412 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 15 



case of very weak colonies, taking a comb of 

 brood out of the strong one. minus the bees, 

 giving the same to the weak one. This has 

 a tendency to equalize odors. The weak 

 one with this comb of brood is not put on 

 the strong colony for half a day, at the end 

 of which time it is transferred to the Strong. 



One correspondent advised a wire-cloth 

 screen between the upper and lower colony 

 for a day or two, or until the bees could get 

 all the same scent. After that time he sub- 

 stituted a sheet of perforated zinc, when 

 every thing went well. This, in our opin- 

 ion, would go a long way toward correcting 

 the trouble of some of our correspondents. 



We have received so many favorable re- 

 ports in regard to this method of strength- 

 ening weak colonies with such excellent re- 

 sults, some going so far as to say that the 

 hint was worth four or five years' subscrip- 

 tion to Glkanings, that it behooves others 

 who may have made a failure of it, to try 

 again; but, as one correspondent suggests, it 

 should, perhaps, be on a small scale on the 

 tirst trial. 



In this connection there is one considera- 

 tion that is not mentioned by Mr. Alexan- 

 der. He has a very gentle strain of leather- 

 colored Italians. "Such bees will generally 

 unite without any fighting. But try hybrids 

 or blacks, without a good deal of smoke, and 

 there is liable to be a hrst-class little war on 

 in no time, and the dead bees will be drag- 

 ged out of the entrance by the scores after 

 the battle. Smcjke in any case with this 

 method, with any bees, is liable to cause 

 trcjuble. Jt is possible and even probable 

 that any cross strain of bees could not be 

 worked' on this plan. We can hardly think 

 that locality has very much to do with the 

 matter; but we should be inclined to believe 

 that the unfavorable results secured by some 

 of our correspondents were due to the strain 

 of bees. If a wire-cloth screen be interposed 

 between the two divisions of such bees for a 

 couple of days, the zinc Ijoard substituted at 

 the end of that time, the results might be 

 entirely favorable. — Ed.] 



THE PARKER FOUNDATION-FASTEN- 

 ER IMPROVED. 



A Clamp for Holding End-bars while Drill- 

 ing Tliem. 



BY A. J. OBEKLITNER. 



Enclosed find sketches of two devices of my 

 own construction, a foundation- fastener and 

 a machine for piei'cing frame-end bars. 



The Parker foundation-fastener, as it is 

 made, doesn't work vei"y well. In the first 

 place, there is a paddle, as I will call it, for 

 lack of a better name. It pitches up too 

 much, causing a sort of scraping which will 

 not stick the wax well, but has a tendency to 

 roll it up, especially if it is a little cool. Just 

 take a knife and some wax on a board, and 

 try pasting it fast by holding the blade at dif- 

 ferent angles, and you will soon see that it 

 works best when the blade is nearly parallel 



to the wax. Note the motion and varying 

 pi'essure required to make a good job of past- 

 ing the edge of a sheet of wax. Now you ai"e 

 ready to make a foundation-fastener. I will 

 describe mine from which you will get the 

 principle. 



The drawing shows the construction clear- 

 ly. It may be adjusted for any size of sec- 

 tion by means of the iron plate held by the 

 screws in slots, and by the eccentric washer 

 which stops the lever at any point desired. 

 The swinging hinge must have the proper 

 length, and must also be hung just right 

 This is the whole secret of a fine working ma- 

 chine. With this I can fasten foundation 

 starters at a lively rate. 



In the Feb. 15th issue, of last year, C. W. 

 Dayton submits a machine for piercing end' 

 bars. It is quite ingenious; but at best, forc- 

 ing an awl through a piece of wood is hardly 

 satisfactory, for such holes will partly close up 

 in damp weather and cause trouble if the 

 frames are not wired shortly after piercing 

 them, if we want a nice clean nole in 

 wood we must remove the wood where the 

 hole is to be; and the best thing I know of is 

 a small hand drill with cut gears so it will 

 run smooth. The higher it is geared the bet- 

 ter. Such a drill will cost about $1.00; and 

 when one is used to running it he can fairly 

 puncth the bit through a ^-inch piece of hard 

 wood, to say nothing of soft. But we must 

 have some way of getting the holes at the 

 right place without too much time lost. Now, 

 I don't believe in finding fault with other peo- 

 ple's way of doing things unless we have 

 something better to offer or suggest, so I will 

 submit my way of piercing frame-end bars. 



As before, the drawing shows the construc- 

 tion of the holder or clamp. The iron strap 

 contains the holes at the right distance apart. 

 The space between this iron strap and the 



