52 



MANUAL OF APICULTURE. 



be employed. Glass fruit jars with metal caps are generally at hand, and 

 make excellent feeders by merely punching a few holes in each cap. 

 After the jar is filled with liquid food and the cap screwed on tightly 

 it is inverted over a feed hole in the quilt or honey board. The cap, or 

 top story, with cover, protects the whole, and it is very easy to see wben 

 more food is wanted by merely raising the cover slightly. If arranged 

 on a feeding stage covered on the underside with wire cloth, as shown 

 in fig. 38, feeding may be accomplished without being troubled by the 

 workers. 



Feeders of various forms constructed of wood or tin, or of these 

 materials combined, most of them serving the purpose excellently, are 

 offered in catalogues of apiarian manufacturers. 



SECTION FOLDERS. 



Sections can be folded or put together readily over an accurately 

 made block just large enough to fill the space inclosed by a section, 

 aud several machines to facilitate the work in case it is to be done on 

 a large scale have been devised. 



BEE ESCAPES. 



The bee escape (fig. 39) is an important labor-saving invention for 

 the honey producer. A number of them may be regarded as necessary 



in every apiary. They are in- 

 serted in holes bored in a hon- 

 ey board and used in freeing 

 supers from bees, as described 

 under ''Honey production." 



FOUNDATION FASTENERS. 



Fig. 39.— The Porter spring bee escape. 



For sections. — Several styles 

 of implements for fastening 

 thin foundation in sections have been devised. All of them do the 

 work well. A simple one, which is also low priced, is Parker's^ Clark's 

 and the Daisy are also highly recommended, and A. C. Miller's is very 

 complete, working automatically. The latter, and the Daisy shown in 

 fig. 40, each require the use of a lamp. 



For frames. — If the top bars of the frames have a slot or saw kerf 

 one-eighth to three-sixteenths inch deep on the underside, made by 

 passing them lengthwise over a circular saw, sheets of foundation can 

 be very readily fastened by slipping the edge into this groove and run- 

 ning melted wax along the angle formed on each side by the founda- 

 tion and the top bar. A bent spoon or a tin cup with a small nozzle is 

 handy for this purpose. If the top bar is flat on the underside it will 

 be necessary to press the foundation firmly against it; that is, to incor- 

 porate the edge of the wax sheet into the wood of the top bar by rub- 

 bing it with a smooth bit of hard wood or bone, such as a knife handle. 



