86 FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



the head of the staple may dig into the adjoining- wood. 



The top-bar and end-bar being ly^ wide, and the 

 spacing of the nails %. inch, the frames are spaced just 

 i}i from center to center. It is just possible that a little 

 wider spacing than i}i might be better, but i}i 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 manufacturers. 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 con- 

 venient to get them. It cost me no small sum to change 

 my frames so little as to make them only i/i of an inch 

 less in length and an eighth of an inch more in depth, 

 but I made the change, and made it solelj' 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 FOR IMPROVEMENT. 



At the same time it is one's privilege — perhaps one's 

 duty — to make some effort toward improvement, if one 

 can only keep from thinking that a thing is necessarily 

 an improvement because it is different from what has 

 been. The things and plans gotten up by me that were 

 different from others would make a pretty long list. 

 Unfortunately, a full trial has in most cases convinced 

 me that my supposed improvements were no improve- 

 ments, at all, and so they were cast aside. A few, how- 

 ever, have stood the test, the Miller feeder and the Miller 



