1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1131 



puts a check on swarming, and is better than 

 "shook swarming," as there is no loss from 

 sulking or the bees going off and swarming 

 out. This is an ideal way with any one run- 

 ning an out-apiary. Of course, a queen-ex- 

 cluder must be used. I generally lift the 

 combs containing solid masses of brood, 

 leaving the ones with pollen for the queen 

 to breed in. As a check to swarming it ans- 

 wers very well; but the only real effective 

 method of swarm prevention is removal of 

 the qaeen for a time, and for this method a 

 shallow hive answers very well. In a shal- 

 low hive it is easy to locate the queen, and 

 it is very easy to shake the bees off the 

 frames. It means easy, quick work all 

 round. Try it, friends, and be convinced. 



[This question of foundation in full sheets 

 or starters is one that hinges a good deal on 

 locality and the man, as well as on the sea- 

 son of the year when it is practiced. I be- 

 lieve with you, however, that the average 

 beginner would do better to use foundation 

 in full sheets until he learns the times when 

 he can give the bees starters and have them 

 worked out into worker comb; for an expert 

 can get all worker comb if he knows ivhen 

 and how. 



The arguments that you have advanced in 

 favor of a shallow brood- nest, or, more 

 strictly speaking, a divisible brood-nest, is 

 about the same as those advocated just 

 about 19 years ago when Mr. Heddon and 

 others brought this feature prominently 

 before the bee-keeping public. I myself 

 have always been an admirer of the system, 

 believing that there were wonderful possi- 

 bilities in the use of a sectional hive; but 

 for some reason for which I can not account, 

 notwithstanding all the pretty arguments 

 that have been advanced in favor of such 

 hives very few of them, comparatively, 

 seem to be in use. Where used at all they 

 seem to be by experts. 



When you advocate a brood-nest slightly 

 deeper and wider than the Ideal super for 

 taking tall sections, you are urging almost 

 the exact dimensions that Mr. Danzenbaker 

 adopted for a brood-nest. — Ed.] 



GROWING" WAX-PRESS EMBODYING 

 SEVERAL NEW FEATURES. 



California Lizards. 



BY J. W. GEORGE. 



I am sending you two pictures. One is 

 the picture of a lizard. You know the 

 "gag" here is that California is noted for 

 big liars and little matches, and I think we 



The other picture represents my wax- 

 press. I think this is the only wax-press of 

 its kind in existence. I do hope that none 

 of those fellows who are always "bobbing 

 up" and butting in, and claiming to have 

 been using the same device for years, will 

 not rob me of all the glory of having orig- 

 inated this press, for the glory and the use 

 of this individual press is all I shall get out 

 of it, for I have none for sale. It takes too 

 long to grow them. This one has been in 

 course of construction for many years. 



might add big lizards to the list. The one 

 whose picture this represents measured only 

 17 inches from tip to tip. 



Mr. Editor, you have claimed that the 

 best press would be a spring and screw 

 combination. I have it in this press. I use 

 a liX 10-inch jack-screw, and a sycamore 

 tree which is about 30 inches at the butt. 

 It bends over in the form of a bow and 

 comes near the ground about 16 feet from 

 the root. I place my jack about 12 feet 

 from the root of the tree. I screw the jack 

 up until it raises the body of the tree at the 

 16-foot point two inches. You can have 

 some idea of the pressure I get by looking 

 at the body of that tree, and imagining the 

 lowest part of it being raised two inches, 

 and held in that position. 



The wax is held in a cylinder made of 16 

 iron, 12 inches in diameter at one end and 

 13 inches at the other, and punched full of 

 holes, and just long enough to hold a barley- 

 sack which I place inside and pour the hot 

 wax mto the sack. I use four followers 

 that will just pass out of the lower or small 

 end of the cylinder. Two followers go inside 

 of the sack— one under the bottom of the 

 sack and inside of the cylinder, and the 

 other on top of the sack after it has been 

 folded over the wax. This cylinder holds 

 heat well. I have had the wax drip for an 

 hour under that pressure. The cylinder is 

 inside of an ordinary box which is water- 

 tight, and has a hole with a plug for draw- 

 ing wax off when the box is full; but the 

 box must be placed on a solid foundation. 



I will say to any one who has a similar 

 bending tree that you have the principal 

 material for a fine wax-press. Mine cost 

 me an empty hive, which I use for the box, 

 an old piece of sheet iron, half a day's work, 

 and $1.65 for a jack-screw. 



Lakeview, Cal. 



