60 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



In tlie drawing, I have given about the 

 right angle for the face of tlie tooth. The 

 point should be almost square, like the end 

 of a chisel, but as the outside corner has by 

 far tlie greatest amount of work to do, it 

 should be kept a trifle higher. If you give 

 the point of the tooth a very sharp bevel, 

 tiie saw will leave a point in tlie 

 wood like this, at A, and if the saAV | /| 

 is crowded, the teeth will spring 

 outward somewhat, as shown in tlie d.irk 

 lines, making a great amount of friction, 

 and rough and unsightly work. Have plen- 

 ty of good tiles at liand, and touch up the 

 teeth of your saws often, if you wish to ac- 

 complish the most, with the least amount of 

 hard work. 



The above directions, are all for rip saws. 

 A cross cut saw is flled with a 3 cornered 

 file, and needs but few directions different 

 from those already given. As it is always 

 used across the grain, it will work best to 

 have it sharpened so as to leave the point A, 

 as shown in the cut, for this will break off 

 itself. The outer points of the teeth are to 

 be kept very sharp, and are to be leveled up 

 with the oil stone, so they all cut in the 

 same path. The saw must also be set 

 enough to clear itself, in all kinds of lum- 

 ber, "if you wish to cut up boards that are 

 not perfectly seasoned, you will need to set 

 your saw acordiugly. You can, with the 

 Barnes' saw, cut off a foot board at one 

 clip, if everything is all right. Ours is sel- 

 dom in order to do this, I know, but if I 

 were going to use it, I would keep it in just 

 such order. The grooving saws for section 

 boxes, are to be sharpened like the rip saws. 

 Now I know from past experience, that a 

 great many of you will say you can not in- 

 vest in all the machinery I liav^ described, 

 but that you would still like to make your 

 own hives, section boxes, &c., having plenty 

 of time in the winter. Well, I think I can 

 do something, for even this class. Wait 

 and see. 



HOME MADE SECTION BOXES. 



Some of our friends, among whom is Prof. 

 Cook, have succeeded very well, with sec- 

 tion boxes made of the thin veneer used for 

 strawberry boxes. The stuff is simiJly fold- 

 ed around a square stick of wood, of just 

 the size you wish your section frames. The 

 ends are fastened by tacks, which are quick- 

 ly clinched, by driving the i)oints against a 

 piece of iron or steel, set in the wooden 

 stick at the proi)er place. These boxes are 

 of a necessity of the same width all round, 

 and therefore I can hardly see how the bees 

 can get in, unless the frames lioldiug tliem, 

 are hung a little distance ai)art. If we do 

 this, how shall we use tlie separators V I 

 am sure I do not know, unless we have our 

 honey bulging outside of the wood ; in this 

 case, we could not pack them in a shipping 

 box, nor set the sections u\) close together; 

 they are >ilso rough and unsightly. 



Now just here my friends, I am going to 

 introduce to you, our friend N. A. Prudden, 

 of Ann Arbor, Mich. Hear him : 



I send you a roug'h sketch of my foot-power for 

 matching section boxes, as I wish to do aU the work 

 possible for my bees, and make myself and them 

 pay expenses. I am very much pleased with it, in 

 fact it exceeds my most ardent expectations. Broth- 



er bee-keepers who wish to do their own work, save 

 expense and freight, who have no power but man 

 power, will find it just the thing-. It is all wood ex- 

 cept the knife, die plate and rod, and any mechanic 

 can make one. It cost but 50c besides my own work. 

 The frani'c^ was built for another purpose; it can be 

 built on a work bench; a more substantial one could 

 be built with iron lever, bearing-s,&c. The knife should 

 work very exactly through the die plate. I cut one 

 piece at a time but it can be made to cut through 

 t wo or more pieces at once, or the ,5 grooves at one 

 stroke by having more lever power, it satisfies me 

 to work single pieces. I can cut 4 per minute; say 

 2-t()0 per hour — .500 boxes per day and df) the cutting 

 up in a mitre box. I have my stuff ripped up at the 

 machine shop. 



After looking this over if you think^nei>er mind — 

 do witat you please with it. N. A. Pk0dden. 



Thank you friend P. It is quite generous 

 in you to take the trouble to describe it so 

 well, for the benefit of others, and since you 

 have given me carte blanche, I have conclu- 

 ded to give it to our readers, with some im- 

 ])rovements and changes that our engraver 

 devised, who, by the way, is quite a natural 

 genius. Below is the machine as he has 

 worked it out. 



''HOME made" MACHINE FOR MAKING 

 SECTION BOXES. 



He has given us a side view, and a front 

 view of the machine, and I am sure I need 

 not tell you that putting your foot on tlie 

 treadle, brings down the gang of chisels, 

 with great power. This gang of chisels, is 

 shown at figures 8 and 4, and any blacksmith 

 should be able to make them for you, by 

 looking at the illustrations. Fig. 2, shows 

 a simitar piece of iron or steel, to be used 

 for a bed-plate for the strips composing the 

 section box. This bed-plate has two pieces 

 screwed on the upper side, in such a way 

 that they may be adjustable at different dis- 

 tances from the chisels. You will bear in 

 mind that the chisels, When cutting, will 

 have quite a tendency to crowd the pieces, 

 and this must not be allowed, or it might 

 endanger brer, king the cutters. These stops 

 are to be adjustable, for the purpose of 

 making different sized section frames. 



Fig. 6, shows how the gate that holds the 

 chisels, is made to work freely but surely, 

 up and down. Fig. 5, shows how the end of 

 the lever C, is made to work in the ;,'ate. 

 Figure 7 shows the finished end of a section 

 piece. Friend P. cuts just the number of 

 mortises shown, in a piece 2 inches wide. 

 Is it not an ingenious machine ? 



