1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



741 



never paid five dollars on a doctor's bill for 

 the whole eight. Their ages range from 17 

 last November to five this April. I will 

 send a photo entitled "Under the Kieffer 

 Pear-tree." It shows the whole family, in- 

 cluding the pet sheep. The boy at the ex- 

 treme right tried to get the little dog in too. 

 You can see just a part of its back by the 

 chair-leg. The sheep moved its head. 

 Marienville,[Pa., March 15. 



[It is said the proof of the pudding is in 

 the eating of it. If any one doubts the 

 value of honey as a food and as a health- 

 giver, he will only need to study this picture 

 of the Gaul family. 



We send congratulations and our best 

 wishes; and as a slight token of our good 

 will we are sending Gleanings five years 

 with our compliments. If there is any other 

 family that can show as good a record it will 

 give us pleasure to duplicate this offer. 

 The only condition is that such family is to 

 send us a photo— one that is clear and sharp 

 —so that we can use it in Gleanings. 



We believe it to be our duty to preach 

 the doctrine of eating honey in preference 

 to any other form of sweet; and the editor 

 hereby offers his sincere congratulations to 

 both papa and mamma Gaul for their bright 

 happy healthy-looking lot of children. Cer- 

 tainly our beloved President would have no 

 fault to find with the size of this family.— 

 Ed.] 



THE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION ON THE 

 FRAME QUESTION. 



A Device for Holding Frames While Nailing. 



BY J. A. BEARDEN 



It may seem to some that the subject of 

 frame hives has been discussed almost enough ; 

 but as frames play so important a part in our 

 bee-keeping I for one say let's have the 

 best frame, hive, etc. ; and if Mr. A has a 

 better one than mine, tell me why and I will 

 try for myself. Now, Mr. Alpine McGregor, 

 on page 1127, takes the editor to task for rec- 

 ommending the Hoffman frame, and he 

 seems to think that The A. I. Root Co. has 

 been endorsing a curse, and hints almost 

 that Editor Root knew better than he did 

 that such was the case. 



Now, I am no lover of the Hoffman frame 

 myself; but that is no sign that the other 

 man would be like me, and I am glad that 

 he is not; for who would strive for any im- 

 provement in almost any line if it were not 

 for opposition and competition? I am of the 

 opinion that bee-keeping offers more range 

 for differences of opinion than almost any 

 other pursuit, as no two men handle bees 

 alike, neither are the bees alike, nor the 

 flora all of a kind; the seasons are unlike, 

 and last, but not least, is this: Some men 

 know it all— almost. I don't like criticism 

 that is too flagrant; but be kind, and slow to 

 condemn; "for what I once loved I now 

 hate ' ' is coming to us every day, or at least 



it is so with me, not only in a spiritual but 

 in a bee-keeping sense. 



I should much prefer the Hoffman to Dr. 

 Miller's nail-spaced frame; but that is Dr. 

 Miller's job, and I do not doubt they are the 

 best for his locality. I haven't a new frame 

 to offer, but wish to suggest another way of 

 holding frames while nailing. Let us look 

 at Mr A. J. Wilhite's article on page 1132 

 for a moment and see if my way is not bet- 

 ter. The editor of GLEANINGS thinks such 

 a board is not necessary; but I don't agree 

 with him; but here it is. Take a good smooth 

 board one inch thick, and cut the same to a 

 width of 9| inches, and 21§ inches long. 

 Now put a cleat on each end of this board, 

 or, rather, the side of the board at each end, 

 of ljX2-inch stuff, having four of these 



Note.— By putting- a cleat on both sides of the board 

 it will stand alone on edge to nail, as I nail through the 

 face of the top-bar into the end of end-bar at A, nail 

 crosswise at B, and also at C, through bottom into end B. 



cleats, each as long as the board is wide, less 

 I inch, which allows the top-bar projections 

 to extend out on the ends of these cleats. 

 Now take four |-inch carriage-bolts and bolt 

 the^e cleats on the side of the board at each 

 end, placing the two inch side of the cleats 

 next to the board. This leaves a space of 

 17§ inches between the cleats on the inside 

 edges, and put these cleats with the lower 

 end even with the bottom edge of the board. 

 Now make a couple of wooden cams, and 

 bolt with i-inch machine- bolts on the face of 

 the board, just far enough from these end- 

 cleats on the inside so that, when the cam is 

 loose, a frame end- bar can be dropped in 

 edgewise between the edge of the cam and 

 edge of the end-cleat, then tighten the cam 

 and set the board up on a work-bench on 

 edge, and you are ready to nail through the 

 top- bar into the end- bar; but if you don't 

 nail that way, then you must make your end- 

 cleats 1 inch or IJ inches shorter, so you can 

 nail through the end bar into the top-bar— 

 see drawing. 



BINDER TWINE FOR TRANSFERRING. 



I have done quite a lot of transferring 

 bees from box to frame hives, and I am like 

 Mr. J. A. Green as to wrapping strings 

 around and around the frame. I don't like 

 that at all, nor do I want wire either. The 

 best thing I have found is binder twine cut 

 into such lengths as will reach around the 

 frame well and tie; as it is strong it can be 

 drawn taut, and the bees seem to cut it out 

 better than cotton twine if you should hap- 

 pen to be too busy to take it off at the prop- 

 er time. 



Harms, Tenn. 



