FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 267 



the tops of the sections. Then the wedges are taken out, 

 the box removed, and the boardful of sections is slid 

 along the table to the one who is scraping. This table, 

 which is very convenient, is 8 feet long, and 3 ft. 9 in. 

 wide. 



FINAL SCRAPING OF SECTIONS. 



Miss Wilson generally does all the scraping ; that is, 

 all the scraping besides what Philo has done, and some- 

 times his part, as in Fig. 98. She sometimes scrapes on 

 a board on her lap, but usually on one of the small tables 

 heretofore mentioned (Fig. 99). If the section should 

 rest upon the table, the knife used in scraping could not 

 freely reach the lowest parts, so a loose block lies on the 

 board, on which the sections rest. Another advantage of 

 the block is that the accumulation of propolis is not so 

 much in the way The size of this block is not material ; 

 it may be an inch thick, four inches long or longer, and 

 two inches wide or wider. The block could be nailed 

 down, but it is more convenient to have it loose, so as to 

 scrape the propolis ofif the table from time to time. The 

 scrapings have generally been thrown away, but with a 

 steam wax-press it may pay well to get the wax out of it. 

 Possibly propolis may yet be a marketable commodity. 



The knife used is a steel case-knife kept very sharp. 

 The sides and edges of the sections are to be scraped, 

 and, if necessary, sandpaper follows the knife. The fin- 

 ishing touches are put on Philo's work, knife-marks, pen- 

 cil-marks, and any discolored spots being carefully re- 

 moved. 



A scraper should be a careful person, or in ten min- 

 utes' time he will do more damage than his day's work is 

 worth. Even a careful person seems to need to spoil at 

 least one section, before taking the care necessary to 

 avoid injuring others. But when the knife makes an 



