GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTUKE. 



Dec. 



METAL COBNEK, AND ITS POSITION IN THE HIVE. 



The en:;rivin2; is full 3iz9. The % board B, is supoosed 

 to be the end of the hive. A is a section of the met il rab- 

 bet, and C is the corner, raised a little from its plnce as 

 it rests on the rabbet. The space E between the frame 

 and the end of the hive, should be about % of an inch, as 

 e xplained below. F shows the bevel and shoulder, shown 

 on the front cover and also under section boxes; this is to 

 prevent wind or rain from Retting through, when the hives 

 or covers are piled up two or more stories hi,?h. 



It will be observed that the frame is supported entirely 

 on knife edxes crossni^ each other at riurht angles, making 

 it impossible for the bees to wax the frame fast, and al- 

 most impossible for you to pinch a bee in putting the 

 frame down, even if you take no pains at all, to get them 

 out of the wav. We prefer to have the tin rabbet reach up 

 above the end of the corner as at A, because the bees are 

 so much less dispo-ied to try to propolize the bright tin; 

 also when lep'acing the frames, the corner arms glide 

 smoothly into place as soon as they strike the rabbet. The 

 rabbet may be used without the corners, or the corners 

 may be used without the rabbet, but neither of them alone 

 give us a frame so perfectly movable ; and as wood is al- 

 ways giving more or less, they can not hang perfectly true. 

 Neither can a frame be slid on the rabbets up to its place 

 as quietly as when all the bearings are of metal. 



HOW TO MAKE THE ERAMHS. 



Our frames were first made of strips of straight grained 

 pine, only }a of an inch in thickness, and it is surprising 

 to see how well such combs have stood. On one occasion 

 a number of these heavily filled with honey fell from the 

 top of a barrel, yet not a corner was injured, and not a 

 comb broken ; these were Gallup frames, however, only 

 llixllj. For the Langstroth frames, we now make the 

 too bar about 10-32, f^nd all the rest of the frame 7-32. 

 Adair, American, and Gallup frames are all made of 7-32 

 stuff throughout. The Quinhy size may have a f top bar, 

 but the bottom bars might all be not more than i, were it 

 not that the frames m ly be sometimes used for transfer- 

 rins:, and that the weight of the combs would sag the 

 bottom bar, which is a very bad feature, if we wish to 

 work closely and avoid ki'lins' bees. The top bars would 

 not require so m iich wood were it not that honey boxes 

 are sometimes placed on them, and it is advisable to be en 

 the safe side. When we depend entirely on the use of 

 the extractor, we would prefer a space of half an inch be- 

 tween the ends of the frames ; but for box honey, small 

 bits of comb will be Vmilt in this space, more than will be 

 the case if J only is allowed. It requires n verii careful 

 operator to work fast, and avoid pinching bees, when only 

 i or I inch is allowed. 



The two following cuts may assist some in putting on 

 the metal corners : 



Fig. 1. 



A 



Fig. 2. 



r>. 



A 



Figure 1, represents the points ready to be closed down 

 and clinched into the wood, vvhich is represented by the 

 dotted lines A. A. Fig. 2, shows a point hadlv clinched at 

 B, and one perfectly driven down at C. The line D, shows 

 the direction in which the finishing blow of the hammer 

 Kstohe given; in fact this blow should sink the metal 

 slightly into the corner of the wood, drawing it up tisjlit 

 at the side C, and on no account lettin',' it bulge out at B, 

 nor allowins the point to curl nn. A liirbt. properly made 

 hammer and a little practice will enable any one to make 

 every point like C. Should you get one done badlv, 

 .you can with apnirof plyers ;4raischtenit outandwa/ceitgo 

 right. The objection has frequently been made that 

 this takes more time than to nail them; oven if this were 

 so, we are enabled to employ girls or other cheap hdp(we 

 bes? oardon 1-idios. but we never yet saw a community that 

 did not furnish more or less females, who would be glad 

 to got some such light work), who could not possibly nail 

 good frames; then after they are done, their suiierior 

 str-ingth and lightness compared with nailed frames, fully 

 make up the difference in price. We will send you a sarti- 

 ple frame by mail, just as we would have it, for 15 cents, 



(American and Gallup size 12 cts.) including sample of 

 rabbet and transferring clasp and you can test it by the 

 si<Je of your own frame in your hive. If the nailed ones 

 do not seem awkward after using it, you, of course need 

 not invest any further. See our price list, for further par- 

 ticulars. 



The metal corners were patented June 18th' 1872, but 

 we have "repented,'' and hereby give the invention free- 

 ly to our readers. If any one can make them cheaper than 

 we do, we will try to rejoice, because it will benefit the 

 people. 



EXTRACTOnS. 



One important point is that all machines, to work to 

 the best advantage, should be so made that the frame 

 may hang in them just as it hangs in the hive, it we 

 except the L. and tj. frames, and all having a length un- 

 der the top bar greater than 14 inches. It may be im- 

 possible for lis to give all the reasons for thig now, but 

 we hoi)e you will take our word for it when we say 

 there arc very good reasons fur standing a frame oh 

 end in the Extractor when the length is much greater 

 than the depth. 



We have before explained that we have our castings 

 made to fit two different sized cans, viz., 17 and 20 in- 

 ches, and we will now further state that we make the 

 cans also of two dittV-rcnt heights. To work nicely, the 

 frame needs about the same amount of room to hang 

 in the Extractor, that it has in the hive; to do this 

 there seems to be no other way than to make every 

 Extractor to fit the hive ii is in'tended for. Of course 

 you can use tiiem otherwise, but we are well satisfied 

 that the cumbrous machines now in use, are many of 

 them destined to be soon laid aside for the more mod- 

 ern kind. 



DIAGRAM OF PRINCIPAL FRAMES IN USE. 



Figures given are outside dimensions in inches. Sus- 

 pended frames have % inch supportinrj arms, or an 

 equal prolongation of top bar. 



QUINBY. 



Langstkoth. 



ADAIU. 



10. 's 

 Closed end Quinby. 



