FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 79 



Possibly those who complain do not have very exact work. 1 

 am not sure but I would put up with a little dropping down of 

 frames, rather than to have the ends of the top-bars glued. 



It will be seen that while the frames are automatically 

 spaced very firmly, the points of contact are so small that the 

 frames are always easily movable. Those points of contact are 

 the thin metal edges upon which the top-bars rest, the two end- 

 staples, and the four nail-heads. The same spacing is in use in 

 other frames, only staples are used for side-spacing instead of 

 nails. The staples do not seem quite so substantial, and there 

 is more danger, when the frames are crowded hard together, 

 that the staples may be driven in deeper, or that the head of the 

 staple may dig into the adjoining wood. 



The top-bar and end-bar being IVs wide, and the spacing 

 of the nails % inch, the frames are spaced just 1% from center 

 to center. It is just possible that a little wider spacing than 

 1% might be better, but 1% is the general fashion, and so far 

 as possible I like to adopt standard goods. I may be asked, 

 then, why I should use a frame not regularly made by manufac- 

 turers. Possibly prejudice has a little to do in the case, but I 

 think the Miller frame enough better than anything I can find 

 listed, that I prefer to be out of fashion so long as I can find 

 nothing listed that is quite close to what I want. 



USING STANDARD GOODS. 



In general I think it is best to adopt standard goods. They 

 can be more cheaply made, and it is more convenient to get 

 them. It cost me no small sum to change my frames so little 

 as to make them only % of an inch less in length and an eighth 

 of an inch more in depth, but I made the change, and made it 

 solely because my frames were not of standard size. Years ago 

 I changed from four-piece to one-piece sections solely because I 

 wanted to be in fashion, although I think I prefer the one-piece 

 now. 



WORKING FOE IMPROVEMENT. 



At the same time it is one's privileg<= — perhaps one's duty 

 — to make some effort toward improvement, if one can only 



