I>EVOTi:i> TO 3JEEH A]NI> HOIVE'ST, A]V1> HOIWnE: ITSTTDBHESTS. 



Vol. V. 



JULY 1, 1877. 



No. 7 



A. I. ROOT, ~) 



Publisher and Proprietor, 



Pnblisbed Monthly. 



Medina, O. 



il28tal>ll8lie<l in 18 73. 1 



CTERMS: Sl.OOPcr Annum in Ad- 



] vjvnce; 3 Copies for $2.50; 5/or %3.75 ; 



lO or more, 60c. each. Single Number lOc. 



FOOT POTTER SAW^S. 



sn» THANK yon for having discovered, for the bee- 

 l|| keeper, the foot-power saw of Mr. Barnes. It Is 

 ^' a true gem. About 8 years ago I made an expense 

 of about SlOO, in building a horse-power saw. But 

 the attempt resulted in a dead loss. When you spoke 

 lor the first time of the foot-power saw, 1 thought that 

 you had a fit of short lived enthusiasm, for I could not 

 imaj^ine that it would be possible to run a saw with 

 the foot, without exhausting one's strength in a few 

 hours. When 1 saw your enthusiasm lasting, I re- 

 solved to try for myself, and here are the results : 



The first day we were astonished to see tlie ingenu- 

 ity with which this machine is combined, and the 

 good work that it is doing, but we found the first work 

 very hard. The second day we tried to increase the 

 speed, and it seemed that the machine was just the 

 thing. The third day ruined all our hopes. My eon, 

 who runs the machine, was tired by his work of the 

 first day ; the rip saw seemed harder to run than be- 

 fore, and we resolved to write to you for a book on 

 saw filing. My son was then able to file and set the 

 saw in good order, and now we are amazed at the 

 quantity of work, and the ease with which it is done. 



We had 1,700 frame* to make and about 10.000 feet of 

 lath to rip; my son has worked only on rainy days, 

 and nearly all the work Is done, although we have 

 had the saw but three weeks ; the work is so smooth 

 and true that I would send you a sample but for the 

 thought that you have the same aiachine. 



You cannot insist too strongly on the following in 

 regard to the use of the machine: First— follow the 

 directions given to move the pedal. Second— keep 

 the saws In good order, according to the directions 

 given in the "Art ol .Saw Filing." Third— keep the 

 machine oiled. Fourth— do not abandon the task af- 

 ter a ehort trial, but persevere till you can work 

 easily. 



The rip saw is harder to work. If the wood is not 

 dry, or is of some hard kind, you will exhaust your 

 strength unless you work slowly; but If you nave 

 chosen very dry lumber, and soft, to make the frames, 

 yon will succeed. 



The scroll saw is more easily worked. It Is a play- 

 thing. Cu. Dadant, Hamilton, 111., May 12, 1877. 



OUR ElVGIilSH COUSINS, AND WHAT 



THEY THINK OF OUR SECTION 



BOXES. 



^^^I^E extract the following from the London 

 yjM Journal of Horticulture for May. Will 

 ^ friend Hunter accept our thanks for 

 the very pleaeant way in which he compli- 

 ments Yankee ingenuity. We do not repro- 

 duce the cuts, as thf^y have appeared on our 

 pages already : 



SECTIONAL S LIFERS. 



The importance of this subject to the bee-keeper 

 ■will doubtless excuse my returning to it, for the ex- 

 perience of the various honey shows of the last three 

 j-ears has |)roved that the days of large weighty su- 

 pers are doomed, the first object of the bee master 

 who hopes to make profit on bis hives being to raise a 

 product that will oomiuand the best market price, 

 which the large bell-glass or v.'ooden box of honey 



does not. Neither does the strained honey satisfy the 

 fastidious taste of the wealthy epicure. American 

 bee-farmers arc years ahead of us in the discovery of 

 what is needed for the flesirable end. Their super 

 jiatterns are legion, but all tend to the same object- 

 to produce clean, well-filled combs of attractive ap- 

 pearance, and small enough for the retailer to sell 

 without cutting. 



Mr. Root of Medina, Ohio, whose apiary was fig- 

 ured in this Journal a few weeks back, has favored 

 me vi'lth samples of his latest sectional supers, which 

 in simplicity and Inexpensivencss will be hard to beat. 

 The figure illustrates the section box, and the manner 

 in which they are placed in the frames with which 

 the hive is filled. I should, however, say that both 

 hive and super are exactly alike; the former, filled 

 with ordinary frames, being used as a breeding box; 

 the latter, filled with wider frames and sectional box- 

 es, as a super. When supplied to the bees each sec- 

 tion is fitted with a piece cf clean comb, natural or 

 artificial, without which, of course, no dep'.'ndenci 

 could be placed that the bees would build in order. 

 On examination It will be seen that all four sides are 

 neatly mortised, and they are merely held together by 

 the mortises ; liit being all cut by eirculaV saw to 

 gauge, such Is the accuracy that the whole is quite 

 firm and every piece interchangeable. The top is 

 grooved to fix the guide comb, and the section bores 

 are sold at the marvelously low price of $10 ('2£) per 

 thousand ! Less thah l^id. each. This is the price 

 quoted lor boxes 5 by G by 2, or anything less. Of 

 courfe, the natural exclamation is, "Ah! that Is in 

 America; but what can we get them here for?" 

 Well, I supplied patterns to a friend, an ardent bee- 

 keeper, anxious to help our good cause, and who had 

 all the requisite machinery— circular saw, stsam pow- 

 er, and timtjcr at first price, and he made some as a 

 trial, and now declares they cannot be made and sold 

 in England under 2d. each. He thinks the Yan- 

 kees must get their wood lor nothing and labor lor 

 lesF, to sell at their price ! Now at 2(;. each they arc 

 not too dear to use ; but we can yet do better, "it ia 

 no uncommon thing to find we can Import articles of 

 merchandise better and cheaper than we can make 

 them, and in like manner we can import these section 

 boxes so that they shall certainly cost under Id., and 

 I think not more than ?4cZ. each. I have been in the 

 habit year by year of getting all manner of foreign 

 apiarian novelties for ray friends at cost price, and al- 

 though I have often unfortunately found myself in 

 the position ol the old man and his ass, by next sea- 

 son I certainly will import a case of snpers to serve 

 as patterns; and in the meantime, as circular saws 

 are now so common with amateur workmen, I extract, 

 somewhat condensed, Mr. Roofs instructions in 

 "Gleanings in Bee Oultuke" how to make the 

 sections. 



^»o*-^—- 



WHAT A TVOMAN'S ENERGY TVII^Ii DO. 



A SnOKT CHAPTER FROM EVEUV BAY LIFE. 



^f3?JR. ROOT :— I have a favor to ask of you. WIU 

 llWw von send me an extractor and give me sixty 

 «4^/^ days In which to pay it I-' We have 24 hives of 

 Italians ; they have a good supply of honey, but I 

 hate to sell it in the comb. I think I can sell enough 

 honey la two days, to pay for an exti actor. My hus- 

 band went to drive logs down the river on purpose to 

 get the money for an extractor, but it is such a poor 



