COMB HONEY. 



106 



COMB HONEY. 



will be seen at once that the new system 

 provides I'or a narrower section, and yet this 

 same section holds as mncli honey as one I 

 inch wider, because the extra width is taken 

 up by the thickness of the cleats on the 

 fences, as shown at A A A in previous cut 

 or what would be in the old section two bee- 

 ways of i^g inch each. In the cuts shown be- 

 low there are specimens of beeway sections 

 and no-beeway, the last being generally 

 termed plain sections. It will be seen that 

 they save quite a little wood, and conse- 

 quently take somewhat less room in ship- 

 ping-cases. In other words, the twelve 

 and twenty-four pound shipping-cases can 

 be made somewhat smaller, because it is 

 not necessary to have each comb bee-spaced 

 apart in the marketing - cases, the same 

 as while on the hive. Moreover, the plain 

 straight edges of the new sections offer 

 special advantages in the matter of scra]> 

 ing. Tliere are no insets, often r>)uglily cut 

 (as in beeway sections), to work into and 

 arouiul with a scraping - knife. A single 

 sweep of the knife on each of the four edges 

 will remove the propolis, or, better still, if 

 the bliide of the knife is long enough, one 

 can scrape two edges at a time. Weight 

 for weight, and of the same filling, a comb 

 in a plain section looks prettier than one 

 having beeways. The illustration on next 

 page shows beeway sections in one ship- 

 ping-case, and plain sections in the other. 

 Compare also other cuts a few pages further 

 on with these. 



But there is one more noiut to be taken in- 

 to consideration. The fences are made up 

 of a series of slats having a scant bee-space 

 between each slat •, and as the cross-cleats. 



ONE-PIECE V-GROOV'E SECTIONS. 



or posts, are i inch shorter than the length 

 of the section, the beeway is very much 

 wider. Instead of being a narrow opening 

 through the top as in the old section, the 

 opening is clear across the top, and part way 

 down and up each of the sides. This gives 

 the bees much freer communication, and, in 

 consequence, has a tendency to reduce the 

 size of the corner holes in each section. 

 Then there is that factor, namely, horizontal 

 oi)enings between each of the slats. This 

 allows free commmiication from one section 



to another, not only crossivise but lengthwise 

 of the sui)er. Both theory and practice show 

 that this results, luider normal conditions, 

 in a better tilling of the boxes. A good 

 many have already testified that they se- 

 cure much better and more perfect filling of 

 combs in plain sections than in the old style 

 with solid separators: that the bees enter 

 them sooner, and that in some markets bet- 

 ter prices are secured. If the colony is not 

 sti'oiig, the old-style super may be the better 

 tilled. 



HYDE-SCHOLL SEPARATOR. 



Another style of fence is shown in the ac- 

 companying engraving. It was introduced 

 by Messrs. Hyde and Scholl, of Texas, some 

 years ago. The special feature of it is that 

 it provides transverse openings directly o[ - 

 posite the upright edges of the sections, thus 

 affording communication across the faces of 

 the several sections as well as across from 

 row to row in the regular fences. It is 

 claimed that better and more even filling of 

 the sections is secured, because this fence 

 makes the conditions more like those of a 

 regular brood-comb, where there are no ob- 

 structions of any kind. The several slats 

 are held together by strips of stamped sheet 

 metal, having raised projections or bosses 

 above and below the transverse openings to 

 keep the sections a bee-space away from the 

 slats or fence proper. There are many nice 

 features about this fence if the expense of 

 making can be overcome. 



Under the same conditions the plain sec- 

 tions will be filled no better than the bee- 

 way. If there is any difference in the filling 

 it is because the one offers special advan- 

 tages in the way of freer communication ; 

 for in the ordinary old-style, with solid sei)a- 

 rators, each section, so to speak, is shut off in 

 a little box by itself, and it has been proven 

 that bees are disinclined to work in little 

 compartments almost completely shut off 

 from tlie rest. Open-corner sections, divided 

 off by means of slatted separators, witliout 

 cleats, ought to be and would be filled just 

 as well as plain sections divided off by 

 fences ; for the conditions will be precisely 

 the same, because the beeways, made part 

 and parcel of these sections, exactly corre- 

 spond to the beeways (cleats) on the fences. 



