THE BEE-KEEPERS* REVIEW. 



107 



is unnecessary to remove any of the brood 

 frames to make way for the division board, 

 which enables me to keep my full com- 

 l)lemeiit of frames in each hive, ready for 

 use whenever I wish them. 



BiRNAMWoon, Wis., Mar. 29, 1900. 



ii.vi.i, \vi<: ADoiT run 



TALL SKCTION ? BY C. A. 



H.vrcH. 



This question was ask- 

 ed at the Wisconsin convention, and hot- 

 ly contested pro and con, and no doubt 

 every comb hon- 

 ey producer who 

 has not already 

 come to a con- 

 clusion is asking 

 the same ques- 

 tion; and upon 

 his answer may 

 depend the 

 amount of his in- 

 come for the 

 coming season. 

 J. H. Martin's 

 article in I'-ebruary Review, on this .sub- 

 ject, is the cause of this article being 

 written. I have the greatest respect for 

 Hro. Martin, and his opinions on bee- 

 matters, especially on comb honey pro- 

 duction, are not to be slighted. If it 

 were not for his closing paragraph one 

 could put him on the affirmative of the 

 question; Init when he closes by saying: 

 "Had I a full compliment of Heddon su- 

 pers for comb honey in square sections I 

 would not change for the sake of using 

 the tall section." 



This paragraph, taken in connection 

 with the remainder of his article, either 

 l)uts him on the fence, or, to say the 

 least, makes him a rather weak advocate 

 of the change. 



He admits that it is a fact that tall sec- 

 tions will sell better in some markets; so 

 there is no chance for disagreement 

 there. This, however, is one of the 



smallest advantages in favor of tall sec- 

 tions; for, as he well says, when all get to 

 using them there will be no comparison, 

 and, hence, all will fare alike. 



Neither should a thing be accepted be- 

 cause it is nczc, nor clung to just because 

 it is o/(f: this woula bar all progress, and 

 deprive us of all our advantages as think- 

 ing beings. 



The advantages of tall sections are 

 three, ist. Appearance on account of 

 shape. 2nd. Better finish; more of the 

 comb attached to the wood, thereby 

 raising the grade. 3rd. Increasing the 

 product. 



Perhaps, before anything further is 

 said, it would be well to say that what 

 is meant, in this article, as tall a 

 section, is the Danzenbaker, bee- way sec- 

 tions, 4x5 inches in size; and that any 

 other change that is less in size is not 

 enough to be worth considering. 



The first point in their favor has been 

 sufficiently considered by Mr. Martin, 

 and nothing more need be said, except 

 this, that if the honey in tall sections can 

 be sold, even for two years, at an advance 

 of one cent a pound, no producer can 

 afford to lose it. 



Second. Better finish. After personal 

 experience, in a small way, and observa- 

 tion where they were used on a large 

 scale, in the apiary of Mr. H. Mendelson, 

 Ventura, California, who used them by 

 the thousand, I am convinced that these 

 tall sections will be better finished than 

 square ones. Why, I am unable to an- 

 swer; but I think R. C. Aikinhas given at 

 least a part of the .solution in the fact that 

 bees naturally tend to build comb deep- 

 er than wide. Any one who ever used 

 the old-style i><-lb. and 2-lb sections 

 knows that it seemed as if it were just as 

 easy to get a case of them filled as it was 

 to get one of less weight in pound sec- 

 tions;.and, may be, we are getting back 

 closer to nature by using the 4x5 inch 

 section. In my opinion, the ideal section 

 is yet to be made. We have been forcing 

 the bees to divide them selves up into a 

 great number of small clusters by our 



