156 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



ilAY 



hang oil. This operation is so' simple, it 

 need hardly be described. In the accom- 

 panying cut yon will see a cross section of 



B 



1 



one of the ends that has been rab- 

 beted, and one that has not. We 

 first saw in- I, and then saw 

 down from B, to meet it. As tlie 

 lumber is i, if we take out f , we 

 shall have just a half inch of wood 

 left. When the metal rabbet is in 

 place, and the frame swung in the 

 hive, the top of the frame should 

 be just on a level with the shoulder 

 C. As. our frame is just 9i deep, and we 

 want just about- f under the bottom bar, 

 making 9i in all, we want just 9i inches 

 from the shoulder C to the bottom edge of 

 the boards D. This Mill insure just | be- 

 tween the upper and lower frames when the 

 hives are used with two stories. If our 

 metal rabbets are made to stand just i inch 

 higher than the wood, and the projecting 

 axm of the top bar is also i inch, the 

 shoulder A will be just i inch lower than the 

 shoulder C, 



You will observe that I have calculated 

 for I between the upper and lower frames, 

 and between the bottom of the frames and 

 the bottom of the hive. Well, i inch would 

 be still better than f , if we were sure the lum- 

 ber would never shrink by after seasoning 

 so as to make it any less than i ; as it will 

 shrink some in spite of us, I think we would 

 better calculate on |. This is also the dis- 

 tance we need between the frames and the 

 outside of the hive, all around ; not more 

 than t, and not less than i. In cutting out 

 your rabbet, you will, of course, hrst cut 

 down from A, and I would gauge from D 

 instead of from the sharp edge B, thus 

 avoiding inaccuracy. When you cut in from 

 B rest the stuff on the shoulder C, and you 

 will have no trouble in getting the saw cuts 

 to match nicely. If you have a rabbeting 

 liead, you can take the wood all out at one 

 operation, but then you have shavings in- 

 stead of strips, and it takes a little more 

 power. Tlie strips are of no particular use, 

 it is true, but we find them very handy for 

 sticking up covers, as you will see presently. 

 While I think of it, in the absence of a foot 

 poAver saw, you can make the bevels and 

 shoulders by gi-inding a plane in the shape 

 you wish ; in this way you can get very nice 

 joints, but it is rather slow business. 



The body of our hive is nearly all done 

 except the handles, or rather hand holes 

 Unit you lift them by ; these are made with 

 a wabbling saw. Sometimes our saws have 



a fashion of "wabbling,"' j'list when ^e 

 would rather they wouldn't, and it would 

 seem to be (juite an easy matter to make one 

 wabble : so it is, but, with the Barnes man' 

 drels, it is not quite so easy after all ; be- 

 cause they have their saws run on a shoulder 

 that is considerably larger than where the 

 screw is cut. The way in which we make a 

 saw wabble ordinarily, is by a pair 

 of wooden washers like this cut. 

 But tlie Barne's saw arbor requires 

 that we, after making the washer as 

 above, cut on the side of one of 

 them a shoulder something like this, 

 to hold the saw true. The idea is to 

 have the saw securely clamped be- \3jm 

 tween the two wooden washers; to have 

 it clamped so it cannot really slip round, or 

 out of true ; I mean by out of true, so that 

 the teeth are just as long on one side as on 

 the other. Unless you have it so, the 

 cavity will be deeper at one side than at the 

 other. The first washer should be thick 

 enough to allow the saw to clear the table, 

 and, as the movable side of the table is ad- 

 justed, we can give the wabbling saw all 

 the space it needs. Tou will need both the' 

 parallel and cross cut gauge for this busi- 

 ness, and they are to be so setthat, when the 

 boards of the hive are carefully and slowly 

 dropped down on the saw, one end at a time, 

 a nice cavity for the fingers will be cut. To 

 smooth out the bottom of the cut, you have 

 only to move your board slightly side ways 

 just before you lift it off the saw. ThiS' 

 trims off the strings, as it were, left between, 

 the saw teeth. I would have these handles 

 made in the sides, as well as the ends, for it 

 is often convenient to lift a hive, when the 

 ends, one or both, are not convenient to get 

 at ; for you must remember the simplicity 

 hives can be placed tight up against each 

 other, as there is nothing in the way of so 

 doing. 



HOW TO 3IAKE THE COVERS. 



For those you will need pretty good lum- 

 ber, and it must be of such width that, 

 when fully seasoned and finished, it will be 

 16 inches; or, to make it plainer, each cover 

 board, when done, must exactly fill the iron 

 gauge frames we pictured on page 118. The 

 length we can manage without any trouble ; 

 but the width, taking into consideration how 

 prone to shrink 16 inch boards are, is a little 

 more difficult. If our covers are not season- 

 ed thoroughly, they are very apt to split 

 from end to end, after having the sides 

 nailed as securely as Ave do it. 



