ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 35 



with a piece of muslin while the paint is fresh, and another coat of 

 paint applied over the muslin. If kept properly painted, such covers 

 will not leak. 



Much has been written about staples and projections on frames 

 to make them self-spacing-, but the objections greatly overshadow 

 the advantages, which are that all the frames are kept at exactly the 

 same distance apart; in closing up the hive, or rather, in arranging 

 the frames preparatory to closing the hive, they can all be shoved 

 oyer in a body, by pressing against the outside one, and if the hives 

 are to be moved, as from one apiary to another, the frames are held 

 in position without any additional fastening. The moving of colo- 

 nies from one location to another is something that occurs only occa- 

 sionally, in many cases not at all, and it is better to specially fasten 

 all of the frames once, or even twice, a year, should it become neces- 

 sary, than to be continually annoyed by objectionable attachments. 

 In closing up a hive there is some advantage in being able to shove 

 the frames over without taking up any time in spacing them, but, so 

 far as exactness is concerned, there is no necessity for self-spacing 

 devices; as the combs may vary from \% to 1/4 inches from center 

 to center, without any serious results. The eye and hand very soon 

 become trained to sufficient exactness in the matter of spacing. 

 The most serious objection to self-spacing is that it destroys the 

 most valuable feature of hanging frames — the lateral movement. 

 If frames hang free, it is an easy matter to press one over one way, 

 and another the other way, and then lift out the one that hung be- 

 tween them. Self-spacing prevents this. Before self-spaced frames 

 can be moved, a division board, or "dummy," must be pulled out at 

 one side of the hive, and sometimes this board is glued fast and more 

 difficult to remove than would be an ordinary comb. Another ob- 

 jection to staples, or other metal attachments, is that the honey 

 knife is likely to strike them, and be dulled, when the honey is being 

 uncapped; and they also give trouble by catching in the wire cloth 

 forming the reel of the extractor. A few men have tried and been 

 pleased with the plan of supporting frames upon nails driven into the 

 centers of the ends of the top-bars. To illustrate: Take anordinary 

 Langstroth frame, saw off the projecting ends of the top-bar, then, 

 into the center of each end of the top-bar driye a six-penny nail at 

 such a point that its lower side will occupy exactly the same point as 

 the lower side of the wooden projection occupied before it was sawed 

 off. The nail is, of course, driven in until it projects exactly as far 

 as the former wooden projection extended beyond the end-bar. 

 These nail-supporters may be used either with or without metal 

 rabbets. In either case the points of contact are so slight that there 



