418 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



December 



and incidentally to some experienced 

 apiarists. 



Mr. Fowler wants beekeepers to 

 use only shallow bodies for both su- 

 pers and brood-chambers. He is not 

 the first man to advise this. The 

 Heddon hive was made of shallow 

 bodies, so was the Danzenbakcr. 

 Other people want all full depth 

 Langstroth bodies, both for brood- 

 chamber and supers. We have never 

 found it advisable to use the same 

 size in brood-chambers and supers 

 and do not believe that the use of 

 shallow supers with full depth brood- 

 chambers is any more objectionable 

 than the use of sections on full-depth 

 bodies. We can, even then, say that 

 our implements are "standard and in- 

 terchangeable." — C. P. D.) 



Wire Kinks 



By F. B. Richardson 



IN the May number of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, Mr. J. E. Crane 

 makes some very interesting and 

 timely remarks about foundation and 

 its sagging. Every extracted honey 

 producer, particularly in a warm 

 country, has at some time had ex- 

 perience with the sagging foundation 

 proposition, in spite of all possible 

 care — as he thinks. 



From our experience, the thickness 

 of the wax has less to do with the 

 sagging than the wiring. Before the 

 days of pierced frames we used to be 

 very careful to pierce the frames 

 near the top bar, no matter how 

 many wires we were using, but when 

 the frames came pierced it not only 

 saved a lot of work, but the manu- 

 facturer had evidently had experi- 

 ence, as they were pierced quite high 

 up, near the top bar. All the frames 

 we have used have been pierced to 

 take four wires, and this number 

 seems to be the most generally suc- 

 cessful, three not being quite enough 

 to avoid large spaces between the 

 wires, and five being a waste of time 



and wire, with no added advantage. 



The method of wiring by simply 

 threading the wires through the 

 holes, then tightening until they 

 "sing," has not proven the best meth- 

 od with us, as the wires are bound 10 

 slacken by drawing into the wood, 

 with the result of bulging combs, 

 sometimes in three or four separate 

 bumps, or the top tears out or the 

 middle caves in, making very poor 

 combs for any purpose. We have 

 tried wire at all distances and near- 

 ness to both top and bottom bar, but 

 with always the same result, so long 

 as the wires are simply threaded in 

 as above. 



Happening into a supply dealer's 

 one day, and having to wait some lit- 

 tle time, an investigating tour of the 

 premises discovered some frames in 

 process of wiring by an entirely new 

 method, and one that looked very 

 reasonable. No. 3 fine or lath nails 

 were inserted in the holes in -the 

 frames and the nail curved into_ a 

 hook on the inside of the frame with 

 a pair "of round-nosed plyers. The 

 little hooks are made so the wire 

 just slips under easily, and with a 

 little practice they can be turned out 

 at a lively rate. The wire is thread- 

 ed around these hooks and then 

 drawn tight. There is absolutely no 

 "give" to the wires done this way, 

 the only necessary care being not to 

 draw in the sides of the frame so as 

 to spring it out of shape. We wind 

 the wire on itself to start with and 

 finish it the same way, using an elec- 

 trician's twist. If wound correctly 

 there is no danger of its ever pulling 

 out. 



Another thing we have found of 

 importance in avoiding sagging wax 

 is the size of wire to use. We used 

 to buy No. 30 tinned wire by the 

 stone, but now we buy No. 26, as it 

 does not break nearly so readily, is 

 easier to imbed and holds its posi- 

 tion better, being heavy enough :o 

 support the wax without sagging. In 



fact, we have never had a sagged 

 comb since using it, and we have 

 hundreds of them made over this 

 sized wire, held by the hooks and 

 filled with light brood foundation. 



As there is a considerable saving of 

 wax by the use of the light instead 

 of the medium or heavy brood, and 

 the combs stand the wear and tear cf 

 extracting as well as any we have 

 ever used, we can see no advantage 

 in the extra weight through the cen- 

 ter. 



In buying a yard of bees we some- 

 times come across some very novel, 

 not to say peculiar, things, but the 

 strangest thing to me has been the 

 many systems — or lack of systems — 

 of putting in foundation. We found 

 one idea not long ago which was 

 really funny, or would have been if it 

 hadn't been a little pathetic, where a 

 man had wired his frames from co-- 

 ner to corner for extracting! It 

 might be a bit of improvement on 

 no wiring at all, but very little, I'm 

 afraid, for this climate. One of our 

 neighbors does not believe in wiring 

 at all, as he is thoroughly convinced 

 that his comb would melt down 

 in the hive, his theory being 

 that the wires atract heat. There is 

 an old saying that "it takes all kinds 

 to make a world," and sometimes we 

 do not have very hard work to be- 

 lieve it. 



Hughson, Calif. 



A New Honey Extractor 



The extractors now in use have 

 some serious drawbacks. The mo".t 

 serious of these is the damage to 

 tender combs when extracting far 

 the first time and the necessity of 

 stopping the machine to reverse 

 machine has been invented by T. W. 

 Livingston, of Georgia, which over- 

 comes both these difficulties. The 

 cause of breakage of new combs ; s 

 frequently the heavy pressure from 

 throwing out the honey from one 

 side while the honey still remains on 

 the opposite side of the comb. Mr. 

 Livingston's extractor can be re- 

 versed several times while the ma- 

 chine is in motion, thus doing away 

 with the necessity of stopping or 

 slowing down the machine. This be- 

 ing the case, it is possible to re- 

 verse it frequently while the combs 

 are being extracted, thus throwing 

 out a small part of the honey from 

 one side and reversing to throw out 

 an equal amount from the other 

 side, thus equalizing the pressure 

 and removing the honey gradually. 



With the machines now on the 

 market the baskets are hinged on one 

 corner, thus throwing the basket clear 

 around with a bang when it is neces- 

 sary to reverse. The Livingston ma- 

 chine is pivoted under the center of 

 the bottom of the basket and it is 

 reversed by swinging it around on its 

 pivot. Instead of being necessary to 

 reverse the baskets in an opposite di- 

 rection from that in which the reel 

 is revolving, this machine reverses by 

 simply making a half turn in the 

 same direction. It is possible thus to 

 reverse as frequently as desired with- 

 out checking the motion of the ma- 



