Beekeepers wire?

While looking for spoke-setting punches, I saw this strange
item in the adults-only section of a certain bicycle shop:

http://harriscyclery.net/site/page.cfm?PageID=49&SKU=TL1920

All sorts of shady bicycle shops advertise huge, expensive
spools of beekeepers wire for sale, no questions asked.

But no one seems bold enough to mention its unholy purpose.

What is a hundred meters of 0.37mm beekeepers wire used for?

Making raw spokes for midgets? Control cables? Tying and
soldering? Repairing broken tire beads? Leashing Sheldon's
formerly free-range bees? Something to do with Sir Edmund
Hillary's mountain bicycles?

Carl Fogel

Carl Fogel said:

While looking for spoke-setting punches, I saw this strange item in
the adults-only section of a certain bicycle shop:

Quoted message said:

http://harriscyclery.net/site/page.cfm?PageID=49&SKU=TL1920

Quoted message said:

All sorts of shady bicycle shops advertise huge, expensive spools of
beekeepers wire for sale, no questions asked.

Quoted message said:

But no one seems bold enough to mention its unholy purpose.

Quoted message said:

What is a hundred meters of 0.37mm beekeepers wire used for?

Quoted message said:

Making raw spokes for midgets? Control cables? Tying and
soldering? Repairing broken tire beads? Leashing Sheldon's
formerly free-range bees? Something to do with Sir Edmund Hillary's
mountain bicycles?

Item #3.

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

While looking for spoke-setting punches, I saw this strange
item in the adults-only section of a certain bicycle shop:

http://harriscyclery.net/site/page.cfm?PageID=49&SKU=TL1920

All sorts of shady bicycle shops advertise huge, expensive
spools of beekeepers wire for sale, no questions asked.

But no one seems bold enough to mention its unholy purpose.

What is a hundred meters of 0.37mm beekeepers wire used for?

Making raw spokes for midgets? Control cables? Tying and
soldering? Repairing broken tire beads? Leashing Sheldon's
formerly free-range bees? Something to do with Sir Edmund
Hillary's mountain bicycles?

Carl Fogel

From Google Groups:
Your search - "beekeepers' wire" group:sci.agriculture.beekeeping -
did not match any articles in the group sci.agriculture.beekeeping.

So

-------------------------------
John Dacey
Business Cycles, Miami, Florida
Since 1983
Our catalogue of track equipment: online since 1996.
http://www.businesscycles.com

Quoted message said:

While looking for spoke-setting punches, I saw this strange
item in the adults-only section of a certain bicycle shop:

http://harriscyclery.net/site/page.cfm?PageID=49&SKU=TL1920

All sorts of shady bicycle shops advertise huge, expensive
spools of beekeepers wire for sale, no questions asked.

But no one seems bold enough to mention its unholy purpose.

What is a hundred meters of 0.37mm beekeepers wire used for?

Making raw spokes for midgets? Control cables? Tying and
soldering? Repairing broken tire beads? Leashing Sheldon's
formerly free-range bees? Something to do with Sir Edmund
Hillary's mountain bicycles?

Carl Fogel

While looking for a dollars worth of strings for my beekeepers' harp.

I found varying prices for spools and then I found what I was looking for:
http://penncycle.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=197&SKU=TL1920

Marcus

Quoted message said:

While looking for spoke-setting punches, I saw this strange
item in the adults-only section of a certain bicycle shop:

http://harriscyclery.net/site/page.cfm?PageID=49&SKU=TL1920

All sorts of shady bicycle shops advertise huge, expensive
spools of beekeepers wire for sale, no questions asked.

And as long as you can still buy beekeeper's wire without a permit or
a waiting period, you'll never have to be concerned that when you
really, really NEED to have some, it won't be possible to get it.

Quoted message said:

But no one seems bold enough to mention its unholy purpose.

It has many purposes. Not all of them are unholy...just the ones that
are the most fun. (If you're into that sort of thing.)

Quoted message said:

What is a hundred meters of 0.37mm beekeepers wire used for?

Hmmm. Well, if you *insist* on using it all at once, it would be just
about the right length to put a bridged run of lockwire on every
fastener on a Lycoming IGSO540 engine. Unfortunately, beekeeper's
wire isn't airworthy, so you would only want to use it for that
purpose on non-aviation engines.

Quoted message said:

Making raw spokes for midgets?

Spoked wheels on midget racers went out before WW2.

Quoted message said:

Control cables?

Nope, too soft.

Quoted message said:

Tying and soldering?

Yes, particularly when making flies for walleye pike.

Quoted message said:

Repairing broken tire beads?

Silly.

Quoted message said:

Leashing Sheldon's formerly free-range bees?

You'd need Kevlar for that.

Quoted message said:

Something to do with Sir Edmund
Hillary's mountain bicycles?

In polite company, one would never bring up that subject.

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
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carl-<< While looking for spoke-setting punches, I saw this strange
item in the adults-only section of a certain bicycle shop:

http://harriscyclery.net/site/page.cfm?PageID=49&SKU=TL1920 >><BR><BR>

Shame on you. You've been on the NG long enough to know these things!!

Used for tying and then soldering spokes. Good idea for certain applications
regardless of what Jobst says. Just did it for a BIG gent on a Maverick, with
Hayes discs.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

carl-<< While looking for spoke-setting punches, I saw this strange
item in the adults-only section of a certain bicycle shop:

http://harriscyclery.net/site/page.cfm?PageID=49&SKU=TL1920 >><BR><BR>

Shame on you. You've been on the NG long enough to know these things!!

Used for tying and then soldering spokes. Good idea for certain applications
regardless of what Jobst says. Just did it for a BIG gent on a Maverick, with
Hayes discs.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Can you elaborate on that? What benefits does it give to the wheel?

Thanks

Pete

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Can you elaborate on that? What benefits does it give to the wheel?

If you break a spoke, it keeps the spoke from flailing about. I can't
think of any other advantage
---------------
Alex

On Mon, 23 Aug 2004 11:04:59 -0600, [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

While looking for spoke-setting punches, I saw this strange
item in the adults-only section of a certain bicycle shop:

http://harriscyclery.net/site/page.cfm?PageID=49&SKU=TL1920

All sorts of shady bicycle shops advertise huge, expensive
spools of beekeepers wire for sale, no questions asked.

But no one seems bold enough to mention its unholy purpose.

What is a hundred meters of 0.37mm beekeepers wire used for?

Making raw spokes for midgets? Control cables? Tying and
soldering? Repairing broken tire beads? Leashing Sheldon's
formerly free-range bees? Something to do with Sir Edmund
Hillary's mountain bicycles?

Carl Fogel

So the consensus is that beekeepers wire is used to tie
spokes together and is then soldered.

Now I want to know why beekeepers wire is preferred for
tying and soldering. Is it suitable in diameter, easy to
bend, extremely strong, agreeable to solder, resistant to
chain oil, compatible with stainless steel, or what?

That is, why not use chicken-wire? Or ordinary safety wire?

Does anyone know how this stuff came to be called beekeepers
wire? Is it used for anything except lashing bicycle spokes
together? Is it even available outside of bicycle shops?

Is there a rec.bees.tech newsgroup where they call each
other "honey" instead of "fred" and debate whether hexagons
are truly the optimal configuration, a forum in which
experts using pseudonyms like "Royal Jelly" and "Drone"
stingingly dismiss A. Conan Doyle and A.A. Milne and Patrick
O'Brian as promoters of apiary myth and lore?

Of course, this may be none of my beeswax.

Carl Fogel

Alex got it right on the money. As far as the history of this wire, I can only guess it was at one time a common, fine and soft wire, suitable for typing spokes. It is a soft wire with a bright finish (tinned) and it has a suitable diameter. It is used for making excluders, foundations and comb supports. Since it is tinned, it is easy to solder.

Alex Rodriguez wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Can you elaborate on that? What benefits does it give to the wheel?

If you break a spoke, it keeps the spoke from flailing about. I can't
think of any other advantage

Wow factor. "You must be strong, mister."

Trevor

Quoted message said:

Now I want to know why beekeepers wire is preferred for
tying and soldering. Is it suitable in diameter,

yes.

Quoted message said:

easy to bend,

yes.

Quoted message said:

extremely strong,

strong enough.

Quoted message said:

agreeable to solder,

reasonably.

Quoted message said:

resistant to chain oil,

More importantly, resistant to weather.

Quoted message said:

compatible with stainless steel,

Nothing sticks well to some stainless. The term "stainless steel"
refers to a large number of alloys with a variety of characteristics.
For the stuff commonly used in spokes, beekeeper's wire is compatible
enough, I guess, or something else would be used instead.

Quoted message said:

That is, why not use chicken-wire?

That's a 1" hexagonal mesh.

Quoted message said:

Or ordinary safety wire?

It's a harder variety of stainless that does not solder worth a damn.
(At least, none of mine does.)

Quoted message said:

Does anyone know how this stuff came to be called beekeepers
wire?

Yup. Beekeepers used it.

Quoted message said:

Is it used for anything except lashing bicycle spokes
together?

Yes. It's used to support the beeswax foundation in the frames of the
super and brood box. On the hives we had back in the 1960s, we also
used it to lash the lid to the supers, the supers down to the brood
box, and the brood box to the hive base, so that marauding critters
had a harder time getting the hive open.

Quoted message said:

Is it even available outside of bicycle shops?

ISTR seeing it at Farm & Ranch Supply stores a while back, but as it
appears that most beekeepers are now buying their frames prewired (or
else they aren't using the traditional beekeeper's wire for frame
building), I suspect that it's been dropped due to lack of interest.

Quoted message said:

Is there a rec.bees.tech newsgroup where they call each
other "honey" instead of "fred" and debate whether hexagons
are truly the optimal configuration, a forum in which
experts using pseudonyms like "Royal Jelly" and "Drone"
stingingly dismiss A. Conan Doyle and A.A. Milne and Patrick
O'Brian as promoters of apiary myth and lore?

I wouldn't know. Some things are best left to the imagination.

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Quoted message said:

Is it even available outside of bicycle shops?

Here you go:

http://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=49&products_id=174

or

http://tinyurl.com/4pqs5
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Werehatrack said:

Quoted message said:

Is it even available outside of bicycle shops?

Here you go:

http://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=49&products_id=174

or

http://tinyurl.com/4pqs5\

Dear Werehatrack,

Zounds! Only $6.12 for 1400 feet!

Most bicycle shops want five times as much (or more) for
only 400 feet., although elsewhere in this thread Marcus
Coles found a 400-foot spool for a dollar.

Of course, bicycle shops may stock higher-quality beekeepers
wire, suitable for restraining savage African killer bees,
drunk on nectar and sparing neither age nor sex.

Curiously, the Dadant beekeeping catalogue describes its
$6.12 bargain as a 1 lb spool that weighs 2 lbs. I'm not
sure that I'd buy honey by the pound from these folks.

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

Curiously, the Dadant beekeeping catalogue describes its
$6.12 bargain as a 1 lb spool that weighs 2 lbs. I'm not
sure that I'd buy honey by the pound from these folks.

A pound of wire requires a spool and a box to ship it. Those make the
shipping weight two pounds.

Shipping company logic:

0.998 lb = 1 lb.

1.002 lbs = 2 lbs.

TANSTAAFL.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

big pete-<< Can you elaborate on that? What benefits does it give to the wheel?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

<BR><BR>

email direct, I'm not keen on getting into another pissing contest with Jobst.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

alex-<< If you break a spoke, it keeps the spoke from flailing about. I can't
think of any other advantage >><BR><BR>

Okay, okay, flack jacket, helmet ON-

Aluminum rims tend to get deformed as ya ride them, smacking into railroad
tracks, unseen potholes, etc. When ya 'deform' an aluminum rim permanently at
some point, the tension at that spot is reduced. So tying and soldering,
particularly on left side rear, reduces the spoke movement at the flange at
those spots, reducing spoke problems.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Quoted message said:

While looking for spoke-setting punches, I saw this strange
item in the adults-only section of a certain bicycle shop:

http://harriscyclery.net/site/page.cfm?PageID=49&SKU=TL1920

All sorts of shady bicycle shops advertise huge, expensive
spools of beekeepers wire for sale, no questions asked.

But no one seems bold enough to mention its unholy purpose.

What is a hundred meters of 0.37mm beekeepers wire used for?

Making raw spokes for midgets? Control cables? Tying and
soldering? Repairing broken tire beads? Leashing Sheldon's
formerly free-range bees? Something to do with Sir Edmund
Hillary's mountain bicycles?

Carl Fogel

Gee Carl, I am stumped too. Maybe it has something to with this
mysterious bicycle product....

http://rivendellbicycles.com/webalog/miscellaneous/

Robert Masse said:

Quoted message said:

While looking for spoke-setting punches, I saw this strange
item in the adults-only section of a certain bicycle shop:

http://harriscyclery.net/site/page.cfm?PageID=49&SKU=TL1920

All sorts of shady bicycle shops advertise huge, expensive
spools of beekeepers wire for sale, no questions asked.

But no one seems bold enough to mention its unholy purpose.

What is a hundred meters of 0.37mm beekeepers wire used for?

Making raw spokes for midgets? Control cables? Tying and
soldering? Repairing broken tire beads? Leashing Sheldon's
formerly free-range bees? Something to do with Sir Edmund
Hillary's mountain bicycles?

Carl Fogel

Gee Carl, I am stumped too. Maybe it has something to with this
mysterious bicycle product....

http://rivendellbicycles.com/webalog/miscellaneous/

Dear Robert,

Stumped?

You must mean the $75 mini-hatchet on that page.

According to Rivendell's ad, the hatchet comes with "The Axe
Book"--presumably one of Jobst's lesser-known literary
efforts, devoted to sharpening, head attachment, and the
theory that the hatchet stands on its handle.

The beeswax that Rivendell also offers on that page may be
used on the hatchet's leather holster, much like beeswax on
pistol holster.

C. Eastwood