174 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Apr. 



"Perhaps you may think, from what I have said, 

 that I jucg-e the Cyprian to be the coming bee, or at 

 least equal to any of the*ees we now have. While 

 I do think they have many g-ood and distinct charac- 

 teristics of their own, yet I judge all breeds of bees 

 by taking the Italian as the standard; and as ' from 

 the ocean's level all heights and all depths are mea- 

 sured,' so to me the pure Italian is the standard of 

 comparison among bees. They stand among bees as 

 short-horns among cattle, and beef among meats; 

 as Concord among grapes: I think I'm understood. 



" Talking of cross bees reminds me of a little scene 

 which took place in my apiary last fall, all of which 

 I saw, and a part of which I was. 



" I was plagued out of all patience by a bee-bore— 

 a regular ' orank,' and I could not get rid of him, uor 

 stop his everlasting talk; say or do what I would, 

 he would still hang around with that silly, sickly 

 smile of his, which, by the way, beats Lydia E. Pink- 

 ham's by a big discount. AVell, Chipperfleld, as we 

 will call him, was here one day, boring me with his 

 useless talk and senseless clatter, when all at once 

 he wanted to see some pure Cyprian bees — heard 

 they were cross, and so on. I stepped to a hive 

 that I knew was cross — would not swear they were 

 Cyprians either. He stood at one side of the hive, 

 when I lifted the cap with a snap, and — he saw 'em! 

 Kun, did you ask? You never saw a bottle-bellied 

 old fellow like Chipperfleld tly, I reckon. Run? 

 didn't he, though! I doubt if he ever before had as 

 many inducements to do his level best; it was one of 

 the best efforts of his life. Why, you couldn't see 

 the big patch on the seat of his pantaloons, for the 

 shower of sole leather in his rear !" 



Here Mr. Duster turned to go to his house, and I 

 heard him say something about being rented. 



R. H. Mellen. 

 Amboy-on-Inlet, 111., March C, 18S3. 



^ I ^ 



niAKliNG PliAIN SHEETS FOR FOTJNDA- 

 TION MlliliS. 



IS THERE ANY THING NEW tTNDER THE SUN? 



fHAVE been experimenting this winter with 

 mold for wax sheets for heavy fdn., and have 

 - — ■ come to the conclusion that I do not want to 

 dip any more sheets for thick fdn. My first molds I 

 made of boards, but they would warp in spite of my 

 efforts to keep them straight, and I finally adopted 

 thin plates of plaster, or lime and plaster; and with 

 these I have no diflicultyin molding nice even sheets. 



"But, what are tb-i advantages of the molds?" you 

 will say. 



Possibly for the large manufacturer there may be 

 little or none; but for the bee-keeper who wants to 

 make fdn. for home use I think there are some ad- 

 vantages. The greatest, perhaps, is that a small 

 quantity of wax may be formed into sheets quickly ; 

 all the melted wax is used up, and no large tank or 

 dipping-vessel is required. The sheets are of an 

 even thickness, and the fdn. made from them is even 

 in surface and quality. If a feather edge is desired 

 to start through the mill, it must be provided for at 

 the bottom of the mold. It is requisite that the 

 mold be quite warm, and the wax about the proper 

 temperature to dip well, in order that the sheets be 

 even and solid. 



Now, brethren, if any of you want to try this plan, 

 go to work and make your molds of the materials 

 name<} above (thin slabs of sandstone, or any porous 



stone would doubtless answer); put a strip of rub- 

 ber around the edge of one slab on three sides; 

 clamp the other slab to it, and pour the wax quickly 

 in the open side. Keep the mold damp with a sponge 

 and hot water. It should be put in warm water be- 

 fore beginning to use it, and allowed to absorb all 

 it will. I have found the dipping of wax sheets to be 

 quite a tiresome job; but I can mold them all day 

 without fatigue, and can mold a few dozen sheets at 

 a time when I have the leisure, without having to 

 waste half of it in preparation. 



This is all I know about molded wax sheets, and I 

 am too busy to answer any postals on this subject. 



Maysville, Ky., Mar. 15, 1883. W. C. Pelham. 



It will be remembered that we used plas- 

 ter dipping-plates a great many years ago, 

 in our earlier experiments, but they were 

 abandoned because they so soon became 

 soft, and broke. The idea has been 

 suggested, of casting the sheets as we cast 

 bullets ; and I think very likely it appeared 

 in Gleanings some little time ago. It was 

 suggested, that by having molds enough 

 the melted wax could be carried from one to 

 another, and by this means make them even 

 faster than by dipping. I have never heard 

 before that It had been really put into prac- 

 tice, and we hereby tender thanks to friend 

 Pelham for his invention, and the free way 

 in which he gives it to the brethren. It 

 seems to me it would be an advantage to 

 have the plates hinged, that they might be 

 quickly opened and closed. Well, after we 

 get this done, why not have the plaster 

 plates made with the fdn. imprint in them, 

 and then we shall have the same apparatus 

 now used by friends Faris and Foster, only 

 that the wax is to be poured between the 

 plates while closed, and set on end. This, 

 you see, dops away with all daubing and 

 waste of wax ; and if you have only 1 lb. of 

 wax, you can make a full even pound of fdn. 

 The only trouble I fear is^, that the wax 

 would not run into a space as thin as we 

 should want for the base of the cells. I do 

 not think any kind of porous stone would an- 

 swer as Avell as the cement made of plaster 

 and lime. We have experimented a good 

 deal in the matter. If the plan will not 

 make nice thin base fdn., it will certainly 

 answer for making nice sheets tor rolling. 

 I do not think, however, it can be well 

 worked as rapidly as the long dipping-boards 

 we are now working, making four full 

 sheets for L. frames at every dipping. ^Ve 

 dip the board four times, changing ends at 

 each time. This makes the sheets of a 

 thickness so even that, when rolled, we can 

 hardly see a difference in thickness in the 

 whole sheets. 



. A few suggestions in regard to making 

 the^e dipping-molds may not be amiss. A 

 pair of common slates hinged together will 

 be about what Ave want, if they can be pro- 

 cured large enough. In case the plaster 

 should be found to cleave off from them, a 

 few holes might be drilled through the slate. 

 Fill one slate first, and with a straight-edge 

 stroke it off perfectly level. When dry, oil 

 the surface and fill the other ; and when 

 both are dry, separate them by the rubber 

 strips on three sides, and they are ready for 

 use. I think they might be made so accu- 

 rate that the sheet when rolled would fit 

 your frame without any trimming. 



