THOUSAND ANSWERS 101 



Q. Which frame do you think is the better, the Hoffman or 

 loose-top, staple-spaced frame, and which is the easier to 

 handle? What frame do you use, also what size section or ex- 

 tracting-frame? 



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 would not have it around, because the bees glue the frames to- 

 gether, making them harder to handle than the other kinds of 

 frames. With the metal spacers latterly used on the Hoffman, 

 it is not so objectionable. 



I use the Miller frame, which is a plain Langstroth frame with 

 common galvanized shingle nails for side-spacers and small sta- 

 ples for end-spacers. I use the same for an extracting-frame, 

 although if I were going extensively into extracting I would 

 likely have a shallower frame. I use the section most generally 

 in use, 2-bee-way., 4J4x4j4x1^. 



Q. Using plain frames, how do you manage to keep them 

 from swinging and killing the bees when hauling over rough 

 roads? 



A. In the same sense you seem to mean, I don't use plain 

 frames. Nothing can be plainer than the Miller frame, except 

 that there are common nails, as I have often explained, used as 

 side-spacers, and staples as end-spacers. Nothing is needed at 

 any time to prepare the bees for hauling, except to close the en- 

 trance with wire-cloth. 



Q. Would there be trouble with frames made short enough 

 so that there would be a half-inch beespace between the end- 

 bars and the inside of the hive? I have trouble with the standard 

 frame on account of smashing bees. Would the bees fill the 

 space between the end-bars and hive-ends with comb? I use the 

 staple-spaced frame. 



A. You would be badly troubled with combs built in such a 

 large space; at least in some cases. Possibly you might like W. 

 L. Coggshall's plan. Drive staples into end-bars at the lower end, 

 so the end-bars cannot crowd against the end-wall of the hive. 



Q. In an answer to "Virginia," you tell him to use the wedges 

 that come with the frames. I make my frames. Please explain 

 how to make or get them, and how to use them. 



A. A saw-kerf is made in the under side of the top-bar, into 

 which the edge of the foundation goes. Then close beside this is 

 another saw-kerf made by a finer saw, and into this narrower 

 kerf the wedge is crowded. The wedge is a thin strip of wood 

 as long as the under side of the top-bar, one side being cham- 

 fered down to an edge, so as to enter the kerf. If you make your 



