frames 

 are put into place in a hive they should all 

 look as in Fig. 2. 



The above method of nailing has been put 

 to a test many times; and out of several 

 thousand frames not a single one was nailed 

 wrong. It is really impossible to do so. 



With students at the Texas Agricultural 

 and Mechanical College, special pains were 

 taken to teach them the convenitnce and 

 the importance of adhering to this rule; and 

 of 18 students in one class who helped nail- 

 ing frames at the experiment apiary not 

 one made a mistake. It works equally well 

 with younger helpers, who are always so 

 anxious to help, but who can yet hardly 

 "make the grip" around the V edges with 

 their little fingers. This "grip," however, 

 is a valuable one, or it has been to me at 

 least. Besides, it is a rer?/ cheap "device," 

 which I hope will be given a trial, and hence- 

 forth put a quietus to such talk as V-edge 

 Hoffman frames not being "fool-proof" in 

 nailing. 



FIG. 2. 



not been brought to the attention of the 

 bee-keeping public sufficiently. And even 

 if this standard of having the V edges all a 

 certain way were known, is there an abso- 

 lutely sure and safe way of getting them all 

 so in nailing the frames? Forms for nailing 

 them might be resorted to, into which the 

 pieces can be placed in none but the 7-ight 

 way; but these are not much used, and I 

 have never fancied them. All such things 

 are "too much fuss " for the extensive bee- 

 men who do things in a hurry and on a large 

 scale. 



The most satisfactory device that has ever 

 come within my knowledge, and which I have 



How to Kaise a Greater Proportion of Fancy 



Honey; a Plan to Hold Back Swarming and 



at the Same Time Keep Work Going 



in the Super during a Lull in the 



Honey-flow; a Valuable Article. 



BY E. W. ALEXANDER. 



Although it is now about 20 years since I 

 gave up this part of the bee business I oft- 

 en think I should like to call the attention of 

 comb-honey producers to some important 

 points connected with this branch of bee- 

 keeping. The natural desire to swarm has 

 always been a serious trouble in producing 

 comb honey. Then the frequent changes in 

 our atmosphere, causing the flowers to stop 



