168 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



WHAT \¥K HAVE ACCOIMPCISHED 



WURir^iG THE MONTH, IN THE 



^VAY OF NEW^ INVENTIONS. 



GAUGING ACCURATELY THE SIZE OF HIVES. 



/^?^UR iron Rawge frames have proved an excellent 

 m m thing, but we very soon discovered that our black- 

 ^^^ smith could not make the frames all exactly alike. 

 This was rather a serious matter, for wo have been send- 

 ins them to all jjarts of the U. S., and if we want all the 

 hives to match, no matter by whom made, or where, it 

 was a matter of the greatest im(iortance to have them ex- 

 act. We finally liad a cast iron form or anvil made, just 

 16 by 20,V, very exactly squiire and Vrue, and now our iron 

 frames are driven on this while hot, then cooled that they 

 may shrink close to the anvil, like putting; on a wiitjon 

 tire. This brings them to a hair's breadth, and we have 

 ceased to feel any more solicitude in regard to exact di- 

 mensions of hives. Be sure that your stuff is planed to 

 ^3 exactly, and you can then buy and sell bees as much 

 !is i ou like and all frames and hives that are made in these 

 iron gauge frames will be interchnngeable. 



FASTENING FDN. INTO FRAMES. 



Slip out the comb guide and lay it on the table; then 

 with a putty knife or something .similar "'butter" the edge 

 of the fdn. down closely to the dry wood, keeping your 

 knife moistened with honey, but being careful to get none 

 on the wood where you wi>h the wax .to adhere. When 

 done, slip the comb guide back into the frame. We are 

 indebted to friend Baldridge of the A.B.J, for the above. 

 Xow, our improvement we can illustrate by asking you to 

 let the leaf of youi' dining table part way down, and Ihni 

 slip the comb guide and edge of the sheet of fdn. into the 

 crack aloiiK the hhige. lliiso tlie leaf just fir enough, 

 but not so as to injure the table, and your wax is as (irmly 

 fastened to the wood as if melted there. Of course you 

 are to moisten the edges of the table with honey, to jire- 

 vent the wax adhering to it. Now with a very simple 

 wooden press you can fasten in the sheets of fdn. as rap- 

 idly as an assistant can hang them in the hives, without 

 taking the comb guides out at all. The plunger, which is 

 to bo kept moistened with honey, should be operated by 

 foot power. 



FDN. AND BKOOD EEAHING. 



The idea that the queen will not use the fdn. has become 

 H pretty big joke. Our corahs that were made from it 

 list season, are now tilled with brood from end to end, 

 and from top to bottom bars, and the queens seem to have 

 a i9a>-/«cutor fancy for them all through the apiary. It 

 ?.5 true th it the fan. mjide I'-j cells to the inch occasion- 

 ally cont.iins drones, and this is occasioned by the sheets 

 stretching s]i4:htly. There is considerable dilTerence in 

 the firmness of natural wax, and also in its liability to 

 stretch, and on this account we prefer to have the lower 

 edare of the sheet at least % inch from the bottom bar ; 

 iinl'ss we do, it will sometimes reach the bottom bar and 

 then bulge. With 5 cells to the inch, we never have any 

 drone comb, and we h;ivo foimd the queen tilling the sheet 

 with eggs in less than •1\ liours. Although we opened the 

 hive several times a day to exhibit the work to visitors, 

 we invariably found her sticking to her task, until the 

 frame was full. On the third day we found a new queen 

 cell containmg an egg, all built of the vvnx jint into the 

 fdn., as was plainly evident from the different color of 

 their own wax. 



Reports of •limilar successes of the fdn., for the brood 

 apartment, are coming in from all sides, and we are send- 

 ing out sheets by the thousand, cut expressly for brood 

 frames. They contain so much more brood than the nat- 

 ural combs, that it is going to be quite an object to dis- 

 pose of the latter, even at low prices. On tnis account 

 bees will bo sold lower this season perhaps than they 

 were ever before. Comb honey will likely be sold 1 )W al- 

 K), and we advise our readers to accept of a fair offer for 

 their honey as soon as it is otT the hives. Wax bids ftiir 

 lo run up rapidly, and it will be well to save carefully 

 every particle from the frames, hives, bottom boards, etc. 



MAKIN<J TUE FOUNDATION. 



Until within the past week, all fdn. has been rolled by 

 the aid of soap and water, to prevent adhesion of the wtix 

 to the rolls. We now dispense with soap entirely, and 

 use a thick j ^1ly of slippery elm and water. The discov- 

 ery was made by one of the irirls who work the machines. 

 While this works nicely on the rolls, it will not answer for 

 soaping the uiptir edges of the dipping plates; for this 

 wn \ifiO so(ij> biirk. to be had of the drns;-j:ists, whii-h 

 leaves nothing on the wax that cmu 1)c iletecled by either 

 si'.'ht or taste. The bark is simply broken into bits and 

 thrown into water, until the water becomes sullicicntly 

 soapy. The fdn. needs no washing, after it leaves the 

 rolls. Tlie sliopery elm we use plentifully, but the soap 

 )ijir< s-olution is rubbed on quite sp:trinitty with a bit of 

 cloth. 



OBITUARY. 



Dr. E. Kimpton of Cedar Creek, N. J., whom most oX 

 our readers are familiar with as a pleasant writer for our 

 journals, died suddenly May 13th. One of his neighbors 

 writes as follows : 



We as a community deeply mourn his loss, for all had 

 learned to love and esteem him both as a man and a ])hy- 

 sician. His Christianity was of the highest order, and 

 his death a ijeaceful, happy one. His disease was con- 

 sumption, and as he anxiously awaited the end, no mur- 

 mur escaped his lips. He was a m.an without an enemy. 

 A friend of Gleanings, his face would light up with 

 smiles when the new number was brought info the room. 

 F. M. Peeler, Forked River. N. J., May *2'2. 



ITALIA 



Full colonies $10,00 each ; tested queens S3,00 ; war- 

 ranted queens §2,00 ; not warranted $1,00. Queens bred 

 from imported mothers and selected home bred stock. 

 Sent by mail at ray risk. Swarms shipped in Langstroth 

 hive and one frame of comb $7,00. Langstroth hives sin- 

 gle one $i,00. Lots of 5 to 10 at Si, 50 each— cap 7 inches, 

 one coat of paint, no portico. 



T. G. McGAW, ]\Ionmouth, 

 6-9d Lock Box 61. Warren Co., HI. 



Italia n Q ueens. 1277, 



Italian queens, warranted as {?ood in every respect 

 as tested ttiieens, 01,10 each. Safe arrival guaranteed 

 by mail. H. ALLEY, 



6 Wenham, Essex Co., Mass. 



In the Standard Langstroth frame at 25 cents each. 

 My former partners having quit the bee business, we 

 have a quantity of good combs at above prjce. 

 4tfd Address F. T. NUNN, Peru, Huron Co., Ohio. 



At a Cost of less than O! 

 CEi^'JT per week. 



E 



ik. 



h 1 1 k^uMi l Our kmm Farmer. 



A Plain Practical .lournal. devoted to the Farming. 

 Gardening and Household interests. Tells when and 

 ho* to plant. Hints for each month. Domestic Econo- 

 my, illustrations, etc. Only 50 Cents per year. Sam- 

 ple copies on receipt of stam)). 



Address N. J. AG'L'ST & OUR AM. FARMER, 

 3-7 20 Cortlandt St., N. Y. 



Warranted Pure Beeswax. 



C_ O- ^>EI?,E.I3SrE3 CHICAGO. 

 Send for Circular. 8d 



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Binders lor GlE-ANIJ^OS (will hold them for four 

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