1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



211 



think so. But sevoral years ago I discovered 

 tiie groat value of Pinpty drawn combs in sec- 

 ^tions, for getting a large yield of white comb 

 honey, and I found it impossible to get such 

 combs tilled and capped evenly enough to make 

 their use possible. So I began to experiment 

 on a separator that would obviate the objec- 

 tions I had to those in use. I wanted a separat- 

 or that would leave a free passage for the bees, 

 in the center between each section, and thus 

 avoid partitioning each section off by itself, 

 with a solid partition wall. This I accomplish- 

 ed by making the separators of two thin strips, 

 and dealing so as to leave a scant ^^ space or 

 slot between them lengthwise. 



Now, there was another thing I wanted; and 

 that was, to use narrow sections— some not 

 more than V., inches wide. I had been using 

 these narrow sections for twelve or fifteen 

 years, and I liked them so well that I could not 

 think of abandoning them. I had changed all 

 my supers so as to use sections 4 x .5 inches, and 

 1J.2 wide. These sections, when filled without 

 separators, come nearer a pound than any 

 others I ever used; and let me say here that 

 narrow sections will vary far less in average 

 weight than wide ones. But my narrow 4x5 

 sections, with separators between, so a bee-space 

 would have to be taken from both sides of the 

 combs, would leave them but one inch thick, 

 jind they would not weigh % of a pound, and 

 this would not do. So I began to study a way 

 out of the difficulty. My first thought was to 

 cleat the separators like yours, with a whole 

 bee-space in the separators; but from theory 

 alone I saw this would not do, for two reasons. 

 First, the combs would have \i inch added to 

 «ach side, and would weigh more than a pound. 

 I could have remedied this by making the sec- 

 tions 1^4 inches, or less, wide; and as I loved 

 narrow sections I would have gladly changed 

 in that direction; for with the whole bee-space 

 in the separators I could have all four sides of 

 the section the same width, which would be an 

 advantage; but the second reason could not be 

 settled so easily; for, with a full beespace in 

 the separators the combs would be built as 

 thick as the sections were wide. The edges 

 would be built right up to the cleats on the sep- 

 arators, and would be sealed more or less to 

 them, and would break the cappings on being 

 removed. I tried enough to know that this one 

 fault would render separators with; full bee- 

 spaces in them impractical. 



There is another objection that would pre- 

 vent their use. The combs being as thick as 

 the sections, in crating, the surfaces of the 

 combs would touch together, chafe each other, 

 and start the iioney to leaking. With the aid 

 of the conib-leveler I could dispense with sepa- 

 rators in using drawn combs in sections; but I 

 have now used them, like the one I send you, 

 four seasons, and I like them so well I probably 

 shall never fill another super without them. [ 



do not use them between every section — only 

 between every two. This gives perfect sections 

 that weigh a scant pound each when tilled. 

 The honey on both sides of the section comes 

 w ithin \ inch of the edge of the section, and is 

 never broken in removing the separator, and 

 the surfac-es are ^ inch apart in crating. In 

 crating sections filled between common flat sep- 

 arators, the .-urfaces of the combs are ^^ inch 

 apart, and require a larger crate for the same 

 number of pounds. 



You will, no doubt, ask why I make my sep- 

 arators >8 thick. I tried thin ones of wood, and 

 the bees soon gnawed and spoiled them. Those 

 \ thick cost but little more, and, made like the 

 one sent, will, with proper care, last a lifetime, 

 and prove cheap indeed. 



I see narrow sections are attracting the at- 

 tention of bee-keepers. They have so many 

 good points, when tried, that they will yet cause 

 the 4>4 X 43^ section to be abandoned, for they 

 are too small to hold any thing near a pound, 

 if only 1^2 inches wide, and this is the extreme 

 wirlth of the coming section. The combs are 

 fastened to all sides of 1}^ sections much bet- 

 ter than to wide ones, and ship more safely 

 with the separator I use with its slotted center, 

 so the bees have free passage from comb to 

 comb, without having to leave passages in the 

 corners of the combs; and with narrow sections 

 the combs are made solid to every side, and 

 nearly every cell will be sealed; and these sec- 

 tions, with their larger surface, and filled to }4 

 inch of their edges, solid fast on all sides, and 

 every cell sealed, make a section that leaves 

 the wide 43^ section, with its sunken surface 

 and imperfect capping and fastening, far in the 

 shade. 



Some years since, Mr. Keys, of the firm of 

 James Forncrook & Co., visited the Forestville 

 apiary. I took him into my honey-house, and 

 showed the well-filled sections of 41^ x 414' size, 

 1% inches wide, and the 4 x .5 IJjj' sections, and 

 he agreed, without argument, that the latter 

 made a much finer appearance, and looks go a 

 long way in selling comb honey. So impressed 

 am I with the superior advantages of the larg- 

 er and narrower sections that I would not ac- 

 cept as a gift a future supply for all time of i}^ 

 X 4^4 and IX sections. 



Forestville, Minn., Jan. 23. 



[I am well aware that there are advantages 

 in the use of narrow sections. The combs are 

 filled out better, honey ripened perhaps better, 

 and customers will take them, because, while 

 they appear to be as large as the regulation 1%, 

 they are cheaper. In Canada, the 7-to-foot 

 and 1>2 section rather take the lead; in this 

 country, 1%; in England, full two inch, but all 

 mx'^H in size. But you probably do not over- 

 look the fact that, while you may be able to 

 get more for your 4x5 sections, as a general rule 

 they list in the market quotations, or did so, at 

 least, until they were driven out of the market, 

 from one to two cents lower than the regular 

 43^ size. 



I believe your separator is a good thing. It 



