348 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



at :xm\ |ioivr. 



ANSWERS BY 



James Heddon, Dowagiac, Midi 



Building Comb in Wired Frames. 



In the Kansas Bee-Kecper for June, 

 some one says I am mistaken in re- 

 gard to tlie impracticability of wiring 

 frames for bees to build new combs 

 in, without the use of foundation. He 

 says the force of circumstances caused 

 him to try it, and it worked perfectly, 

 the bees building the combs centrally 

 in the frames with the wires in the 

 septum. This settles the matter with 

 him, of course. I do not remember of 

 having read any one else's experience 

 in the matter. My own experience, 

 that which prompted my answer, is 

 this : On several occasions the foun- 

 dation has fallen down through neg- 

 lect of properly securing it, when we 

 -were putting it on by hand. Not dis- 

 covering the accident, the bees went 

 on to build their combs, and, notwith- 

 standing the combs were built between 

 other sheets of foundation which re- 

 mained in tact, in no instance did they 

 build the comb with the septum on 

 the wires, but the wire usually run 

 right through the cells, and had to be 

 withdrawn. Tliis is all I know about 

 the matter. Further experiments will 

 be required to settle the matter in my 

 mind, and probably in the minds of 

 bee-keepers generally. 



What Ailed the Bees ? 



I send you by this mail pieces of 

 comb taken from two colonies which 

 have two or three cards affected each. 

 I wish you to answer through the Bee 

 Journal what aiis them, and what is 

 the best plan to pursue with them. 

 The cells of these cards are tilled with 

 honey as fast as empty, instead of 

 •eggs; and upon opening them, some 

 cells will be empty or the contents 

 dried down. F. A. Burrill. 



Cuba, N. Y., June 29, 1883. 



The comb is received. My experi- 

 ence with foul brood is limited to 

 cautiously looking at, and smelling of 

 one comb brougnt to our Michigan 

 State Convention, at Battle Creek. I 

 have always been so much afraid of 

 it, however, that I have taken pains 

 to " read up " that I might detect it 

 at once, if it ever occurred in my 

 apiary. I have burned your comb 

 and box. To the best of my judgment, 

 I feel sure that there is no foul brood 

 of any type about your comb. I think 

 the cause of the phenomenon you men- 

 tion, is a temporary one, caused by 



some change in the conditions of your 

 hive. It looks more like " chilling." 

 I could not decide satisfactorily to 

 myself, unless I could have more light 

 regarding all the conditions, and per- 

 haps not then. If it continues, with 

 no seeming cause — to change the 

 queen would be my advice. 



Fastening Wired Foundation. 



Having been unsuccessful in fasten- 

 ing the wired foundation in frames, 

 please give, in the Bee Journal, the 

 best method of fastening it. 



Racine, Wis. F. A. Gibson. 



Answer.— Nearly all feel the neces- 

 sity of some device to hold tlie foun- 

 dation true in the centre of the frame, 

 to a certinity, and I think I am safe 

 in saying that all of the devices 

 known to the public at present, none 

 equals the use of tinned wire, woven 

 through the frames. Proceed as fol- 

 lows : When your frame material is 

 out, and before nailed up, punch 

 holes (centrally) through the top and 

 bottom bars about 2 inches apart, and 

 have the outside holes not further 

 from the end bar than }{ or ^i of an 

 inch. For hand pressing, as I am 

 now describing, use No. 30 tinned 

 wire. Now sew the frame, beginning 

 in the middle and sewing each way 

 with each end. To fasten the ends I 

 use a small tack, or the nails that 

 nail the bottom bar may be left a 

 little out. Be careful not to bow the 

 bottom bar by drawing the wire too 

 tight. Diagonal wires may be put on, 

 but I do not use them, as I find no 

 need for them. To use them, fasten 

 one end to the nail head, and then 

 go down through the first hole, and 

 through the one nearest the centre of 

 the other bar, then up through the 

 other centre hole, and fasten this end 

 the same as the first. Now the frame 

 is wired. Next make a lap-board 

 larger each way than your frame is 

 the longest way. Now cut from J^ 

 inch lumber a board that is }4 inch 

 smaller each way than the inside 

 measure of your frame. Nail this 

 board securely to the Ji lap-board, 

 and let the grains run cross-ways of 

 each other. This will prevent warp- 

 ing. With a sponge or rag wet the 

 thin board or form. Have already 

 cut, some sheets of foundation Vg less 

 in size than your frame measures in- 

 side. Turn up about 3-16 of one edge, 

 and (have the wax sheet warm) with a 

 stiff, broad putty knife, or chisel, mash 

 the turned-up portion to the top-bar 

 (which should not be rough), so that 

 .the sheet will hang centrally in the 



frame. We have a rest fixed for the 

 frame, on our work bench, to hold it 

 while we do the ma.=hing. Next lay 

 the frame and foundation (foundation 

 down) on the lap-board and over the 

 form, and while the sheet is plastic. 



Stroke the wires with the edge 

 point of your jack knife with a draw- 

 ing motion, and while this little cut 

 will do the foundation no harm, if 

 struck every Jj inch or so, the wire 

 will be thus embeded into the centre 

 of the foundation in a practical man- 

 ner, and very quickly too, and so that 

 it will stay, holding the sheet in per- 

 fect position while the bees make it 

 into comb, which they do Given 

 foundation in about 24 to 48 hours. 

 There is no objection to these wires 

 at all. Honey, pollen and brood do as 

 well in the wired cells as any. 



Is It not Contradi<;tory 1 



Will Mr. Heddon please tell us what 

 he means by saying, on page 314, of 

 the Bee Journal, that " less colo- 

 nies are required to gather the honey 

 of a given area, when they are work- 

 ing for extracted honey than when 

 working for comb honey?" In the next 

 paragraph he says : " He can get but 

 little more extracted then comb 

 honey." Here is a seeming inconsis- 

 tency. Why should it require a much 

 less number of colonies to a given area 

 for extracted than for comb, if a 

 colony can gather only a " little more " 

 extracted then comb honey? 



Jos. G. Steer. 



Barnesville, O., June 2-5, 1883. 



Answer. — What I meant by saying 

 that less bees were required to gather 

 a field when running for extracted 

 honey rather than for comb honey, I 

 will explain as follows : When run- 

 ning for comb honey, a considerable 

 number of bees are kept at home in 

 building comb, capping over, and 

 ripening the honey to an extent be- 

 yond that which bee-keepers gen- 

 erally allow the honey to be ripened 

 and capped when running for ex- 

 tracted honey. Another thing, you 

 will notice most bee-keepers get 

 nearly twice as many pounds of ex- 

 tracted as of comb honey, though 

 this state of things ought not to be, 

 still it IS, as a rule, and I made my 

 answer somewhat fitting to things as 

 they are. Of course we weigh it up, 

 sections, foundation and all, with our 

 pounds of comb honey. Now, the 

 difference iu the number of bees re- 

 quired to exhaust a field, by one run- 

 ning for extracted honey, would 

 depend entirely upon the skill of the 

 producer. At all events you will see 

 there must be a difference any way. 

 When bee-keepers learn to estimate 



