504 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



need special training. Some may 

 think I magnify bee-keeping too much 

 when I say tliat, like the professions 

 of law and medicine, it needs not only 

 the collegiate, but the working educa- 

 tion. You cannot make a good law- 

 yer merely by attendance on law 

 classes. lie must work in an office 

 and do business in the courts. Ivor 

 can you make a good doctor by put- 

 ting him through a course of medical 

 study. He must walk the hospitals, 

 and see practice. Neither can you 

 make a good bee-keeper by mere at- 

 tendance at college. He must spend 

 a season or two with a lirst-class bee- 

 keeper who is handling a large apiary. 



The Uee Journal has nominated a 

 Scientific Professor, and though he is 

 a stranger to me except by name, 1 

 take the Journal's word for it that 

 he would be " tlie right man in the 

 right place." Now, let me name the 

 Practical Professor— James Heddon. 

 If there is a better man for the post in 

 the whole United States of America, 

 all I can sa^ is, I don't know him. 

 When I was in Mr. Heddon's apiary, 

 not long since, and found him giviug 

 his invaluable instructions to only two 

 students, 1 could only wish he had two 

 lumdrtd, and that I was one of them. 



Since writing the foregoing, I 

 have come across the following extract 

 from the Examiner, which is too ex- 

 cellent a clincher of what I have said 

 to be omitted : 



'■ Let it be understood, then, that 

 the college does not undertake to turn 

 out merchants, or journalists, or law- 

 yers, or engineers. Wliat it does un- 

 dertake, and what it accomplishes 

 when students make faithful use of 

 tlieir opportunities, is to prepare young 

 men to become the best kind of mer- 

 chants, journalists and engineers. 

 The college-bred man has to learn his 

 trade or profession like any other ; but 

 he will learn it quicker and better, and 

 pursue his chosen calling with more 

 success, than any man of equal ability 

 and application who has been less 

 thoroughly trained." 



All of which is just as true in its 

 application to the best kind of bee- 

 keeping. 



Listowel, Out., July 29, 1882. 



Translated from L'Aplculteur Alsacieo-Lorrain. 



Comb Foimdatioii-Makiug iu Geriuauy. 



DR. REISSEK. 



My Dear Friend :— This time a 

 few lines concerning the manner in 

 wliich comb foundations are made. 



The machine used by our section of 

 the Society iu their manufacture was 

 furnished by M. Herm. Grave, gun- 

 smith at New Brandenburg, and cost 

 33 francs and 75 centimes (S6.28). It 

 consists of two plates of zinc, iu which 

 the bases of worker cells are cut, and 

 which, consequently, exactly tit wlien 

 one is placed upon the other. These 

 plates are fastened upon beechwood 

 planks. 



Tlie following are the details of the 

 process : Put tlie wax which is to be 

 used, and which should be pure, into 

 a tin vessel large enough so the zinc 

 plates can be dipped in it and even 



moved about a little. This vessel is 

 itself placed in a large kettle or boiler 

 containing water kept at a tempera- 

 ture of 80-' or 90'^ C. (176- or 194- F). 

 When the wax is once liquefied, one 

 of the plates is moistened witli a solu- 

 tion of common soda and dipped into 

 the wax-bath once or twice according 

 to the thickness which it is desirable 

 to give to the slieet, after wiiich the 

 plate with the adtiering wax is im- 

 mersed in cold water. The strips of 

 wax which extend beyond the zinc- 

 plate are trimmed off, and the sheet 

 of wax is then gently detached and 

 placed in a box between two layers of 

 blotting-paper. The work continues 

 thus until the wax is exhausted. Then 

 one by one the sheets are taken out in 

 orderto be stamped on the side which 

 is still smooth. The plates are mois- 

 tened with soda, a sheet softened again 

 by a momentary immersion iu tepid 

 water is placed between them, and 

 they are then put under pressure. 

 This slieet, when sufficiently pressed, 

 is carefully loosened from the plate, 

 passed through cold water to remove 

 the coating of soda which it has, and 

 then placed in tlie box as before ; then 

 the whole is weighed down by a 

 smooth board and weight of some sort 

 in order to secure evenness of surface. 

 Theoretically foundation-sheets thus 

 made cost two-thirds less than those 

 we buy, but in reality this proportion 

 is incorrect. The following are the 

 reasons : 



1. The wood to which are attached 

 the zinc-plates becomes warped, in 

 consequence of the repeated wasliings, 

 bending the metal with it, and thus 

 in a short time the surfaces of the 

 plates become irregular and the sheets 

 of wax are pressed too much in some 

 places, holes being even produced, 

 while in other places they receive no 

 pressure. The plates should be 

 screwed to cast metal. Another im- 

 perfection is, that they have no han- 

 dles. One can sujiply this deficiency 

 by attaching a cord, or, better still, a 

 bent screw, which must be removed 

 when pressure is applied. This incon- 

 venience, it is true, only occasions a 

 loss of time. 



2. Notwithstanding the soda-wash 

 whicli is used, it is not always easy to 

 detacli tlie sheets of wax from the 

 plates, and more than one breaks, 

 whence comes the necessity of remelt- 

 iiig. But each slieet put back into the 

 ineltiiiir-vessel conveys with it some 

 snda. liinvever little it may be, and 

 after quite a number of broken sheets 

 have been returned, the vv-ax in the 

 b;ith only gives those tliat break like 

 glass and have au objectionable color. 

 The quantity of soda is increased at 

 each dipping of the plate itself. 



3. Tlie press required must be very 

 strong. I defy the inventor of this 

 method to succeed with a copying- 

 press ; it would not stand the test a 

 lialf hour. Such an implement as is 

 needed is not to be found in every 

 house, nor even in every place. Fur- 

 thermore, it is difficult to measure the 

 pressure exerted ; either it is iiisuth- 

 cieiit and the bases of the cells are not 

 shown, or it is excessive and the sheets 

 are crushed. 



4. Simple immersion in water does 



not remove all the soda. It would be 

 necessary to leave the wax more than 

 a week in the water-bath, and renew 

 the water quite often. But the foun- 

 dation would become very brittle, and 

 a large number of the sheets would 

 break with the least handling. I know 

 only one way of cleansing them, that 

 is to lay one sheet after another on a 

 wash-board, take them to a fountain 

 or to a stream, and, with a soft brush 

 and an abundance of water to wash 

 the sheets of wax until the water used 

 no longer effervesces. Eight to ten 

 minutes are indispensable for each 

 sheet. It may be considered good 

 fortune if a quarter of them are not 

 broken by this process. 

 Lievre," Germany. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1SS2. Time and Place 0/ Meeting. 



Aug. 10— Maine State, at Harmony. Maine. 



Wm. lloyt, Sec. 

 Sept. 5— N. W. 111. anil S. W. Wis., at Rockton, 111. 

 Jonathan Stewart, Sec. 

 Oct. 3-6-North American, at Cincinnati. O. 



Dr. Ebrick Parmly, Sec, New York City. 

 5— Kentucky Union, at Slielbyviile, Ky. 



G. W. Demaree, Sec, Christianaburg. Ky, 

 Tuscarawas Valley, at Newcomerstown, O. 

 J. A. Bucklew, Sec, Clarks, O. 



t3ff~ In orderto have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetinKS.— El>. 



The National Couvcntioii. 



The following is the official call of 

 the Secretary, Dr. Parmly, for the 

 Convention of the North American 

 Bee-Keepers' Society. We hope there 

 will be a large attendance : 



The North American Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Society will hold their 13th an- 

 nual meeting at Wasliington Park 

 Hall, Cincinnati, O., across Washing- 

 ton Park from the Exposition build- 

 ing. Time, Oct. 3rd to 5th, 1882. 

 First session Tuesday, 10 a. m., Oct. 

 3. We are encouraged to hope that 

 this will be a very profitable meeting, 

 as we are promised papers from, and 

 the presence of, a large number of 

 our most prominent bee-keepers both 

 in the United States and Canada, and 

 essays and implements of the apiary 

 are expected from abroad to add to 

 the knowledge imparted by the re- 

 search and inventive skill and meth- 

 ods of our countrymen. 



EiiiiiCK Parmly, Sec. 



New York, July 12, 1882. 



^ The bee-keepers of Boone Co., 

 Indiana, are invited to meet in Leba- 

 non, at Barton Higgins' office, over 

 Jaskson's bee hive, on the west side 

 of the square, to organize an auxiliary 

 County Association, on Aug. 10, 1882. 



George J. Frey, ^ 



Ora Knowlton, >Executiiie Com. 



Jas. H. Orear, ) 



