THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW- 



343 



able inferences which may be drawn from 

 these tests : 



1st. No comb made from foundation 

 quite equals in fineness the natural, though 

 in some cases it approaches it very closely. 



2nd. In foundations of the same make 

 the thinner has but very slight advantage 

 over the heavier in point of producing comb 

 of lighter weight. 



3rd. That foundation kept for a long time 

 before using has but a slight disadvantage 

 if any as compared with that freshly made. 

 The slightly greater thickness of the septum 

 of comb made from " H," as compared with 

 that made from " G," may well be accounted 

 for by the fact that H was heavier than G. 



4th. Granting that diflferent methods or- 

 dinarily in use of manipulating wax do not 

 make a difference in the character of foun- 

 dation made from such wax, that founda- 

 tion made on the Given press has a pretty 

 decided advantage over that made on the 

 roller machines. 



If these investigations lead manufacturers 

 of foundation to strive to learn the best 

 methods of manufacturing wax and to find 

 out what peculiarities characterize the best 

 foundation machines they will not have been 

 made in vain. 



Lapeer, Mich. Nov. 29, 1893. 



No. 10. 



E. L. TAYLOB. 



'■ How can one be warm alone ? " — BIBLE. 



LSickness prevented Mr. Taylor from sending 

 the following in time for the November issue, 

 but, as it contains excellent suggestions and is 

 needed to round out the full year of his "Timely 

 Topics," I give it now.— Ed.] 



Tue season for the general round up of the 

 year has now arrived. By the time this ap- 

 pears all the work pertaining to the past bee- 

 keeping season in this latitude should either 

 be already done or else it should be attended 

 to at once. I am well satisfied there is noth- 

 ing gained by leaving bees out of the cellar 

 any longer if they are to be put in at all : 

 and of course if they are to be wintered out- 

 side all preparation to be made for the win- 

 ter if not already done should be completed 

 without any delay. And in this work es- 

 pecially a lookout ought to be kept for im- 

 proved methods, I am expecting some 



genius will yet give us a method of winter- 

 ing out of doors having all the advantages of 

 both methods with none of the disadvan- 

 tages of either. The present method is safe 

 in this latitude in exceptionable cases only. 

 Besides it is greatly wanting in economy 

 both in the amount of material required and 

 in the conservation of the animal heat of the 

 colony as well as in the amount of labor re- 

 quired. We want the material and labor 

 now required for six colonies to suffice for 

 twenty-five. We want the heat that passes 

 from the colony to pass to the aid of another 

 so that the warmth of the cellar is aproxi- 

 mated. To accomplish this a warm, dry com- 

 pact nest to hold twenty-five or thirty col- 

 onies must be de ised and each colony must 

 be so encased as to make it as far as warmth 

 and dryness are concerned practically apart 

 of one mammoth colony. It may be that in 

 this direction the next advance may be 

 made. If a few of the thousands of inven- 

 tive bee-keepers would become interested in 

 the matter something might be done this 

 very winter. Who will take a hand in the 

 work ? I think I see a little opening which 

 I am preparing to investigate by experiment 

 as soon as possible. 



Late fall and early spring are the hardest 

 times of the year upon woodwork left out in 

 the weather, so it is important if one would 

 have his hives last long, to gather up all 

 parts of hives that are still outside and stack 

 them up in good shape under shelter. This 

 is especially important in the case of the 

 covers. It is more important that they 

 should be well preserved and at the same 

 time they are more liable to injury as well 

 from warping as from decay. I am careful 

 at this time of the year to get together all 

 covers not in use making a point to include 

 all that need any repairs or painting, ex- 

 changing for some in use for that purpose, 

 and selecting a place where they will be con- 

 venient for painting and not in the way and 

 pile them up making each pile straight 

 and even and weighting it so that each 

 cover is held firmly to its proper shape. 

 With this slight care they are rendered 

 much more satisfactory in service. The 

 covers require painting much oftener than 

 the hives and it pays to keep them well 

 painted. If the shop or honey room can be 

 warmed the painting can be done there ex- 

 cellently well any time in winter. With all 

 this done, the honey crop all disposed of, 

 collections of wax reduced and all combs 



