1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



131 



wiped him out last February. An ordinary mortal 

 would have given up the battle. But not so with 

 Mr. Dittmer. He and his faithful family g-athered 

 themselves together as quickly as possible. Loyal 

 friends and neighbors volunteered all kinds of assist- 

 ance. Some offered him all the cash he might need. 

 Mr. Dittmer said it was almost worth the fire loss to see 

 how true were proven some of their fiiendships. It 

 strengthened their faith in humanity. But. after all, 

 the fire was a hard blow in another way. as it put off 

 several years the long-hoped-for new dwelling-house. 

 Still, that will be on hand shortly, and will be appreci- 

 ated all the more when it does come. 



Augusta is a town of 1£00 inhabitants, in a rich agri- 

 cultural district Mr. Dittmer has resided there prac- 

 tically all his life, although he was born in Prussia, (Ger- 

 many. He is a prominent citizen in his town and coun- 

 ty, and active in all good causes. His habits have been 

 such as would invariably produce the best in character 

 as well as in substantial results, as the world measures 

 success. These characteristics are shared in by Mrs. 



now made can be and is nailed in three dif- 

 ferent ways, and is even shown in two dif- 

 ferent ways in your catalog. 



H. H. Hyde and C. Davenport are also 

 emphatically right about there being no ne- 

 cessity for a l-thick top-bar. Your idea 

 ' ' that a frame with a |-thick top-bar is very 

 much stiff er than one with only a 5-inch bar, ' ' 

 may be true if inefficient one-inch nails are 

 used; but if you will take a hint from W. L. 

 Coggshall, and make end- bars at least f-inch 

 thick, then nail down with 5 or 6 penny 

 box nails you will still have an ex- 

 ceedingly stiff frame, though the top-bar be 

 only 5 or I inch — in fact, a stiffer frame 

 than the regular Hoffman with small nails. 



GUS DITTMER'S foundation-factory, AUGUSTA, WIS. 



Dittmer, and thus they are bequeathing to their chil- 

 dren a legacy richer and more enduring than that of 

 financial wealth or earthly position. Character and 

 education— the best of life's equipments— can not be 

 purchased or even transferred by order. They are the 

 result of a steady growth and development throughout 

 the years, hence their higher and more lasting value. 



HOFFMAN FRAMES WITHOUT THE V 

 EDGES. 



Use Thinner Top-bar, and Thicker End-bars 

 and Bottom-bars, with Heavier Nails; Hoff- 

 man Not a Bad Frame. 



BY E. F. ATWATER. 



Those two articles on Hoffman frames in 

 the Nov. 15th issue are just about right, ac- 

 cording to my experience. I have handled 

 for two years 75 colonies on Hoffman frames, 

 with both edges of end-bar square, and have 

 found no difficulty, and, as C. Davenport so 

 well says, the regular Hoffman frame as 



I know this after the use of about 2000 such 

 frames the past season. 



Top-bar full length? Yes, sir. That little 

 assertion in your catalog, regarding such 

 top-bars and the men who prefer them, 

 "most likely they do not handle frames 

 enough to make it an object to have them 

 easily movable," is away off. You must 

 use a pry with any frame, and it takes no 

 longer to pry loose a long top-bar than a 

 short one. 



Davenport's suggestion of pointing the 

 top-bar at ends may be good; and, as he 

 says, the top-bar must be full width to the 

 end, and not be made narrower to allow a 

 better finger-hold, and thereby be very seri- 

 ously weakened at a vital point. H. H. 

 Hyde is on the right track in demanding a 

 thicker bottom-bar. I have several thou- 

 sand frames in use with bottom-bars i\ thick, 

 and they are much more satisfactory than 

 the usual thickness of I inch. 



Among some bees which I bought a year 



