86 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Feb. 9, 1899. 



Mr. Porter — I had a screen escape outside, which was 

 entered and clog-g-ed up by robbers. 



Pres. Aikin — I would not use a cone, but two sheets, 

 with an opening clear across the window. That plan keeps 

 outside bees from going- in, and inside bees from .passing 

 honey out. When the opening- is extended, the bees will 

 not cluster. Where they cluster robbers cluster also, and 

 find their waj- in. 



THE RIETSCHE FOUNDATION PKESS. 



I have here a machine for making foundation by means 

 of melted wax. Having had an argument with the editor 

 of Gleanings on whether this machine was practical or 

 not, he offered to pay the transportation charges if I would 

 paj- the actual cost. I did so, paying SS.SO. As near as I 

 can make out. the transportation from Germany to New 

 York was So. 50, the duty $3.50, and the expressage from 

 New York to Denver S2.50 ; or a total of $17, if a bee-keeper 

 there would buj- one out and out. Consequently, it could 

 only benefit bee-keepers in general by being manufactured 

 in this country. That could be done, if they would take 

 enough interest in it. In Europe, 14,000 of these presses 

 are in use. 



To use, the press is set on a level table, and the vessel 

 containing the melted was within easy reach on a stove on 

 the right hand. A vessel containing- the lubricant sets on 

 the table behind the press. I used soap-suds. With the 

 left hand the press is opened, and enough lubricant poured 

 in to merely fill the press, when it is closed again. The 

 lubricant is then poured back, opening the press slightlv at 

 the same time, so that both plates may drain thoroughly. 

 The press being replaced in position, the left hand opens it 

 a little over half vray. while the right hand dashes in a dip- 

 per of melted wax, taking care to cover at least half of the 

 surface on the side away from the operator. The press is then 

 instantly closed. No particular pressure is necessary, as 

 the wax at once solidifies. The forefingers then slightly 

 raise the ball-and-socket attachments of the upper plate, 

 while the thumbs press down on the lower one. The upper 

 plate is then graspt by the wooden bar attacht to it in the 

 middle, lifted off, inverted, and the sheet trimmed while 

 still on the plate. (If rightly done, the sheet remains at- 

 -tacht to the upper plate when" this is lifted off.) The plate 

 is then held over where the pile of foundation is wanted, 

 and again turned over, when it either peels off itself, or 

 comes off with a very little assistance. 



I made about 200 sheets last summer, and calculated the 

 weight and area of 179. I figured that the foundation ran 

 almost five square feet to the pound. When the \\ork was 

 progressing s-.moothly, I made a sheet every minute and a 

 half without hurrying. But I did not become at all skilled 

 in the use of the machine, and no doubt an expert could 

 work it much faster. 



To show what other English-speaking bee-keepers think 

 of it, I will read some extracts from the Australian Bee- 

 Bulletin. The question was askt, "Can anv bee-keepers 

 give their experience with the foundation "wax-press?" 

 ■" Gippslander " replies : 



" Yes, we get on all right with one. If your wax sticks 

 vrash it well with strong soda water, and use plenty of 

 honey-water. It makes the foundation rather thick, that's 

 the only fault." "Australian Yankee" says: " Not a 

 success in my hands." John Thacker an.swers : "If you 

 refer to the Rietsche press, we have used them for three 

 sea.sons, and find them invaluable. Difficult to use while 

 new, but better afterwards. Foundation thicker. We find 

 it better for bedding the wires." W. L. Davey replies : 

 "Yes. I wasted about a week practicing on a' Riet.sche 

 foundation press before I got into full working order. So 

 far I have attained a speed equal to 50 pounds a day, or six 

 pounds an hour. Sometimes the foundation comb is a trifle 

 thick, but I prefer the press-made article, as the cells stand 

 out much further and more truly than the mill-made. Get a 

 sheet of each and compare them, and you'll be convinced." 



Samples of the foundation are here on the table. The 

 heavy foundation which Prof. Gillette refers to in his ex- 

 periments was made on this press. 



Mr. Elliott and Mr. F. Rauchfuss have also tested this 

 press, and I will leave it to them to supplv any points I 

 have omitted. P\ L,. Thompson. 



Mr. Elliott — The machine would be practical here if it 

 could be obtained for $5 to SIO. By means of it, when one 

 has only five pounds of wax he can work it all up, and it is 

 not necessary to strain it, either : any kind of dark wax can 

 be used. I found no trouble in rapid work ; I turned out 

 sheets at the rate of a minute and a half apiece. 



Mr. Porter — What temperature should the wax be ? 



Mr. Elliott — Pretty warm — so as to make the press as 

 hot as can be borne by the hand. I have had considerable 

 experience with rolls. Comparing the work of both ma- 

 chines, this is the machine for the average bee-keeper. 

 It takes lots of wax to work the rolls at all. and it must be 

 purified, and kept at an exact temperature. 



Mr. Martin — Is there any advantage in pressing the 

 plates ? 



Mr. Elliott — No. Perhaps a little. But just a quick 

 movement in pouring in the wax will thin it. 



Mr. Martin — Is it not possitple to have the plates come 

 very close together, for surplus foundation ? 

 "Mr. Elliott— Not for surplus. 



Mr. Pease — Couldn't sheets of dipt wax be used in that 

 machine ? 



Mr. Thompson — It is not generally done, but I have 

 read of one case. A bee-keeper in Italy emploj's a press 

 about like this for dipt sheets, the that press, too, is in- 

 tended only for melted wax. He uses a bottle of ice-water 

 for dipping, so as to get thin sheets. 



Mr. Foster — Is any special style of dipper used to pour 

 in the wax ? 



Mr. Thompson — No, just an ordinary dipper. 



Mr. Foster — My brother, Oliver Foster, used 1o make 

 plaster-of-paris presses for sale, using a sheet of thin foun- 

 dation for a pattern. They did not last long, but they were 

 cheap. He used a special dipper, .so as to get the wax on 

 the lower plate instantaneously. It was a tin tube with a 

 row of holes along- one side. When this w;is held over the 

 plate, and turned aroinid, the wax would all fall down at 

 once. 



Mr. Elliott — If plenty of wax is put on. it is all rig-ht. 

 The excess is poured ofl:'. 



Pres. Aikin — I should think if you got the temperature 

 too high, the wax would stick. Wax just above the melting 

 point poured on a board can be readily removed, but hot 

 wax cannot. 



Mr. Thompson — It does. The temperature must not 

 exceed a certain point, which is when the machine does not 

 get too hot to be comfortably handled. 



F. Rauchfuss — From some points in the State the 

 freight on wax is 2'j cents a pound to Denver. Supposing 

 22 J< cents a pound is obtained, that makes the net return 20 

 cents a pomid, for which less than 20 cents' worth of foun- 

 dation may be bought, for the freight on the foundation is 

 also 2|2 cents, making the expense 5 cents for every pound 

 of wax. The expense of rolls, therefore, is not the only 

 item to be considered. 



Pres. Aikin — In making foundation by rolls, one must 

 have a large amount of wax melted, in tanks. In the dip- 

 ping process, there is a great deal in getting the boards and 

 wax at the proper temperature. It is a trade that not one 

 man out of ten will be successful in. I use the Vandervort 

 mill. I believe a low side-wall will give a thinner base 

 when thinned by the bees. 



Mr. Foster — Dadants' foundation is prest until it is 

 transparent. 



Pres. Aikin — We can't manufacture foundation prest as 

 hard as theirs. 



Mr. Foster — Some have said that it is prest too hard, 

 and that Oliver Foster's home-made foundation is better. 



Pres. Aikin — Perhaps the high pressure makes it too 

 hard for the bees to manipulate. There is one point that 

 has not been made prominent enough. The grain in a bar 

 of iron made by rolling runs lengthwise. It is hard to break 

 a bar of iron crosswise. Pound it, and it will break into 

 strings. The same principles are embodied in foundation. 

 I once put two pieces of foundation edge to edge, with the 

 side-walls of one at right angles to the side-walls of the 

 other, welded them together, and then bv means of two 

 clamps pulled the resulting piece in two. The piece which 

 ran the direction that rolling would make weaker, when 

 the pull was applied where it was, broke first. And yet the 

 Dadants put out sheets which will not hang the long way of 

 the grain. The Roots, too, say the side-walls should hang 

 perpendicularly. So this is something even the Roots and 

 Dadants ha'ven't got hold of . Both the side-walls and the 

 g-rain should hang vertically. 



Mr. Porter — I have noticed a curve in the Weed founda- 

 tion. When two pieces ai'e put in one section, one curves 

 away from the other. 



F. Rauchfuss The Weed foundation has more inclina- 

 tion to crack lengthwise than that made by the old process. 

 It is more brittle, there is no doubt of it, tho the contrary is 

 claimed. For surplus foundation, I could not see an advan- 

 tage in tlie Weed foundaticm over the old process founda- 



