1876. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



20 



jiradiially poured in, heat is applied to the already 

 tncUeil wax, and the whole mixture swells up, neces- 

 ^ifalinJ^the employment of a cai)acio«s vessel. On 

 <'Ooling, the wax fjiithors o«i Ihe .'urlace, asid bcitig: re- 

 peatedly treated with li(\t water to wash away iiiipmi- 

 iiL'8 and chemirals.ii^lisiallv allowed to soliditv in acake 

 Aiiliurn, N. ¥. Jan. "JO, '■7<;. ('. L>. Hi'fws.vr.o. 



THE DODECAHEDRON. 



WE beg- leave to show you somctliing,- iu- 

 terestiug iu rcgurd to this curious "co- 

 tnetrica.1 solid, that we had not discovered 

 wheu we spoke about it last month. Wo told 

 you the length of tiie lozenge in proportion to 

 its breadth, was as the diagonal of a square to 

 the side of the same square. 



E B F 



Now we will suppose that some of our read- 

 ers who have those nice little buzz saws make 

 a cube, A, B, C, D, for instance, and tiiat they 

 tlieii make six pyramids, each having a base 

 equal to one side of the cube, and of sucli alti- 

 tude tliat the size when their points are put 

 together, will just make another cube precisely 

 like A, B, C, I). Now if you place these pyra- 

 mids on the cube with their bases on its sides, 

 you have a perfect dodecahedron, and it re- 

 quires no knowleda^ of geometry to see that 

 the distance between their apexes, as F, G, is 

 Uist equal to tlie diagonal of one side of the 

 eube, B, D; and also, that the width of 

 the lozenges is just equal to one side 

 <jf the same. And this is the reason why the 

 bees make the bottoms of their cells at the 

 precise angle they do. If the solution of the 

 problem gives you as much pleasure as it did 

 us when it first dawned on our understanding, 

 we shall feel quite happy. 



BUZZ SAWS. 



whereby we think we shall be able to report in 

 regard to a trial of the f^Jo.OO machine in our 

 next, as well as the high priced one. Even 

 should they do the work slowly, it is so much 

 m<n-e accurate than any liand work, that they 

 are a great saving. Friend Lane puts in tlic 

 following very terse remarks in regard to keep- 

 ing them in order, and on the book on saw 

 filing: 



Art of Saw Filing duly received. The diflerence in 

 the appearance of work done by a saw carefully tiled, 

 "(S'<yH«ffj/»)i _4r^«w" and that done by one tiled "ac- 

 cording to the rule of thumb,"' is the dift'crence in the 

 appearance of work done by a plane, and that done 

 by a coarse rasp; hence, when one's little '-buzz" gets 

 permanently like the man's razor that "didn't let go 

 worth a cent." it pays to purchase the book, even if 

 the price does look enormously high, for so small a 

 work. D. P. L.A.NK. 



Koshkonong, Wis., Jan. 20, "76. 



COITIB FOUNDATIONS. 



^ 



^vJ^^S-^f E had hoped to be able to report iu re- 

 ^ J gard to tlie "V. M." foot power buzz 

 saw before going to press, but can not, as we 

 learn that it is only just shipped. Much inter- 

 est is felt in the matter, and as it will be a 

 great saving to our readers we will try and 

 make a ])ractical test of the different machines 

 offered for sale, even if it costs us some money. 

 I want a good foot power saw that can be carried in 

 ;i buggy with roomy bed. I would like most reason- 

 able terms. Tlie on« described in Gleanings I object 

 to. 1st. on account of lieavy balance wheel ; 2ndly, 

 t do not think I could well get it put up here in good 

 shape. The one manufactured by the Combined 

 I'ower Co., N. Y.. (mentioned in Our Homes,) is ex- 

 pensive, .S137.50 including attachments and boxing. 

 What kind of machine did Mr. Palmer use which you 

 menlion seeing in your travels through Micliigan 'i 

 Do vou know what kind of machines are made by Vi. 

 V. & John Barnes. Rockford, IU.? Combined circular 

 andscrollsawatS40.cn? I enclose their descriiitive 

 price \\>X. It may be of service to you as you ajjpear 

 to be disposed to recommend only what is of real 

 merit. C. Weeks. 



Clifton. Tenn.. Jan. 11, ISTfi. 

 After receiving the above we sent directly 

 to the party named and made an arrangement 



INCE our last No. was issued we have had 

 a perfect stream of inquiries like the fol- 

 lowing, indicating the deep interest felt in the 

 artificial combs. 



I wish to puit?hase some nrtiflcial comb foundations, 

 some of the thin and white for suri)!us boxes. Do you 

 keep it for sale V If so, what is the price per lb. V Wh.it 

 sized packages is it put up in ? How much siuface is there 

 in a pound V How large a jjiece do you jtut in a box, say 

 •2 lb. l)ox V or how many caps will a pound supply P Please 

 rejtly liy return mail ; if you can not supply roe please in- 

 form me who Ciui. Henet K. Lathuop. 



Royal Oak, Mich., Jan. 26th, '76. 



Will yoii please to inform rac whether you can get up 

 the artiticial corab foundations, such as Long sends out ? 

 and for what price ? What would the dies to make foim- 

 dations about OxS inches cost ? If you should get up a set 

 for me, how soon could jou do so ? How long does it take 

 to vidrk up say. l(t lbs. ? I hav(\ about 75 Ibsl of nice wax 

 on IkiikI and might prefer to have you work it up for me. 

 At what ijrice can you do it for me? Freight would Itc 

 but \(M-y little. Adam Geimm. 



Jefferson. Wis., Jan. 21tli. 187i!. 



We have at present none for sale except some 

 that we purchased of Mr. Long, and can ofier 

 only at the prices he mentions in his adver- 

 tisement. We can put it up in any sized pack- 

 age, but the sheets do not exceed GxlO in size. 

 As it is liable to be injured by the mails unless 

 put between boards or in boxes, it is necessary 

 to charge extra to cover postage on small 

 amounts. The thinnest Mr. Long has sent us 

 measures 5^ 3 square-feet to the lb., and the 

 thickest about ;] square feet to the lb. We at 

 present, put a piece 1x6 inches in the boxes we 

 sell at 2 cents each. 



In answer to the many calls for small dies, 

 we would say that making the comb with 

 plates, is a slow and laborious operation, and 

 after finding we could make good ones in that 

 way, we set tlie l)est meelumic we could find, 

 at work to make us a machine for doing the 

 work with metal rollers. lie is now at work 

 and will without doubt succeed, although 

 there are many difliculties in the way. These 

 rolls are to make it one foot in width, and as 

 long as any may wish. Until this machine is 

 finished we shall procure what we sell of Mr. 

 Long, and we feel sure it will not pay any one 

 to work witli small plates to make a large 

 quantity. Please be patient awhile kind 

 friends, and we will try and furnish all you 

 want at reasonable prices long before they are 

 needed this season. We have wasted some 

 money in exjieriments on it already, but rest 

 assured we shall by no means give it up. 



