1878. 



GLE AIRINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



107 



you want them, and then just solder it. If 

 you look at a tin-smith you will think it is 

 just as easy as can be, to make the bright 

 melted tin run down the joint so smoothly 

 that it looks like one continuous piece, but 

 when your own inexperienced hands under- 

 take the task — oh dear, oh dear! you are 

 awkward, without doubt, but perhaps the 

 greatest trouble is that you have not all the 

 necessary appliances at hand. To do a nice 

 job, and do it conveniently, you will want a 

 soldering board, something like this : 



yoLDlOltING BOART). 



It should be about 12x18 inches, and the 

 sides about an inch high. The two staples 

 are for resting your iron, to prevent its burn- 

 ing the wood wlien not in use, and for hold- 

 ing the bars of solder, when the iron is 

 touched to them. On the right hand, a bar 

 of solder is shown, ready for use. You can 

 never do anything with your solder laid flat 

 on a board. On the left, are two little boxes ; 

 one IS to hold a wet rag, on which the iron 

 is to be wiped every time vou take it from 

 the tire, that we may have a bright clean 

 surface. The other is to hold the powdered 

 rosin ; and if you wish to work with satis- 

 faction, I would advise you not to get the 

 rosin on your fingers or clothes. For a 

 brush for applying the rosin, draw some 

 candle wicking into a tin tube. You can 

 do a cleaner job by having the rosin mixed 

 with oil, for all that is left after soldering, 

 may be wiped off with a soft cloth. Our 

 girls use the rosin and oil for making the 

 inside work to extractors. The ability to do 

 smooth nice work, and do it rapidly, comes 

 by practice. 



Below, I give you a cut of the soldering 

 iron, the bar of solder, the box of rosin, and 

 the printed directions, such as are sent by 

 mail for $1.00. Common solder is worth 

 about 15c. per lb., but for tine nice work, we 

 use a larger proportion of tin. About equal 

 parts of lead and tin, is the general rule. 



SOLDERING IRON, AND IMPLEMENTS. 



You will probably get along very well 

 with bright new tin, but when you come to 

 try repairing, or mending old breaks 

 where the metals are old and rusty, much 

 more skill will be required to make a strong 

 job. You will also find that something 

 more than rosin is needed for iron, brass and 

 copper, and for rusty tinware. This was 

 where my soldering implements came in, 

 years ago. I got hold of the idea in this way. 

 One dull day in the Vv'inter, a stranger called, 

 asking if we had any tinware we would like 

 repaired, free of charge. You may be sure 

 that he and I were friends at once, and we 

 gathered up the tin pans, and set him a,t 

 work. He took a pretty little camphene 

 lamp out of his pocket, then a bottle of some 



liquid, next an old file, and some little 

 lumps of solder. A i)an had a hole in the 

 bottom ; he scraped round the hole with 

 his tile, then pmiched the hole a little larger, 

 so as to raise a slight burr, held the place 

 over the lamp, wet the metal with the liquid 

 and droi)ped on a bit of solder which melted 

 and tilled up the liole in a twinkling ; then 

 another, and another, until all were done. 



"How much for your workV" 



"Nothing." 



"Nothing V But what do you want us to 

 do V" 



"Buy that little bottle of soldering fluid." 



"For how much V" 



"Twenty five cents." 



I put down the money very quickly, and 

 he prepared to go. But I was full of ques- 

 tions about the contents of that bottle. I 

 was chemist enough, and Yankee enough, to 

 make him own up that it was nothing but 

 sal ammoniac and chloride of zinc, in solu- 

 tion, before he got out of the gate. In re- 

 turn, he made me promise not to sell any of 

 it inside of our county, under one year. The 

 next week found me in a neighboring coun- 

 ty mending tinware, grntis, and before Sat- 

 urday night, I was back with between $10. 

 and S12. clear profit, which was quite a spec- 

 ulation in those days. To make this won- 

 derful soldering fiuid which will cause the 

 solder to flow on copper, zinc, iron or brass, 

 you are to get i of a lb. of muriatic acid, of 

 a druggist. Set it in a glass jar or tumbler, 

 out of doors, and slowly drop in pieces of 

 zinc, until it will "eat" no more. Dissolve 

 2 oz. of sal ammoniac in a glass of water, 

 and add this to the acid and zinc. Strain 

 the liquid into a glass bottle, and ,keep it 

 out of the way of the children. When you 

 mend the tinware for "nothing," a half oz. 

 bottle of it is sold for 25c. Keep it off your 

 clothes, and especially off your tools, for it 

 rusts every thing badly. AVhen you solder 

 anything with it, carefully wash the article 

 in clean water or rub it off ^vel\ with a wet 

 cloth. If iron or steel, finish off with some 

 oil on a cloth. If you are careless with such 

 thmgs, you would better let it alone entirely. 

 Always use rosin when you can make it 

 work, as the fluid destroys the tinning on 

 the soldering iron, very rapidly. To show 

 you what you can do with these simple tools, 

 I will give you a sketch of a very ingenious 

 feeder sent by one of our subscribers. They 

 may be made of any size, 

 but the one sent, is made of a 

 piece of tin about 2^x4i. Roll 

 it up and solder the edges, so 

 as to make a little cup. The 

 bottom is just a round piece 

 of tin, laid on and soldered. 

 This cup is to be inverted in 

 a square tin box as shown in 

 the cut. It is soldered to each of the four 

 sides, so as to be about i of an inch from the 

 bottom, or so that no bee can crawl inside. 

 To fill it, dii) it in the syrup while on its 

 side, and raise it out, in the position sho'tt7i 

 in the cut. The bees can take every drop 

 out but they cannot possibly get daubed. 

 It can be set in the hive at the entrance, or 

 any where you wish ; pint feeders, could 

 easily be made for 5c. 



