972 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15 



THE DOUBLE-GROOVE-AND-WEDGE PLAN FOR 

 FASTENING FOUNDATION IN FRAMES. 



I wish to call your attention to the tool that 

 I have invented for sinking the wedge into 

 the groove in the top-bars when putting in 

 foundation. I think it will do the work it 

 was intended to do, with all ease. You will 



notice the lever with the hook can he made 

 adjustable to any thickness of frame by mak- 

 ing two or three holes so as to let the hook 

 down or take it up as desired. Also the side 

 bar that drives the wedge can also have two 

 holes so as to be set lower or higher to fit any 

 frame that would be in use. It can also be 

 made to take different widths of frames. 



After the wedge is in the proper place put 

 the press at either end of frame and slide it 

 along to the other end, pushing down on lev- 

 er with right' hand at the same time. The 

 press can be run right up to the end of the 

 frames. C. H. Flanary. 



Dryden, Va. 



[We tried one of these tools sent us by our 

 correspondent and found that it, worked sat- 

 isfactorily. But we could not do nearly as 

 fast work as we could with the simple form 

 and mallet which we have used for years, and 

 which any one could make in five minutes. 

 The construction of this is clearly shown in 

 the illusti'ation. 



end-bars, and thus prevent the board from 

 hitting the foundation when in position. 



To vise, stand the frame upside down, rest- 

 ing on its top-bar. Insert the sheet of foun- 

 dation in the proper groove, and put the 

 wedge in the other. Put the board in posi- 

 tion so that the sharp lower edge rests di- 

 rectly on the top of the wedge. Three raps 

 with a mallet or stick on the top edge of the 

 board drives the wedge down below the sur- 

 face of the wood, where it should be. The 

 whole operation takes almost no time, and 

 the quality of the work is of the vex'y best. — 

 Ed.] 



five-banded and light-colored bees. 



My experience with five-banded or very 

 yellow bees (mentioned on p. 833) has been 

 such that I have not recommended them for 

 northern latitudes; and every queen-breeder 

 of such stock I think ought not to do so. 

 They are not as hardy as the darker races of 

 bees. I have bred queens that were golden 

 in color, and produced bees that were like 

 gold to look upon, but I could not rely upon 

 their wintering successfully when left out of 

 doors. Brooks D. Cook. 



South Lyndeboro, N. H., June 24. 



HOW AN UPPER ENTRANCE STOPS CLUSTER- 

 ING OUT AND INCREASES THE HONEY 

 CROP. 



In Dec. 1st issue, p. 1498. Mr. W. F. Card 

 writes about giving bees an upper entrance. 

 I saw this in Gleanings before, so I thought 

 I would try it, and I did. It helps the bees 

 to cool them off when it gets hot in the sum- 

 mer, and they will not cluster on the outside 

 of the hive in the heat of the day. They will 

 work right on in the super, for I got more 

 honey from those having an upper entrance 

 than from those that had no upper entrance. 



Altamont, Tenn. Wm. Gketter. 



Take a board. A, f inch thick, a trifie short- 

 er than the inside length of the frames, and 

 about ^ inch wider than the inside width. 

 Sharpen one edge of this as shown in the 

 small detail drawing at the right. Now nail 

 on the two pieces, C C, to rest against the 



AN UNUSUAL CASE OF COMB-BUILDING. 



W. A. Morris, Yonkers, N. Y., reports that 

 he had two Danzenbaker frames of comb in 

 which the bees started to build 

 from the bottom - bar upward. 

 Is this not an unusual case? He 

 brought them down for me to in- 

 spect, and I suggested at the time 

 that they must have had the frames 

 in bottom side up. He responded 

 by showing that the cells were 

 built correctly, and was positive 

 that they were placed in the hive 

 in the correct way. Can you give 

 me any information as to why they 

 did this? The frames contained 

 the usual one-inch strips for start- 

 ers. L. W. BOYDEN. 

 New York. 



[Yes, this was a very unusual case; but 

 bees will enter upon all kinds of freaks at 

 times, and this seems to be one of them. 

 Comb-building furnishes a field for an al- 

 most unlimited amount of study. — Ed.] 



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