1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1011 



entrances so that only one bee could get in 

 at a time; placed grass over the entrance, 

 sprayed with water and carbolic acid, but 

 nothing does any good. They make no de- 

 fense. The yellow- banded bees are the 

 ones that are doing Ihe robbing. 



JostAH Zimmerman. 

 Clyde, O., Oct. 9, ly03. 



[We have had many reports of chickens 

 eating bees, but I do not remember an3' 

 specific instances where the}' were reported 

 to have eaten queens. If they will eat com- 

 mon vyoi kers I do not see whj' they would 

 not pick up a just-returning virgin. — Ed.] 



HANDLING THE GERMAN WAX-PRESS; A CON- 

 VENIENT WAS-SKPAK.ATOK. 



As I have learned many a good thing 

 from other bee-keepers through Gleanings 

 I wish to contribute something which I 

 found a great help in rendering wax with 

 the German wax-press. I have my press 

 standing on a briclv furnace, as per the il- 

 lustration, the spout of the press discharg- 

 ing into a g-alvanized water-bucket, which 

 has a tube soldered on one side. This 

 tube is connected with the bottom of said 

 bucket so the water which tiows out of the 

 wax-press can rise in the same as it fills 



up the bucket together with wax. This 

 tube reaches up about three-fourths of the 

 depth of the bucket where a hole is punched 

 for an overflow when the water reaches 

 that height. On the opposite, side of the 

 bucket, about an inch higher than this 

 overflow hole in the tube, is another spout 

 to deliver the wax into any receptacle you 

 might choosse to cool your wax in. The 

 benefit derived from this arrangement is 

 that you get your wax almost perfectly 

 free from all impurities, which will settle 

 in the water before leaving the spout. I 

 use eight inch milk-pans for the wax to 

 cool in, which hold about 5 lbs. of wax. I 

 have melted about 145 lbs, of wax out of 



odds and ends and cappings this season, 

 and this arrangement gave me so much 

 satisfaction, working automaticallj% that I 

 thous^ht it might benefit some one else. -» 

 Pomona, Cal. M. R. Kuehne. 



[An arch or stove outdoors will be much 

 preferable to the good wife's stove in the 

 house. The average man if he attempts to 

 render wax, will be pretty sure to make a 

 mess of .it, either on the stove or on the 

 floor. For some time we have contemplated 

 putting out a gasoline- burner that can be 

 applied under the German wax-press so 

 that the machine can be handled anywhere 

 outdoors or in any room where a " boil- 

 over " or a "spill" would do no particular 

 damage. In the mean time it is very easy 

 for a bee-keeper to rig up a simple little 

 arch outdoors which could be pressed into 

 service whenever there is a j ^b of rendering 

 wax. 



Your precipitating-pail for separating the 

 wax from water is a very good idea, and 

 perhaps it mav be worth while to get up 

 something of this kind and offer it to the 

 public. — Ed.] 



WIRING FRAMES. 



When wiring frames, the tendency of the 

 wire to misbehave itself, and thereby cause 

 inconvenience to the worker, may be obvi- 

 ated almost wholly by stretching it. Tak- 

 ing the spool in one hand, seizing the end 

 of the wire with the pliers, unwinding from 

 the spool about five feet, and then subject- 

 ing the wire so unwound to a moderate 

 strain, it will be found to give a little, aft- 

 er which its behavior will show a decided 

 change for the better. With a little prac- 

 tice one can tell nearly enough what length 

 of wire will be required for a frame, and 

 thus be enabled to rid himself of the care 

 of the spool by breaking the requisite length 

 off. 



Whitby, Ont.,Can. N. O. Eastwood. 



[We make it a practice to wind our wire 

 over a board that is just half the length of 

 the wire necessary to complete the frame. 

 Two rubber bands are slipped around each 

 end, and with a pair of shears we cut all 

 the strands at one end of the board. The 

 wires will then be exactly the right length. 



I do not quite understand why stretching 

 the wire before threading it through the 

 frame should make it any better, but I can 

 understand why stretching it after it was 

 in the frame might remove the buckling 

 tendenc}'. — Ed.] 



leach's bottom-board feeder. 

 In your editorial in regard to my feeder, 

 you say it is too expensive. Well, not so 

 much so when you live in a timber country 

 as we do here; besides, we make it in two 

 pieces of six-inch plank, and cleat together; 

 and as for the checking, I just dip the ends 

 in hot beeswax, and cleat across the ends. 

 With ordinary care it will last, I believe, 

 20 years. However, a cheaper plan woui^ 



