38 



THE BOOK OF BEE-KEEPING. 



62. Dresses for Ladies. — These are an absolute necessity. 

 A thin muslin or calico bag is made, having two holes, with 

 elastic bands, the feet to pass through the holes, and the bands to 

 fix round the ankles, the outside edge being looped up outside 

 the dress or petticoats. 



63. Wire - embedder. — This little instrument 

 is one of the most useful that has been invented 

 during the last two or three years. It is used for 

 the purpose of embedding wire into foundation, 

 particulars of which will be found further on. Being 

 the invention of a Swiss gentleman named Woiblet, 

 it is called " The Woiblet Spur Embedder." Every 

 apiarist should have one. 



64. Fonndation Fixer. — There ar? two or 

 three on the market ; but we have always found 

 that the handle of a table knife does the work as 

 quickly and, with a little practice, as well. The illus- 

 tration below represents one of the best. The section , -; 



is placed, together with the wax " starter," between ""•^ 



the jaws, the slot in lower one acting as a gauge, Woib/efSpur 



that the foundation may be fixed exactly in the Embedder. 



centre; the jaws are squeezed together by raising 



the end of the upper one, 

 the lower being screwed to a 

 table, the foundation being 

 mashed into the wood by 

 a draw-back motion of the 

 handle of the machine, allowed 

 for by the peculiar hinges at 

 the sides ; the " starter " — 

 Foundation Fixer. 2>_^ the Uttig triangular piece 



of foundation — is then turned at right angles to the section 



with the fingers. 



65. Frame Stands. — It is quite a bother sometimes in 

 the apiary to know where to temporarily rest a frame of comb 

 and bees after removal from a hive ; especially so is it when your 

 hives are not made larger than will hold the necessary number 

 of them. If you rest it on the grass, by the side of the hive, 

 quite a number of the bees are left on the ground — maybe the 

 queen. It will, therefore, be found very handy to have a frame 

 stand, which can be made by any novice in carpentering; in 

 fact, a box of the exact width of the hive will do nicely, and 

 will also be useful for carrying combs from the hives into the 

 house when extracting, if provided with a lid. A comb stand 

 is sold to hang on the side of the hive, but it has the same 

 disadvantage as resting by the side of same — the queen is apt 

 to drop on the ground. 



