ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



169 



I have never given it out very much. 

 Mr. Hill, the late Editor of the Amer- 

 ican Bee- Keeper in Florida, and my- 

 self tried to retain the patent for the 

 purpose of giving it to the bee-keep- 

 ing world, but we could not succeed, 

 and we dropped the thing. We use it 

 ourselves; it beats wiring. I have 

 not used wire for years and years. It 

 is a very simple thing indeed. I have 

 got now in use something very similar 

 to the old Given press. I had one 

 in the apiary when I went to Cuba, 

 and in using that I would make a 

 double dip of the top of each sheet, 

 that is, dip sideways instead of end- 

 ways, and by doing it that way and 

 pressing it, I got sheets that would 

 iK»t stretch, having the upper half 

 very heavy and the lower half very 

 thin. I tried to interest the Root's 

 but they said there was some mechani- 

 cal difficulty in running foundation 

 by that method. Then I tried a few 

 years ago to interest them again, but 

 they were then working on another 

 scheme, and didn't take it up. This 

 process is simply forcing the wax to 

 any part of the section that you want 

 it by brushing melted wax over the 

 surface. It also adds wax to the edges 

 of the cells and in some way or other 

 strengthens them. I think that also 

 solves the question of feeding wax to 

 the bees for them to use. I take my 

 comib, and I have a little dish over a 

 little kerosene stove so as to keep 

 the wax melted, and I use an ordinary 

 three inch flat varnish brush. I take 

 up all the wax I can andi just rub it 

 over the upper half iintil tlhat wax will 

 press out over the edges of the cells. 

 It adds wax to the cells in the upper 

 part and I have ho trouble. I use 1-4 

 inch deep foundation. I have the 

 finest combs I have ever had in my 

 life. It solves the entire problem 

 o£ stretching combs. The gentleman 

 who has patented this process lives in 

 South California, and his name is 

 Henry Vogan. It was patented in 

 1900. I would no more think of going 

 back to wires or doing without it than 

 I would of trying to keep 'bees that 

 would not rob. 



Dr. Jones — This is a patent process, 

 and I read in the American Bee-Keep- 

 er how to do it. I didii't know who' 

 the man was or where he iivedl, but I 

 will take that frame and show you 

 how I did it. I have got one of the 

 finest frames you can find. I (have a 



paint (brusih about half an inoh wid«, 

 and I dip that in hot wax. I wire my 

 frames the same as this is wired, be- 

 cause we use them for extracting pur- 

 poses in the upper story. I was afraid 

 of them breaking, otherwise. Last 

 year I tried it, and I just took the 

 brush and daubed a little wax where 

 these wires are. Here is where they 

 break loose very often, "We don't need 

 much wax. I worked it that way last 

 year, and had very nice frames. Here- 

 tofore I (have always Ihad trouble with 

 tJhem bending, especially if it is hot 

 weather. I could never get them to 

 suit me. I have my wax almost boil- 

 ing, so that it will smear well. With 

 a brush, using it lightly and quickly, 

 you can get the wax on there after a 

 little practice, so that it reinforces it. 

 My experience is, it will blend right 

 between these wires, but this stiffens 

 it up so that you can put it in the 

 brood nest or in the extracting cham- 

 'ber, and tihe bees will build it out. I 

 (had it in twenty supers, and there 

 w^as not a comb but wtiat was just 

 as' straight as a board, and I never 

 had that before. I tried it on a small 

 scale last year on two or three hives. 

 I got a nuimber of extracting frames, 

 and I put in a couple of sheets of this, 

 and the bees drew it out just as nice 

 as anything. You take th;>se and put 

 them up' above, and you have got a 

 lot of new combs that way, and you 

 have got them straight. I read that 

 article, and I saw^ Mr. Poppleton had 

 a right to use tihat process, and I 

 thought I had a right, too, and I 

 thoxight if they ever caught me, that 

 I would pay for it. 



Dr. Bohrer — In the matter of wiring, 

 I see there are a great many different 

 methods. This thing of the wire sag- 

 ging and^ becoming slack, is one of the 

 great difficulties to overcome. I axca 

 very much interested in what tfhe 

 Doctor and Mr. Poppleton have said 

 in regard to waxing the comb founda- 

 tion; I believe it will avoid this buck- 

 ling of it. No matter how systematic 

 we try to be, we cannot alw^ays put the 

 foundation into the frames and give it 

 to the bees just exactly the way they 

 want it. We have got to anticipate 

 in a good many instances, and for that 

 reason I believe that this is going to 

 be <iuite an improvement upon past 

 methods of putting foundation in 

 frames, and that it will save that buck- 

 ling. But, in addition to tftiat, I would 



