84 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



The Wiring of frames, and the imbed- 

 ding' of the wires, calls forth a variety of 

 opinions and methods. Soma tell us to 

 leave the wires a little slack, thus allow- 

 ing the foundation to stretch a little, there- 

 by avoiding "buckling." I have always 

 drawn the wires taut, so that they would 

 sing like a fiddle string, yet there has bean 

 no trouble from "buckling." I have al- 

 ways used the medium brood foundation. 

 Mr. Franklin Fox, of Erwinna, Penn., 

 suggests that, when imbedding a wire, it 

 be caught in the center, by the end of the 

 finger, and pressed down towards the 

 bottom bar. This would give an upward 

 pressure from the wire, and absolutely 

 avoid all sagging. I had often thought of 

 doing this little trick, but there seemed no 

 necessity for it with my management. 



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Bottom-Starters are favored by a few 

 prominent bee-keepers; and 1 will say 

 this: If you can't get the combs firmly 

 attached to the bottom bars without the 

 use of bottom -starters, then use them, by 

 all means. I have no use for them. As 1 

 have said before, no man by looking at 

 my finished sections could tell which side 

 up they grew. I would like to visit some 

 bee-keeper who can't succeed without 

 bottom-starters, and see his sections be- 

 fore he gives them to the bees — see them 

 as he gives them when trying to succeed 

 without bottom-starters. If the section 

 is not filled full, of course the comb may 

 not be attached at the bottom - 1 would 

 not expect that it would. If it is filled full, 

 why don't the bees attach the comb all 

 around ? They do with me and with 

 hundreds of bee-keepers that I have vis- 

 ited. 



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Taking Bees Out of the cellar will soon 

 be the order of the day. We are often 

 advised to carry them out in the night, or 

 else in cool weather, and then they will 

 be ready to fly all at once. This advice 

 may be good, probably is, but Mr. A. A. 

 Ludington, of Verona Mills, Mich., told at 

 the Big Rapids convention of a queer but 



costly experience he had by carrying out 

 bees in the night. The next day was 

 warm enough for the bees to fly, but the' 

 wind started in with a good stiff breeze 

 that continued to increase until it was a 

 perfect gale. The bees were anxious for 

 a flight, and would leave their hives, and 

 the wind was so strong that they were 

 actually blown away, never to return. 

 Many colonies were lost entirely, and all 

 were so weakened that practically no 

 surplus was secured that year. Just 

 think of it. Nearly a whole apiary of 

 bees blown away upon taking their first 

 flight in the spring ! 



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Hive covers of two pieces, with a strip 

 of tin or iron slid into saw kerfs in their 

 edges, all covered with paint when put 

 together, have proved a failure with Mr. 

 Franklin G. Fox, of Erwinna, Penn., but, 

 in telling the particulars, I think he shows 

 why they leaked. He says he painted 

 them thoroughly, three or four times be- 

 fore using them, even painted the under 

 side over the joints, yet they would gap 

 open and leak in a most tantalizing man- 

 ner. In describing such covers, I said 

 nothing about painting them on both sides, 

 as I supposed that everybody painted 

 them on both sides. If the under side 

 should be left unpainted, I should expect 

 that the alternate absorption and evapo- 

 ration of water would cause exactly the 

 trouble that our friend mentions. When I 

 was at the home of Mr. W. E. Forbes, 

 Plainwell, Mich., last spring, I saw a lot 

 of covers made of two pieces, that had 

 been in use several years, and there had 

 been no trouble from their leaking. They 

 were made of well-seasoned lumber, the 

 edges and strips of tin well-painted, then 

 the pieces were put into a sort of frame 

 and crowded tightly together by means 

 of wedges, and end-cleats nailed on, after 

 which the covers were well-painted on 

 both sides. 



Mr. Fox overcame his troubles by cov- 

 ering the top of the cover with Neponset 

 paper. He has also been successful by 

 covering a cover with muslin, while the 



