CHAPTER V.HIVES AND IMPLEMENTS.

The safest and best rule in making or selecting hives and implements for the apiary is,have them simple and accurate in construction. A plain box with frames and as few other loose parts as possible will yield in the hands of a skillful bee-master far better results than the most elaborately constructed bee palace manipulated by one who does not understand the nature and requirements of bees; in fact, the most experienced generally prefer the former. The important point to decide in connection with any proposed modification or adjunct of the hive is whether its adoption will more than compensate for the resultant loss of simplicity. While zealously endeavoring to preserve simplicity of construction, however, complete adaptability to the purpose designed must be kept in view, and should not be sacrificed because of a slight added expense. The bee keeper needs but few implements. With even a limited number of hives, a smoker, a wax extractor, and a few queen-introducing cages are the most necessary, and one or two bee veils had better be added to the equipment, the total cost of which need not exceed $5 to $6. If the intention be to produce comb honey, and but a few hives are kept, then sections folded and with starters in place had better be purchased, but with ten or more hives and time during the winter season to prepare sections for the harvest, a section folder and a foundation fastener, costing together about $3, may be profitably added to the outfit. If only extracted honey is wanted a honey extractor with one or two uncapping knives should be purchased instead of the section folder and foundation fastener, the cost of the outfit being in this case some $15 to $18. Fifty or even seventy-five hives may be managed conveniently and economically with no greater investment in implements than that indicated above, and if both comb and extracted honey are wanted the cost of the outfit, it can readily be seen, need not exceed $20.

In regard to the particular style or form of hive to be used to insure the best results, it should be stated that while an intelligent apiarist whose experience has been considerable may be successful with almost any hive, even with poor ones, there can be no doubt that a hive not only adapted to the nature of the bees but also to the climate of the bee keeper's particular locality, and at the same time permitting the rapid performance of all operations necessary in securing surplushoney, will very materially affect the net profit of an apiary. This being the case, the original cost of a hive, whether a dollar or two more or less, is of small importance compared with the desirability of securing convenience and simplicity in its management and of promoting the welfare of the bees in winter and summer. Frame hives managed with intelligence and skill are essential to the greatest success. Inaccurately made frame hives, neglected, as is too frequently the case, so that the combs are built irregularly between or across the frames, are not one whit better than box hives. Even an accurately built frame hive, if no attention is given to the spacing of the frames when combs are being built, will soon present no advantages over a box hive of the same dimensions and having the same space for supering above the brood apartment.

Fig. 22.—Ancient Greek movable comb hive. (AfterLa Maison rustique, published in 1742.)

The frame and hive most in use in this country is the invention of Rev. L. L. Langstroth, and this hive, with slight modifications, has been generally adopted in England and her colonies. It is also becoming known and appreciated on the continent of Europe. The patent on the frame the essential feature—expired many years ago, so that anyone who may wish to do so is now free to employ the invention. It is still used by many in the same form in which it was brought out in 1852. Others have changed the dimensions of the frames and given them different names, while retaining the special feature of the inventor's principle, namely, the loose-fitting frame suspended by the projecting ends of its top bar on a continuous rabbet. The outside dimensions of the Langstroth frame most in use are 17⅝ inches long by 9⅛ inches deep (fig. 24). Mr. M. Quinby, one of the most practical and successful bee-masters of our century, preferred frames 12 inches deep by 18 inches Long, and these are still used by many large honey raisers. Other sizes are also used somewhat.

Fig. 23.—Dadant-Quinby form of Langstroth hive, with cap and gable roof. (Redrawn from Langstroth on the Honey Bee.)

Fig. 24.—Langstroth frame; size, 17⅝ in. by 9⅛ in. outside;pn, projecting nail. (Original.)

The bars composing frames are usually made seven-eighths inch wide, although some prefer to have the top bar 1 inch or even 1⅛ inches wide, and the bottom bar is made by some as narrow as live-eighths inch or even three-eighths inch square. The narrower bottom bar, at least down to a width of five eighths inch, renders the removal of the framesless difficult, and bees are brushed off a little more easily; but when combs cut from box hives are to be fitted into the frames it is not quite so easy to hold the pieces in the center of the frame by means of transferring sticks and get the bees to fasten them securely at the bottom as it is with full seven-eighths-inch bottom bars. Top bars have been made by some hive manufacturers from one-fourth-inch to three-eighths-inch strips, strengthened somewhat by a very thin strip placed edgewise on the underside as a comb guide; but such bars are much too light and will sag when filled with honey or with brood and honey, and when section holders or other receptacles for surplus honey or sets of combs are placed above them more than a bee space exists between the upper and lower sets of frames or between the section holder and the frames below, and the bees will fill in with bits of comb between these, making it difficult to remove the top story or any of the combs from it; indeed, an attempt under such circumstances to remove combs from the top story generally results in tearing the frames apart and breaking the combs, and if honey leaks out robbing may be induced at some times of the year, all because of an error in construction.

Fig. 25.—Form in which to nail frames:b, button;db, double button. (Original.)

To avoid this the top bar should never be less than five-eighths inch to three-fourths inch thick, while for long top bars seven-eighths-inch or 1-inch strips are preferable. The side and bottom bars may be made of one-fourth-inch strips. A corner is taken from the end of the top bar by a cross cut made at exactly right angles on the underside of the top bar, reaching to within one-fourth inch of the top of the bar, and another cut from the end so as to meet the first-mentionedone. Each side bar can then be nailed by one nail driven from above through the top bar, and two driven through the side bar itself into the end of the top bar. The bottom bar can then be nailed on, or, better still, cut short enough to permit it to be inserted between the side bars, the nails holding it to be driven through the latter. Nailing frames loosely or without getting them exactly in true brings with it great disadvantages. If only slightly out of shape they may swing together at the bottom or touch the sides of the hive, and in either case will be glued fast by the bees; also in the first instance the combs, which are always built perpendicularly, will not be wholly within the frames. To avoid these troubles it is essential, first, that the parts for the frames be cut very accurately; second, that the frame be in exact shape at the time of nailing; and third, that the nails be driven in quite firmly; long, slender, flat-headed wire nails being necessary to secure proper stiffness of the frame. Nails 1½ to 1¾ inches long made of No. 16 or No, 17 wire, or 4d. fine wire nails are the right size. Nailing in a form, such as is shown byfig. 25, is therefore advisable. Greater ease in withdrawing the frames from the hive is secured by making the bottom of the frame one-fourth inch less in width than the upper part. A round-headed nail or a curved wire staple driven through the side bar at each lower corner into the end of the bottom bar and left projecting one fourth inch will also facilitate the removal of frames and their insertion in the hive without the crushing of bees, and hence allow more rapid manipulation. (Fig. 24,pn.)

Fig. 26.—Lock-joint chaff hive. (From Gleanings in Bee Culture.)

Fig. 27.—Manner of nailing hives. (Original.)

The hive to hold the frames should be the plainest kind of a box, the frames resting on rabbets made in the upper edges. Constructing it with lock joints, as shown infig. 26, or by halving together the ends of the boards, as infig. 27, and, in either case, nailing in both directions makes a strong hive body. The latter may be single-walled for mild climates or where cellar wintering is practiced: but for severe regions it is advisable to have permanent double walls with the inter-spacesfilled with chaff, ground cork, or similar material, or else outer cases should be provided giving space between the latter and the hive proper for dry packing. As the bees always try to glue the frames fast by means of propolis, it is better to make them rest on strips of tin, galvanized iron, or band iron. The rabbet should therefore be made eleven-sixteenths inch deep, and the strip of iron or other metal frame-rest nailed on so that its edge will project upward five-sixteenths inch from the bottom of the rabbet. Folded strips of tin as made by manufacturers of apiarian implements are preferable to single strips nailed on, since they facilitate the sliding of frames and do not cut the top bars where the latter rest upon them (fig. 28). The projecting ends of the top bars being one-fourth inch thick, the bars themselves come within one-eighth inch of the upper edge of the hive. It is essential that the distance between the ends of the frames and the hive should not exceed three-eighths inch, lest in time of plenty the bees should build comb there; nor can less than one-fourth inch space be allowed, for if the bees can not readily pass around the ends of frames of the Langstroth type they will glue the frames to the side walls of the hive, making it very difficult, if not impossible, to remove them without breakage. If, as suggested, the frames are made one-fourth inch shorter at the bottom than at the top, that is, 17⅜ inches at bottom and 17⅝ inches at top, the hive should then be 18⅛ inches inside from front to rear, the frames running in this direction.

Fig. 28.—Section of improved tin frame-rest:A, folded edge on which frame rests;BandD, nails. (From Gleanings.)

If the frames are accurately made there will then be one fourth inch space at each end of the frame just below the top bar and three-eighths inch at each end of the bottom bar. Between the frames and the bottom board, on which the hive rests, one-half inch space answers, but five-eighths inch is preferable. The width of the hive will depend, of course, upon the number of frames decided upon, 1⅜ inches being allowed for each frame, and three-eighths inch added for the extra space at the side. If a top story to contain frames for extracting is placed over the brood chamber, its depth is to be such as to leave the space between the two sets of combs not over five-sixteenths inch, and in this, as in the lower story, the space between the ends of the frames and the hive wall should be no more than three-eighths inch. A good way to keep rain from beating in between the stories and also to retain the warmth of the bees in outdoor wintering, yet admit of suitable provision for the upward escape of moisture, is to have the second story fit over the top of the lower one, and rest on ledges made by nailing strips around the latter one-half inch below the upper edge. As this makes the upper story nearly 2 inches larger from front to rear than the lower one: it will be necessary when arrangingthis story for frames to make the front and rear double-walled. This is easily done by tacking on the inside of each end two half-inch strips, on which a halt-inch board is then nailed. These inside end pieces should be only wide enough to reach within three-fourths inch of the top edge of the outer ends, and, like the lower story, should be finished at the top with a metal rabbet for the frames to rest on, or the inside piece may be made to come within three-eighths inch of the top and its upper edge beveled so the frames can not be greatly propolized, an arrangement which answers very well for this story.

Fig. 29.—The Langstroth hive—Dadant-Quinby form—cross section showing construction. (From Langstroth.)

As to the width of hives and consequent number of frames each story is to hold, there has been of late much diversity of opinion. The original Langstroth hive held ten frames in the lower story and eleven frames in the second or top story. A demand for smaller-sized brood chambers and uniformity of the stories having been created, the larger hive-manufacturing establishments gave hives constructed to hold eight frames the most prominent place in their catalogues, and by many it was considered that those who adhered to the older, larger form did so merely through conservatism. But after some years' trial a reaction in favor of larger hives seems to have set in, especially among producers of extracted honey. Many of the latter are finding that with carefully bred queens even twelve-frame brood apartments give the best results. The author's experience of over twenty-five years with frame hives of various sizes and styles, both American and foreign, in widely differing climates, convinces him that to restrict a hive to a capacity of less than ten frames for the brood chamber is, in mostlocalities, undesirable, but it will frequently be found advantageous to contract temporarily the space occupied by the bees. For extracted honey alone, especially in any region having a short flow of honey, twelve-frame capacity is preferable. Thin, movable partitions, known as "division boards," enable one to contract the space at will, and the addition of supers or top stories gives storage room for surplus honey. Some prefer to have the hive in one story holding twice the usual number of frames and contractible with a division board. The entrance is then usually at one end, parallel with the combs, and the surplus honey is obtained from the rear part of the hive, either in sections held in wide frames or it is extracted with a machine from ordinary frames. This plan renders access to all of the frames somewhat easier than when two or more stories are used, but as the methods now most followed involve on the whole less manipulation of individual frames than was formerly deemed advantageous this superiority can not count for much—hardly enough in fact to balance the limitation as to the number of frames and the inconvenience of larger and more unwieldy hive bodies, covers, and bottom boards.

Fig. 30.—The Nonpareil hire. (From Bee-Keeping for Profit.)

Fig. 31.—Dadant-Quinby form of Langstroth hive, open:a, front of brood apartment;b, alighting board;c, movable entrance block;d, cap;e, straw mat;f, carriage-cloth cover for frames;g, g, frames with combs. (From Langstroth.)

Small hives may yield excellent results in the hands of a skillful bee-master, but an equal degree of skill will, in general, give as good, if not better, returns from large hives, and the novice who may not know just when or how to perform all operations will find himself much safer with hives holding ten or twelve frames in each story, and far more likely to secure good returns from them than from smaller ones.

A good, tight roof or cover is indispensable, well painted, so that no drop of water can get in from above. A flat roof slanting from front torear will answer, but a ventilated gable roof with the sides well slanted is far preferable. Above the sections or the upper set of frames a piece of carriage cloth, enameled side down, should be laid during the summer season to prevent too great escape of heat above and to keep the bees from getting into the roof or propolizing it. The cloth is more suitable than a board, since the latter when propolized can not be removed without considerably jarring the bees. If the carriage cloth be weighted with a board which has been clamped with a strip across each end to prevent warping, there will be less propolization of the sections above or building of bits of comb on the tops of the frames when these have been used. To dispense with this extra piece and also to render the gable cover flat on the underside, the board which rests on the carriage cloth may be nailed to the cover permanently. During very hot weather the quilt may be turned back and the cover propped up.

The bottom board to the hive may be nailed permanently or the hive may be merely placed on it. In either case the sides and back of the hive should be wide enough to come down over the edges of the bottom board and thus shed all water that runs down the outside of the hive. A sloping board in front will facilitate the entrance of heavily laden bees and many that fall to the ground will crawl in if the hive is within 8 or 10 inches of the ground. Many persons place the bottom boards directly on the ground, and the majority have them but 3 or 4 inches above the surface. By arranging them farther from the ground, at least 6 or 8 inches, dampness is avoided and the ease in manipulation is greatly increased. English manufacturers make the Langstroth hive with permanent legs some 6 or 8 inches long. This is no doubt necessary in the damp climate of that country, and even here the free circulation of the air beneath the hive and the entrance of direct rays of sunlight at times are so beneficial that there might well be a return to this valuable feature, which was part of the original Langstroth hive.

Great accuracy of parts must be insisted upon in hives and frames, both because covers and top stories should be made to fit interchangeably, and because the bees carry out their own work with great precision, so that ease in manipulation of combs can only be secured by nice adjustment. Hives cut by machinery are therefore greatly to be preferred, and though most of those kept in stock by apiarian manufacturers do not include in their construction all of the features mentioned above, they still answer in most particulars the requirements of bee life, and, if proper protection for the winter be afforded, are very serviceable.

No well-appointed apiary in these days is without one or more bee smokers. The professional bee keeper who has once used a bellows smoker would as soon think of dispensing with this implement as askillful cook would be disposed to go back from the modern cooking range to the old-fashioned fireplace.

Fig. 32.—The Bingham bee smoker.

For hundreds of years smoke has been used to quell and even stupefy bees, and various forms of bee smokers have long been used; but the modern bellows form, so far superior to the old clumsy implements which oftentimes required both hands of the operator, or to be held between the teeth, is purely an American invention. Mr. M. Quinby, one of the pioneers in improved methods in apiculture in America, was the inventor of the bellows smoker having the fire box at the side of the bellows so arranged as to enable the operator to work it with one hand, and when not in use to stand it upright and secure a draft which would keep the fire going. Certain improvements on the original Quinby smoker have been made without changing the general form of the implement, one of the most effective and durable of these improved makes being the Bingham direct-draft smoker. Other modifications are the Crane, with a cut-off valve, the Clark, Hill, and Corneil smokers. The medium and larger sized smokers, even for use in small apiaries, are preferable. They light easier, take in all kinds of fuel, and hold fire better, while they are always much more effective since they furnish a large volume of smoke at a given instant, thus nipping in the bud any incipient rebellion. The bee smoker and its use are well shown by figs.12,32, and53.

Veils for the protection of the face will be needed at times—for visitors if not for the manipulator. The beginner, however, should use one under all circumstances until he has acquired some skill in opening hives and manipulating frames and has become acquainted with the temper and notes of bees, so that he will have confidence when they are buzzing about him and will know when it is really safe to dispense with the face protector. Veils are made of various materials. In those which offer the least obstruction to the sight, black silk tulle or brussels net is used, the meshes of which are hexagonal. Linen brussels net is more durable than silk, as is also cotton, though the latter turns gray in time and obstructs the vision. By making the front only of silk and the sides of some ordinary white cotton netting the cost of the veil is less, but it is not so comfortable to wear in hot weather, being less open. A rubber cord is drawn into the upper edge, which brings the latter snugly in about the hat band. By having the veil long and full and drawing it over a straw hat with a wide, stiff brim, tying the lower edge about the shoulders or buttoning it inside a jacket or coat, the face is securely protected. (Fig. 12.)

Fig. 33.—Williams' automatic reversible honey extractor.

The honey extractor (fig. 33) consists of a large can, within which a light metal basket revolves. The full combs of honey, from which the cappings of the cells have been removed by a sharp knife, are placed inside the basket and after several rapid revolutions by means of a simple gearing are found to have been emptied of their contents. The combs, only very slightly damaged, can then be returned to the hives to be refilled by the bees. If extra sets of combs are on hand to supply as fast as the bees need the room in which to store honey, great yields can often be obtained. A good extractor should be made of metal, and the basket in which the combs are revolved should be light, strong, and doubly braced on the outside so that the wire-cloth surface, against which the combs press, will not yield. The wire cloth used, as well as all interior parts of the extractor, should be tinned, as acids of honey act on galvanized iron, zinc, iron, etc. Wire cloth made of coarse wire and with meshes one-half inch square is often used, but it injures the surface of new combs and those very heavy with honey more than that made of about No. 20 wire and with one-fourth-inch meshes.

Fig. 34.—Quinby uncapping knife.

Fig. 35.—Bingham & Hetherington uncapping knife.

For removing the wax covering with which the bees close the full cells a peculiarly shaped knife, known as an uncapping knife, is needed (figs.34and35). The blade, which should be of the finest steel to hold a keen edge, is fixed at such an angle with the handle as to keep the hand that grasps the latter from rubbing over the surface of the comb or the edges of the frames. The form of knife with curved point is best adapted to reach any depression in the comb, which, if uncapped and emptied of its honey, will likely next time be built out even with the general surface. Dipping the knife in hot water facilitates rapid work, and of course the heavier-bladed knives hold the heat better than thin bladed ones, and are for this reason preferred by some; also because they more surely lift the capping clear from the surface of the comb.

A solar wax extractor is needed in every apiary; several are kept running in many large apiaries. Extractors which render wax by steam are also used. To the latter class belongs the improved Swiss wax extractor (fig. 36). This implement, invented in Switzerland and improved in America, consists of a tin or copper vessel with a circle of perforations in the bottom near the sides to let in steam from a boiler below, and within this upper vessel another receptacle—the comb receiver—made of perforated zinc. Its use, as well as that of the solar wax extractor, is described under the head of "Wax production."

Fig. 36.—Excelsior wax extractor.

Within a few years wax extractors employing the heat of the sun and known as solar wax extractors have come into general use (fig. 61). The essential features in all the forms that have been devised are a metal tank with a glass cover and usually a wire-cloth strainer, below which is placed the receptacle for the wax, the whole so arranged as to enable one to tilt it at such an angle as will catch the direct rays of the sun. The effectiveness of the solar wax extractor is increased by having the glass doubled, and adding also a reflector, such as a mirror or a sheet of bright metal. An important advantage of the solar wax extractor is the ease with which small quantities of comb can be rendered. By having this machine much is therefore saved that might be ruined by wax moth larvæ if allowed to accumulate, besides serving at the same time to increase these pests about the apiary. The wax obtained by solar heat is also of superior quality, being clean, never water-soaked nor scorched, and also light in color, owing to the bleaching action of the sunlight.

The cost of a medium-sized solar wax extractor does not exceed that of the larger Swiss steam extractors, yet of the two the former is likely to prove by far the more valuable, even though it can be used only during the warmer months.

In every apiary there should be several of these on hand. The best are such as permit the caging of the queen directly on the comb over cells of honey. A little practice will enable anyone to make very serviceable and cheap cages for introducing queens. From a piece of wire cloth having ten to twelve meshes to the inch cut a strip 2 inches wide; cut this in pieces 4¼ inches long, roll each piece around a stick to give it a cylindrical form, lap the edges, and sew with a piece of wire. Then in one end of this cylinder make slits three-quarters inchapart and three-quarters inch deep, and bend over the tongues thus formed so as to close this end of the cage. With the flat end of a pencil press warm wax or comb into the bottom inside to give it firmness. Then unravel five or six strands of the wire cloth at the other end. The wire points left after unraveling these strands may be pressed into the comb so as to confine a queen and four or five of her attendant workers. (Fig. 66.)

Fig. 37.—Simplicity feeder. (From A B C of Bee Culture.)

Most of the queen-mailing cages are arranged to admit of their use in introducing the queens also, so that when received it is only necessary to withdraw a cork and place the cage on top of the brood frames, thus admitting the bees to the candy. They will eat their way in and release the queen in twenty-four to forty-eight hours. This plan is very good for such as lack experience in handling queens, and hence might injure them by grasping the abdomen, by pinching the thorax too hard, or by catching the legs on the wire cloth of the introducing cage.

Fig. 38.—Fruit-jar bee feeder. Bottom of feeding stage and perforated cap shown separately. (Orig.)

During warm weather liquid food may be placed in any open receptacles which can be set in the upper stories of the hives. Tin fruit or vegetable cans that have been used may be made to serve the purpose, a wooden float for each or some bits of comb being put in to keep the bees from drowning; but during cool weather feeders arranged to admit the bees but not permit the escape of heat had betterbe employed. Glass fruit jars with metal caps are generally at Land, 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 when 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 infig. 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.

Sections can be folded or put together readily over an accurately made block just large enough to fill the space inclosed by a section, and several machines to facilitate the work in case it is to be done on a large scale have been devised.

Fig. 39.—The Porter spring bee escape.

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 inserted in holes bored in a honey board and used in freeing supers from bees, as described under "Honey production."

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

Fig. 40.—The Daisy foundation fastener. (From Gleanings.)

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 running melted wax along the angle formed on each side by the foundation and the top bar. Or a wedge-shaped strip may be crowded in at the side and secured with small wire nails. If the top bar is flat on the underside it will be necessary to press the foundation firmly against it; that is, to incorporate the edge of the wax sheet into the wood of the top bar by rubbing it with a smooth bit of hard wood or bone, such as a knife handle,moistening this implement to prevent the wax from sticking, and then fix it firmly by pouring melted wax down the other side. In the case of top bars having triangular comb guides or a projecting tongue on the underside the foundation can be securely fastened by merely cutting five or six slits three-eighths to one-half inch deep in one edge of the foundation and bending the tongues thus formed in alternate directions so as to place the V-edge of the top bar between them, when they can be firmly attached to the top bar by rubbing with a knife handle as before. Soapsuds or starch water may be used to advantage in moistening the knife handle. The foundation roller (fig. 41), a small disk of hard wood which revolves in a slot at the end of a handle and costs but a few cents, does effective work in fastening foundation in brood frames; in fact, it is rather better than the knife handle for the work just mentioned, except that it will not reach into the corners of the frames, and to secure the foundation there the knife handle must still be used. The roller will need to be moistened the same as the knife handle.

Fig. 41.—Fastening starter of comb foundation in frame. (Original.)

It is particularly important that the sheets of foundation be well fastened, for if one edge breaks loose with the weight of the bees it will crumple down in such a way as not only to ruin that comb, or rather to prevent the building of a good comb in the frame in question, but also very likely in the adjoining frames if they have not been previously built out; and in this case damage will probably result to them. To prevent bulging of the comb it is also essential that the sheets of foundation, if not wired, be narrower than the inside depth of the frame and shorter than its inside length. A full inch of space should beallowed between the bottom bar and the sheet of foundation, and a half inch at each end for two-thirds of the way up.

Fig. 42.—Spur wire-embedder. (From Gleanings.)

With these precautions swarms may even be hived on full sheets of foundation without wiring the frames: but the practice will probably continue of using starters, chiefly in the case of swarms, and, when full sheets are employed, of alternating them with combs already built out. Some prefer to wire the frames even though it is considerable trouble, for the combs require less attention while in process of construction and are firmer for shipping, for use in the extractor, or for any other manipulation. Three or four horizontal wires will suffice. No. 30 annealed tinned wire is the preferable size and quality. The end bars of the frame are pierced by four holes, the first 1 inch below the top bar. A small tack secures the end of the wire, which is then passed back and forth and drawn up so as to leave no slack. The four horizontal wires, 2 inches apart, will be sufficient to render combs quite secure. After fastening the foundation to the top bar in the usual way the wires are embedded in the wax by a spur embedder, which is a small wheel with grooved teeth (fig. 42). Where large numbers of frames are to be wired a current of electricity from a small battery will do the work more neatly and quickly than the spur embedder.

The disadvantages of wiring frames are, first, its expense, caused chiefly by the time employed in doing it; and second, the fact that wherever the wire does not get embedded into the midrib of the foundation, as is sure to happen in many cases, the rearing of brood is interfered with, and also, under the methods employed by the majority in wintering, moisture is very likely to cause the combs to cleave from the wires, whereupon the bees are disposed to gnaw the combs away from the wires in spots and not rebuild them.

These disadvantages, except that of expense, are overcome by incorporating fine wire in the sheets of foundation when they are rolled. The sheets are trimmed with wooden shears, which leave the ends of the wires projecting. These are then glued to the bars of the frame. The added expense is again the main objection, except to those who wish to ship colonies or nuclei, or transport them from place to place for pasturage.

The first attempts to give bees outlines of cells as a basis for comb building were made in Germany. The top bars of the frames were coated on the underside with beeswax, and a strip of wood havingthe outlines of bees' cells cut on it was then pressed against this wax so as to form a guide which should lead the bees to build their combs within the frames. This was only a comb guide, but was succeeded by small strips of wax having the outlines of bees' cells pressed on them by hand, a block of wood being engraved for this purpose. The general use of comb foundation, especially of the full sheets, was only made possible through the improved means of manufacturing it developed in the United States. The slow process of hand stamping was succeeded by its rapid production on machines, the essential feature of which is two engraved cylinders between which the warm sheet of wax is made to pass (fig. 43).

Fig. 43.—Comb-foundation machine. (From Langstroth.)

Such machines are now made in numerous patterns costing from $15 up. Foundation is made with flat-bottomed cells and also with the same form as that given by the bees to combs constructed wholly by themselves. Both sorts are readily accepted by the bees and built out. Both these kinds are also made in various qualities and weights. Only a good quality of perfectly pure beeswax should be accepted. Brood foundation is made in light, medium, and heavy weights. For use in section boxes thin surplus and extra thin surplus are made of light-colored wax. When full sheets are used in sections it is better to have it extra thin lest there should be a noticeable toughness of the midrib, technically known as "fishbone." For unwired frames the medium or heavy brood-comb foundation should be employed.

Until used it is best to keep comb foundation between sheets of paper and well wrapped, since if long exposed to the air the surface of the wax hardens somewhat, but if well packed it may be used years after it was made with almost the same advantage as when first rolled out.

It requires considerable skill to make foundation successfully, and those who use but a small amount will do better to purchase their supply. The high quality of nearly all of the foundation thus far supplied in this country has also justified this plan. Should the practice of adulterating wax become as common among comb-foundation manufacturers in this country as on the continent of Europe no doubt many more would procure machines and make their own foundation.

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