1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



677 



fourth daj', late in the afternoon, I found 

 one of the queens outsitlo, tr\ing- to f^et 

 throug^h the excluder back into the hive, so 

 I had to come to the conclusion that the lay- 

 ing- queen also had forced her waj' through 

 the excluder and become fertilized in the 

 usual way. But I believe if Mr. McLean 

 had used muslin instead of netting^he might 

 have been more successful in a larg^er tent; 

 and with drones reared in a hive, and al- 

 lowed to fly onl}' in a tent, he might have 

 done still better. In making- my experi- 

 ments I would use onlj' the larg-est queens, 

 so as to be sure they could not go through 

 the excluder. 



Muslin will give all the light needed; and 

 if the entrance of the nuclei is shaded a 

 little I think there would be no trouble in 

 getting the queens to fl_v in a tent. I don't 

 take much stock in fertilizing queens in bot- 

 tles. Fked Bechly. 



Searsboro, la. 



[There are possibilities in using a small 

 cage; and, as I have before stated, as soon 

 as mj' brother is at libert}' the matter will 

 be given a thorough test. 



Like yourself, I do not take verj^ much 

 stock in the bottle method of fertilizing 

 queens. — Ed.] 



WIRING FRAMES. 



BY FR. GRKINER. 



It almost seems like an imposition upon 

 the Gleanings family to dish up the sub- 

 ject of wiring frames again. But when I 

 see so much stress laid on tension in the 

 form of staples and zig zag nails, and this 

 approved by the editor in his footnote, I am 

 full3' convinced that the machines our 

 friends have presented in Gleanings are 

 faulty; that thej' do not work right for rap- 

 id manipulations and for the comfort of the 

 operator. 



There is no need of any tension, but it is 

 an actual detriment, a hindrance in draw- 

 ing the wire through the frame. I imagine 

 that the object of this said tension is for 

 the purpose of keeping the wire from un- 

 coiling, to keep coils from slipping off the 

 spool and getting kinked and tangled up, 

 etc., which it will do if the end of the wire 

 has its liberty, and no provisions are made 

 to prevent it. But we need no tension for 

 that. The simplest way to obviate all this 

 trouble is to arrange the spool as shown in 

 the illustration. A screw, ^+ inch longer 

 than the spool, holds the latter in its place, 

 and allows it to revolve freely without any 

 tension save the little that is caused by the 

 natural friction of the spool whirling on 

 the board and rubbing against the screw. 

 A couple of headless \0d wire nails are 

 driven in the board, one on each side, close 

 to the spool, but not to hug it. These pre- 

 vent all loosening or uncoiling of the wire, 

 which can be cut off two inches from the 

 spool, and the end will remain right there 

 ready to be drawn out again. 



The frame, if threaded with four wires, 

 is held by eleven pins. These are also 

 headless lOrf wire nails, about two inches 

 long, and the cut end somewhat rounded 

 off. They are driven into the board to fit 

 exactly the outside of the frame; and when 

 the latter is placed in position it is held 

 practically immovable, better than a vise 

 could do, for all the pulling of the wire, one 

 way or the other, will not draw it out of 

 shape; 



But some of the pins (six in this case) 

 have another mission, which I consider by 

 far the most essential point (my invention). 

 It will be noticed that each loop has on the 

 inside, close to each hole in the end-bar, 

 one of these pins. This prevents the wire 

 from cutting into the wood when threading 



the frame, and allows it to be drawn back 

 and forth with very little effort. The re- 

 sistance or friction of the wire in passing 

 over the pins is so slight that, when the 

 frame is all threaded, the wire can be 

 drawn out again by simply turning the 

 spool backward with the hand. 



The wiring-board is operated in horizon- 

 tal position, fastened to the bench by a 

 couple of small screws or nails in the up- 

 per corners. 



The tightening of the wire is an opera- 

 tion by itself; but as I have already taken 

 up too much space I will not discuss it 

 here. Until this part of the work (the 

 tightening) is done, the terminus is drawn 

 over the end-bar, as shown at the right 

 upper corner, to keep it from slipping back. 

 The other end is fastened in the same way, 

 after it is cut off. 



[I did not know that I had approved the 

 various methods for wiring an}' more than 

 simply to place them before our readers, 

 and let then stand on their own merits. 

 Some methods were shown that we do not 

 use, and which we do not consider practic- 

 able. 



You have left out the missing link in that 

 you do not state how much you loosen or tight- 

 en the wires, although we infer that, after 

 lifting the frame off the board, you take 

 out the slack occasioned by the nails and 

 fasten the wire. Our own experience has 

 shown that, in the case of horizontal wiring 

 the strands must not be drawn too tight. 

 Wire drawn tight enough to sound like a 

 fiddle-string will cause buckling of the 

 foundation. Just how tight to draw the 

 wires is hard to explain on a printed page; 

 but it should be so there will be no looseness, 

 and so that the comb will be held firmly 



