152 



GLEANINGS .LSr BEE CULTURE. 



May 



of gauge that I had to give the planing mill 

 men. before we planed our own lumber. 

 Below is a picture of it, full size. 



GAUGE FOB PLAXINQ LUifBER. 



"When you carry them the lumber, tell 

 them, if it is planed so that the "too large'' 

 notch just fits it, it "Vfill have to be planed 

 over again ; and that, if it goes into the "too 

 small" notch, it is spoiled. This will soon 

 get them into the habit of having it "just 

 right." every time. Their planers must also 

 be so adjusted, that both edges of the board 

 aTejiist right. Since the 18 in. Lilliputians 

 cost only S77., if you have much work to do, 

 it is, by far. the most lirofitable way, to have 

 a planer of your own. Then you can set it 

 just as accurately as j'ou choose, and it will 

 pay for itself, where tliere is work to do, in 

 a few weeks. The usual price for planing 

 is Sl.OO per M., and we can do that amount 

 without trouble per hour, with our 4i horse 

 power engine. If the lumber is not well 

 seasoned, it may be well to have it planed 

 to the too large gauge ; but this is a very bad 

 way of doing, on many accounts. Get your 

 lumber seasoned as well .as it possibly can 

 be, before you commence work, and, if you 

 are obliged to use that which is not well sea- 

 soned, cut your stuff to the exact length, 

 then stick it up. and leave it until the very 

 last moment, before you take it to the exact 

 width you wish it. This is, perhaps, one of 

 the surest ways, especially when the work 

 is not all to be sent off immediately. We 

 frequently leave covers in this way, and only 

 bring them to the finishing width the 

 very day they are to be shipped. It is espe- 

 cially needful that the covers be well season- 

 ed, for a season check would let in water, 

 and endanger the life of the colony. 



A great many of Barnes' Foot Power saws 

 are in use ; therefore I shall give my direc- 

 tions for them, and, if you have different 

 saws, you can modify the directions to suit 

 your conditions. 



We will first talk about making the body 

 of the hive. Your pile of one foot boards 

 is to be cut up in lengths of 37 inches. Re- 

 member, just one inch more than a yard. 

 To avoid making mistakes, you can cut a 

 stick of just that length. If you have quite 

 apile of stuff, a gai^ge that you can push 

 tiie boards against will be very handy. Al- 



waiys commence at the best end of the 

 boards. If the end is checked or bad, allow 

 a little - for waste. Cut off 5 lengths, and 

 leave the surplus of half a foot or more on 

 the last piece ; that is, do not cut it off. 

 Pile these last pieces by themselves. You 

 will need an assistant to do this. ■ If you 

 have a boy or girl 10 or 15 j-ears old. they can 

 help "papa" a "big lot,"' in making hives. 

 The table of the saws, tis it comes from the 

 factory, is hardly large enough to make 

 hives on conveniently, and so we will 

 piece out the stationary side by a sort of a 

 le^af about 1 foot wide. This leaf is easily • 

 fastened on securely, by a couple of hard 

 wood strips screwed on the underside of 

 both leaf and table. After your boards are 

 all cut up. you Avill proceed to bring them to 

 an exact width and straighten one side. As 

 we want the boards to finish Hi, we will 

 trim them, the first time, to about llf : 

 those that will not hold out this A\idth, can 

 be saved to make frames of . To bring one 

 side straight, you must set the parallel bar at 

 the left of the saw, at just the right distance 

 from it, and then push the boards through, 

 holding closely up to the gauge. Yery like- 

 ly, when you start out, your saw may "run," 

 as it is termed ; this may result from two 

 causes. If the teeth are filed longer on one 

 side than on the other, and insufficiently set, 

 the saw will be very likely to run either into, 

 or out of the lumber. This will not do' at 

 all, for we can never have an accurate hive, 

 unless we get a straight edge, in the first 

 place, to work from. Give the saw set 

 enough to make it rim clear, as explained in 

 SECTION HONEY BOXES, and have the teeth 

 so that the cut ahead of the saw shows as in 

 the diagram below. 



IMPROPERLY FILED. PROPERLY FILED. 



A second cause of trouble may sometimes 

 be found in your parallel bar, which must 

 be just parallel, or you cannot have a trae 

 straight cut. The diagram will show you 

 the consequences of having this bar improp- 

 erly set. 



c 



SETTING THE PARALLEL BAR. 



In fig. 1, the bar is set so that the board 

 between the saw and the gauge wedges, as 

 it were ; and, when this is the trouble, you 



