1907 



GLEANINGS I\ BEE CULTURE. 



I'JCl 



so it can not 

 easily give out. 

 I have many 

 wide 

 with 



pieces 

 t h i c k. 



frames 

 e n d - 

 1-inch 

 They 



have been in 

 use many 

 years, and are 

 good now. I 

 suppose that 

 the top and 

 bottom of a li 

 section is 1 ■;; 

 inches wide. 

 It would be 

 better if it 

 were If inches. 

 I can see no 

 disadvantage 

 in this, and we 

 would have a 



wider and therefore stronger bottom-bar, for 

 this as well as the top- bar of the frame 

 will have to be the same width as the top 

 and bottom of the sections. Perhaps j\ 

 inch would be best for thickness, both of 

 top and bottom bar, or possibly { inch might 

 do. I have but little trouble with bottom- 

 bars of i inch sagging, but -{\. would be safer. 

 There is a little kink about nailing these 

 frames, worth knowing. In the first place 

 we need a little machine for holding the 

 end-pieces of the frame in just the right po- 

 sition, and so arranged that the top-bar will 

 tit in its proper place, px'ojecting alike at 

 both ends. This top-bar should be perfectly 

 straight, and securely nailed to the end-bars 

 with three cement-coated wire nails 11 inch- 

 es long, 14 wire. If the end-pieces are as 

 thick as stated, and of medium-hard wood 

 (I utilize chestnut, whitewood, or sometimes 

 the red (heart) of basswood, if it seems 



FIG. 1. — F.^GREINEK'S rack FOR NAILINCi WIDE FRAMES. 



hard), the three nails at each end will Lold 

 the top-bar very securely. 



The bottom-bar need not be nailed as 

 strongly. Two li nails, 16 wire, will hold it 

 in such timber as mentioned. It shoukl 

 curve slightly upward, and heie is where 

 that kink comes in. Fig. 1 shows wheiv and 

 how the nails should be driven, if they just 

 hit the inside edge of the end-piece, ant< are 

 set slanting^as shown, then driven home so 

 the head is 'sunken into the wood, the bot- 

 tom-bar will spring in or have the upward 

 curve needed. The top-bar may be manipu- 

 lated in the same fashion— that is, should ii 

 have an upward curve. By proper nalliDi;- 

 it may be drawn down so it will become 

 straight or even curve downward This 

 needs some experience, but is not difficult to 

 learn. We ought to take a good deal of 

 pains in nailing these frames, for it is ex- 

 pected that they will last a lifetime at least. 

 As I make my wide 

 frames, the last thin si- 

 done is nailing on the 

 separator, a plain thin 

 board a scant | in(;li 

 narrower than the 

 section is tall. It can 

 be properly space I 

 Ijyeye, and six smooth 

 wire nails I inch long 

 hold it well. The 

 shell which is to hold 

 the frames is just like 

 a shallow hive; in 

 fact, by substituting, 

 regular shallow 

 frames may be used 

 for a brood-chamber 

 or extracting-super. 



If the super is 

 roomy enough it will 

 be well to provide a 

 double bee-space at 

 one side of it as can 

 ])e seen in Fig. 3, 

 showing hive, super, 

 FIG. 2. — greiner's super PROVIDED WITH WIDE FRAMES. and wide ^frame as 



